1979 Baylor Bears football team
American college football season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1979 Baylor Bears football team represented the Baylor University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Bears finished the regular season fourth in the Southwest Conference. A win over Clemson in the Peach Bowl capped the season.
| 1979 Baylor Bears football | |
|---|---|
Peach Bowl champion | |
Peach Bowl, W 24–18 vs. Clemson | |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 15 |
| AP | No. 14 |
| Record | 8–4 (5–3 SWC) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | John O'Hara (1st season) |
| Co-offensive coordinator | Duke Christian (1st season) |
| Offensive scheme | I formation |
| Home stadium | Baylor Stadium |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Houston + | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Arkansas + | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 Texas | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 Baylor | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 1 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 0 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 8 | Lamar* | W 20–7 | 25,000 | [1] | ||
| September 15 | Texas A&M |
| W 17–7 | 48,500 | [2] | |
| September 22 | at No. 2 Alabama* | L 0–45 | 77,512 | [3] | ||
| September 29 | Texas Tech |
| W 27–17 | 35,800 | [4] | |
| October 6 | at No. 6 Houston | L 10–13 | 37,142 | [5] | ||
| October 13 | at SMU | W 24–21 | 65,101 | [6] | ||
| October 20 | at Army* | W 55–0 | 32,591 | [7] | ||
| October 27 | TCU |
| W 16–3 | 36,250 | [8] | |
| November 10 | at No. 9 Arkansas | No. 17 | L 20–29 | 43,284 | [9] | |
| November 17 | Rice | No. 20 |
| W 45–14 | 28,500 | [10] |
| November 24 | at No. 6 Texas | No. 17 | L 0–13 | 63,288 | [11] | |
| December 31 | vs. No. 18 Clemson* | No. 19 | W 24–18 | 57,321 | [12] | |
| ||||||
Game summaries
Peach Bowl
#19 Baylor vs. #17 Clemson
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Baylor | 0 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Clemson | 7 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 18 |
- Date: December 31
- Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
- Game attendance: 57,371
| 1 | CLEM | Brown 1-yard run (Ariri kick) | CLEM 7-0 | |
| 2 | BAY | Taylor 3-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick) | Tied 7-7 | |
| 2 | BAY | Holt 24-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick) | BAY 14-7 | |
| 3 | CLEM | Ariri 40-yard field goal | BAY 14-10 | |
| 3 | BAY | Bledsoe 29-yard field goal | BAY 17-10 | |
| 3 | BAY | Cockrell 7-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick) | BAY 24-10 | |
| 4 | CLEM | McSwain 1-yard run (Lott to McCall pass) | BAY 24-18 | |
Freshman DB Kyle Woods, who injured his neck in preseason practice, spoke to the team before the game and was on the sidelines in wheelchair as team wore No. 23 towels as tribute.[14]
Roster
| 1979 Baylor Bears football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
|
Defense
|
Special teams
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team players drafted into the NFL
The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.[15]
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise |
| William Glass | Guard | 4 | 86 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Arland Thompson | Guard | 4 | 103 | Chicago Bears |
| Keith Bishop | Guard | 6 | 157 | Denver Broncos |
| Bo Taylor | Running back | Tampa Bay | ||
| Andrew Melontree | Linebacker | 6 | 159 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Gary Don Johnson | Defensive tackle | 7 | 168 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Kirk Collins | Defensive back | 7 | 176 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Thomas Brown | Defensive end | 11 | 302 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Frank Pollard | Running back | 11 | 305 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Howard Fields | Defensive back | 12 | 329 | Philadelphia Eagles |
Awards and honors
- Mike Singletary, (All-America) honors
- Mike Singletary, Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in the Southwest Conference.[16]
- Mike Singletary was the only college junior to be selected to the All-Southwest Conference Team of the 1970s.