1979 Gator Bowl
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| 1979 Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 35th Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 28, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Gator Bowl Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Matt Kupec (North Carolina QB),[1] Amos Lawrence (North Carolina RB), John Wangler (Michigan QB), Anthony Carter (Michigan WR)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Clint Fuller (SWC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 70,407 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles and Dave Diles | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1979 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 1979. The North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference defeated the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference, 17–15.
An 8-1 start (With a loss to #9 Notre Dame) had propelled Michigan to be ranked at 10th in the polls, before a loss to #14 Purdue followed by a loss to #2 Ohio State at home. This made them fall to 14th position in the polls and they finished as 3rd in the Big Ten Conference.
The Tar Heels had started with a score of 4-0 and were ranked #14 before a loss to Wake Forest started a 1-3-1 middle stretch that ended with victories over Virginia and Duke to make them finish 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This was Michigan's first Gator Bowl appearance. This was North Carolina's third ever Gator Bowl appearance.
