1979 Houston Cougars football team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5

1979 Southwest Conference football standings

	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
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 18th-year head coach Bill Yeoman and played their home games at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. They competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing as co-champions with Arkansas. This was Houston's second consecutive conference championship, and their third overall in their first four years as members of the conference.

The Cougars finished the season with a record of 11-1, their only loss was at home to the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns 21-13. Houston was invited to the 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic, played on New Years' Day, where they defeated seventh-ranked Nebraska. Houston finished ranked fifth in both major final polls.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 8	at UCLA*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 24–16
September 15	Florida*	No. 13	Astrodome Houston, TX	W 14–10
September 29	West Texas State*	No. 8	Astrodome Houston, TX	W 49–10
October 6	Baylor	No. 6	Astrodome Houston, TX	W 13–10
October 13	at Texas A&M	No. 7	Kyle Field College Station, TX	W 17–14
October 20	SMU	No. 5	Astrodome Houston, TX (rivalry)	W 37–10
October 27	at No. 4 Arkansas	No. 6	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	W 13–10
November 3	at TCU	No. 4	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 21–10
November 10	No. 8 Texas	No. 5	Astrodome Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 13–21
November 24	Texas Tech	No. 9	Astrodome Houston, TX	W 14–10
December 1	at Rice	No. 10	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (Bayou Bucket Classic)	W 63–0
January 1	vs. No. 7 Nebraska*	No. 8	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 17–14
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Houston Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 70 Leonard Mitchell Jr DT 79 Hosea Taylor Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bill Yeoman Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt