1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team

American college football season

1979 Tennessee Volunteers football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 22–27 vs. Purdue
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	7–5 (3–3 SEC)
Head coach	Johnny Majors (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Avezzano (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Frank Emanuel (1st season)
Captains	Roland James Craig Puki Jimmy Streater
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	at Boston College*		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 28–16	30,150	^[1]
September 22	Utah*		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 51–18	85,783	^[2]
September 29	Auburn		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 35–17	85,936	^[3]
October 6	vs. Mississippi State	No. 19	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN		L 9–28	48,820	^[4]
October 13	Georgia Tech*		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		W 31–0	85,524	^[5]
October 20	at No. 1 Alabama	No. 18	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)		L 17–27	77,665	^[6]
November 3	Rutgers*	No. 17	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		L 7–13	84,265	^[7]
November 10	No. 13 Notre Dame*		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 40–18	86,489	^[8]
November 17	at Ole Miss	No. 19	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)		L 20–44	55,760	^[9]
November 24	at Kentucky		Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)		W 20–17	57,950	^[10]
December 1	Vanderbilt		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		W 31–10	84,142	^[11]
December 31	vs. No. 12 Purdue*		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	L 22–27	40,542	^[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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

Johnny Majors

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Joe Avezzano – Offensive coordinator/offensive line
Lynn Amedee – Quarterbacks
Bobby Jackson – Running backs
Bob Harrison – Wide receivers
Frank Emanuel – Defensive coordinator/defensive ends
Jim Dyar – Defensive line
Robbie Franklin – Outside linebacker
Joe Madden – Defensive backs/assistant head coach
John Chavis – Graduate assistant

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Tennessee	3	7	7	3	20
Kentucky	0	14	0	3	17

Date: November 25
Location: Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, KY
Game attendance: 57,950

Scoring summary

Q1		TENN	Duncan 30 yard field goal	TENN 3–0

Q2		TENN	Simpson 12 yard pass from Olszewski (Duncan kick)	TENN 10–0

Q2		UK	Jones 57 yard run (kick failed)	TEN 10–6

Q2		UK	Wilson 9 yard pass from Henry (Jones run)	UK 14–10

Q3		TENN	Berry 2 yard run (Duncan kick)	TENN 17–14

Q4		UK	Streim 25 yard field goal	Tie 17–17

Q4	:05	TENN	Duncan 25 yard field goal	TENN 20–17

^[13]

Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt Commodores (1–9) at Tennessee Volunteers (6–4)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Vanderbilt	10	0	0	0	10
Tennessee	0	0	21	10	31

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

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

Game information

First quarter

VAN – Mike Woodard 31-yard field goal. Vanderbilt 3–0. Drive:
VAN – Van Heflin 1-yard run (Mike Woodard kick). Vanderbilt 10–0. Drive:

Second quarter

No scoring

Third quarter

TEN – Anthony Hancock 41-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (Alan Duncan kick), 11:45. Vanderbilt 10–7. Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards.
TEN – Roland James 89-yard punt return (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 14–10.
TEN – Anthony Hancock 85-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 21–10. Drive:

Fourth quarter

TEN – Gary Moore 17-yard run (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 28–10. Drive:
TEN – Alan Duncan 27-yard field goal. Tennessee 31–10. Drive:

Top passers

VAN – Van Heflin – 6/16, 50 yards, 3 INT
TEN – Jimmy Streater – 13/23, 221 yards, 2 TD, INT

Top rushers

VAN – Terry Potter – 19 rushes, 127 yards
TEN – Hubert Simpson – 19 rushes, 42 yards

Top receivers

VAN – Preston Brown – 2 receptions, 27 yards
TEN – Anthony Hancock – 6 receptions, 163 yards, 2 TD

Jimmy Streater became school's all-time leading passer

Bluebonnet Bowl (vs. Purdue)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Purdue	0	14	7	6	27
Tennessee	0	0	16	6	22

Date: December 31
Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Game attendance: 40,542

Scoring summary

2	Purdue	Ben McCall 6-yard run (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 7-0

2	Purdue	Bart Burrell 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 14-0

3	Purdue	Dave Young 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 21-0

3	Tennessee	Glenn Ford 8-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (pass failed)	Purdue 21-6

4	Tennessee	James Berry 15-yard pass from Phil Ingram (Hubert Simpson run)	Purdue 21-14

4	Tennessee	Hubert Simpson 1-yard run (Hubert Simpson pass from Jimmy Streater)	Tennessee 22-21

4	Purdue	Dave 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

Reference:^[15]

References

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

v t e Tennessee Volunteers football
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