American college football season
The 1979 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season . The team was led by Larry Smith . The Green Wave played home games in the Louisiana Superdome . The team finished with a record of 9–3 and played in the 1979 Liberty Bowl , losing 6–9 to Penn State .
The offense scored 318 points while the defense allowed 179 points. Two members of the Green Wave team were drafted into the National Football League.
The Wave opened the season by smashing Stanford 33-10, spoiling John Elway 's collegiate debut.
In the 77th edition of the Battle for the Rag , Tulane beat LSU 24–13 in what was LSU coach Charles McClendon 's final regular season game after 18 seasons.
Schedule [ edit ]
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 8 No. 13 Stanford W 33–1041,251
September 15 at Rice L 17–21
September 22 at TCU W 33–19
September 29 No. 19 SMU Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA W 24–1742,563
October 6 Vanderbilt Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA W 42–1427,873 [1]
October 13 at Southern Miss W 20–1930,028 [2]
October 20 at West Virginia L 17–2728,303
October 27 Georgia Tech Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA W 12–751,963
November 3 at Boston College W 43–812,236 [3]
November 10 Ole Miss Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (rivalry ) W 49–1545,647 [4]
November 24 LSU No. 18 ABC W 24–1373,496 [5]
December 22 vs. Penn State No. 15 ABC L 6–950,021
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[6] [7]
1979 Tulane Green Wave football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Team players in the NFL [ edit ]
[8]
References [ edit ]
^ "Tulane Green Wave crush Vandy, 42–14" . The Daily Advertiser . October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Tulane slips by Eagles" . The Daily Advertiser . October 14, 1979. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Tulane 43, Boston College 8" . St. Petersburg Times . November 4, 1979. p. 7C – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Rebs get smashed at Tulane party" . The Commercial Appeal . November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Wave rides crest into Liberty" . The Commercial Appeal . November 25, 1979. Retrieved October 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Tulane Football Historical Data" . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012 .
^ "1980 Preseason Football Poll" . College Poll Archive. Retrieved October 11, 2012 .
^ "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com" . Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
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