1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

American college football season

1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
Conference	Independent
Record	8–3
Head coach	Frank R. Burns (7th season)
Home stadium	Rutgers Stadium Giants Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Pittsburgh		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
UNLV		–		–		9	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Temple		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Tulane		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–		5	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Louisville		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Air Force		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Richmond		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh season under head coach Frank R. Burns, the Scarlet Knights compiled an 8-3 record while competing as an independent. The team outscored its opponents 243 to 174. Against ranked opponents, the team lost, 45-10, to #7 Penn State and defeated #17 Tennessee, 13-7.^[1]^[2] The team's statistical leaders included Ed McMichael with 1,529 passing yards, Albert Ray with 567 rushing yards, and David Dorn with 468 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Holy Cross	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	W 28–0	18,350	^[4]
September 15	at No. 7 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 10–45	77,309	^[5]
September 22	Bucknell	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	W 16–14	12,300	^[6]
September 29	at Princeton	Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	W 38–14	23,523	^[7]
October 6	Temple	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	L 20–41
October 13	at Connecticut	Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 26–14
October 20	at William & Mary	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 24–0
November 3	at No. 17 Tennessee	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	W 13–7	84,265	^[8]
November 10	vs. Army	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ	W 20–0
November 17	Villanova	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	L 17–32
November 25	at Louisville	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	W 31–7
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`14`	Dave Dorn	Jr
QB	`8`	Bob Hering	Sr
QB	`2`	Ed McMichael	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
S	`18`	Deron Cherry	Jr
DT	`74`	Dino Mangiero	Sr
DT	`66`	Bill Pickel	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Frank R. Burns

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ "Rutgers Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ "1979 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ Monahan, Bob (September 9, 1979). "Rutgers Too Powerful, Routs Holy Cross". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 62 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Penn State's young lion roars as Scarlet falls, 45-10". The Home News. September 16, 1979. pp. B1, B4 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Smith, Paul (September 23, 1979). "Startzell and Blackwell Lead Rutgers' Victory". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. 11-D – via Newspapers.com.
^ Smith, Paul (September 30, 1979). "Rutgers Gets 24 in 2d Half, Tops Princeton, 38-14". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. 12-D – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rutgers Shocks UT 13-7". The Tennessean. November 4, 1979. pp. C1, C7.

v t e Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
Venues	College Field (1869–1890) Neilson Field (1891–1938) Old Rutgers Stadium (1938–1992) Giants Stadium (alternate, 1976–1996) SHI Stadium (1994–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Princeton
Culture & lore	Marching band First American football game (painting)
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold