1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team

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.

1979 Tennessee Volunteers football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 22–27 vs. Purdue
Conference	Southeastern Conference
1979 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

1979 Southeastern Conference football standings
	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

Schedule

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

• Reference:[1]

Personnel

1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 34 James Berry So OG 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 OG 68 Mike Jester Jr C 59 Alan Lynn Sr OG 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 OG 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 (OC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

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

[2]

Vanderbilt

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

	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
• [3]

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

• References:[4][5]

References

General

• 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book (PDF). Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Athletics Media Relations Office. 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2012.

Specific

1. 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book, p. 125
2. "Late Field Goal Lifts Tennessee." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Nov 25.
3. "Vols bash Vandy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Dec 02. Pg. 7E. Retrieved 2020-Dec-11.
4. 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book, p. 101
5. "1980 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012.