1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The 1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Panthers competed in the 1980 Fiesta Bowl. Pitt was awarded the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the champion of the East.

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Eastern champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 16–10 vs. Arizona
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 7
1979 record11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorWally English (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple pro-style
Defensive coordinatorFoge Fazio (1st season)
Base defenseMultiple front
Home stadiumPitt Stadium
(Capacity: 56,500)
1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW 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
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   –  –   5 –6 –0
Miami   –  –   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

Schedule

In the Backyard Brawl, Pittsburgh was led by freshman quarterback Dan Marino. He directed Pitt to a 24–17 victory in the last college football game played at old Mountaineer Field.[1]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 151:30 p.m.KansasNo. 16W 24–041,545
September 221:00 p.m.at North CarolinaNo. 13L 7–1750,500
September 297:30 p.m.at TempleW 10–934,039
October 61:30 p.m.Boston College
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
W 28–737,146
October 1310:00 a.m.Cincinnati
W 35–031,620
October 204:30 p.m.at No. 12 WashingtonNo. 17W 26–1452,485
October 271:30 p.m.No. 17 NavyNo. 12
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
W 24–751,332
November 312:30 p.m.SyracuseNo. 12
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 28–2143,500
November 101:30 p.m.at West VirginiaNo. 12W 24–1738,681
November 171:30 p.m.at ArmyNo. 11W 40–031,689
December 112:30 p.m.at No. 20 Penn StateNo. 11ABCW 29–1476,958
December 253:30 p.m.vs. ArizonaNo. 10NBCW 16–1055,347

Roster

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
G 70 Emil Boures So
C 56 Russ Grimm Jr
T 64 Bob Gruber Sr
QB 13 Dan Marino Fr
T 73 Mark May Jr
RB 40 Randy McMillan Jr
WR 81 Cliff Moore
TE 84 Benjie Pryor Jr
WR 88 Ralph Still Sr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 68 Jerry Boyarsky Jr
DE 99 Hugh Green Jr
DE 87 Rickey Jackson Jr
DT 86 Greg Meisner Jr
DT 76 Bill Neill Jr
CB 3 Lynn Thomas Jr
SS 48 Carlton Williamson Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 5 Mark Schubert Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
Coaching Staff   Support Staff
  • Alex Kramer – Executive Assistant
  • Kevin Dickey – Recruiting Coordinator
  • Nick Gasparato – Graduate Assistant
  • Jerry Leith – Graduate Assistant
  • Nick Rapone – Graduate Assistant
  Strength and Conditioning Staff
  • Paul Stark – Weight, Strength Coach

[2]

Team players drafted into the NFL

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL Club
Jo Jo HeathDefensive Back6141Cincinnati Bengals
Bob GruberTackle10276Los Angeles Rams

[3]

References

Dan Marino quarterbacks Pitt in 35-0 rout of Cincinnati on October 13, 1979
  1. http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2007/12/the-backyard-brawl-100-years-of-wvu-and-pitt-football/
  2. "Coaches Biographies". 1979 Pitt Football. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1979. pp. 19–24. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  3. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1980.htm


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