1979 Tennessee Volunteers football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record7–5 (3–3 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJoe Avezzano (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorFrank Emanuel (1st season)
Captains
Home stadiumNeyland Stadium
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Alabama $ 6 – 0 – 0 12 – 0 – 0
Georgia 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 16 Auburn 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
LSU 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Tennessee 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Kentucky 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Ole Miss 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Mississippi State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Vanderbilt 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Florida 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 10 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Johnny Majors, in his third year, and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and five losses (7–5 overall, 3–3 in the SEC) and a loss against Purdue in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 15at Boston College*
W 28–1630,150[1]
September 22Utah*
W 51–1885,783[2]
September 29Auburn
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 35–1785,936[3]
October 6vs. Mississippi StateNo. 19
L 9–2848,820[4]
October 13Georgia Tech*
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)
W 31–085,524[5]
October 20at No. 1 AlabamaNo. 18
L 17–2777,665[6]
November 3Rutgers*daggerNo. 17
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
L 7–1384,265[7]
November 10No. 13 Notre Dame*
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 40–1886,489[8]
November 17at Ole MissNo. 19
L 20–4455,760[9]
November 24at Kentucky
W 20–1757,950[10]
December 1Vanderbilt
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)
W 31–1084,142[11]
December 31vs. No. 12 Purdue*
MizlouL 22–2740,542[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 34 James Berry So
G 64 Roy Cunningham Fr
RB 43 Terry Daniels So
WR 24 Clyde Duncan Fr
WR 26 Willie Gault Fr
WR 28 Anthony Hancock So
TE 85 Reggie Harper Jr
WR 4 Phil Ingram Jr
OT 78 Tim Irwin Jr
G 68 Mike Jester Jr
C 59 Alan Lynn Sr
G 70 Bill Marren Sr
RB 33 Gary Moore Sr
C 73 Lee North So
QB 5 Jeff Olszewski So
QB 8 David Rudder Sr
RB 32 Hubert Simpson Jr
QB 6 Jimmy Streater Sr
OT 67 Phil Sutton Sr
G 71 Jay Williams Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 42 Val Barksdale Jr
DB 40 Bill Bates Fr
DE 93 Mike Cofer Fr
DE 57 Steve Davis Sr
DB 26 Greg Gaines Jr
DE 84 Brian Ingram Jr
S 14 Roland James Sr
DB 29 Danny Martin Jr
DT 60 Jim Noonan Sr
LB 44 Craig Puki Sr
LB 50 Danny Spradlin Jr
DE 83 John Wade Fr
DT 90 Brad White Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 10 Alan Duncan Jr
P 49 Dale Schnitman Sr
P 20 John Warren Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

At Kentucky

1 234Total
• Tennessee 3 773 20
Kentucky 0 1403 17
Scoring summary
Q1TENNDuncan 30 yard field goalTENN 3–0
Q2TENNSimpson 12 yard pass from Olszewski (Duncan kick)TENN 10–0
Q2UKJones 57 yard run (kick failed)TEN 10–6
Q2UKWilson 9 yard pass from Henry (Jones run)UK 14–10
Q3TENNBerry 2 yard run (Duncan kick)TENN 17–14
Q4UKStreim 25 yard field goalTie 17–17
Q4:05TENNDuncan 25 yard field goalTENN 20–17

[13]

Vanderbilt

See also: 1979 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
Vanderbilt Commodores (1–9) at Tennessee Volunteers (6–4)
Period 1 2 34Total
Vanderbilt 10 0 0010
Tennessee 0 0 211031

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

  • Date: December 1
  • Game attendance: 84,142
  • [14]
Game information

Bluebonnet Bowl (vs. Purdue)

Main article: 1979 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl

See also: 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team
1 234Total
• Purdue 0 1476 27
Tennessee 0 0166 22
Scoring summary
2PurdueBen McCall 6-yard run (John Seibel kick)Purdue 7-0
2PurdueBart Burrell 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)Purdue 14-0
3PurdueDave Young 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)Purdue 21-0
3TennesseeGlenn Ford 8-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (pass failed)Purdue 21-6
4TennesseeJames Berry 15-yard pass from Phil Ingram (Hubert Simpson run)Purdue 21-14
4TennesseeHubert Simpson 1-yard run (Hubert Simpson pass from Jimmy Streater)Tennessee 22-21
4PurdueDave Young 17-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (pass failed)Purdue 27-22

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Roland James Defensive Back 1 14 New England Patriots
Craig Puki Linebacker 3 77 San Francisco 49ers

References

  1. ^ "BC lead fizzles, it's Tennessee, 28–16". The Boston Globe. September 16, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Tennessee blasts Utah, 51–18". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 23, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Moore sparks Tennessee". The Daily Advertiser. September 30, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Bulldogs swarm Vols". Enterprise-Journal. October 7, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Streater leads Tennessee to whitewashing of Tech". The Macon News. October 14, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "No. 1 Alabama rallies to overtake Tennessee 27–17". The Courier-Journal. October 21, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "'No-name' Rutgers earns respect". Daily Record. November 4, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Irish humbles by Vols, 40–18". The Indianapolis Star. November 11, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Rebs use 'D' to beat Vols". The Commercial Appeal. November 18, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "UK's fourth-down bowl bid comes up short". The Courier-Journal. November 25, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Streater rallies Vols past Vandy". Kingsport Times-News. December 2, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Tennessee rally falls short, Purdue wins Bluebonnet Bowl". Johnson City Press-Chronicle. January 1, 1980. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Late Field Goal Lifts Tennessee." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Nov 25.
  14. ^ "Vols bash Vandy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Dec 02. Pg. 7E. Retrieved 2020-Dec-11.
  15. ^ "1980 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
Categories