1979 Florida State Seminoles football team

1979 Florida State Seminoles football
1979 Florida State Seminoles football
Orange Bowl, L 7–24 vs. Oklahoma
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 6
Record	11–1
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	George Henshaw (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jack Stanton (4th season)
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium; (Capacity: 47,413)
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		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
Tennessee State		–		–		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 State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		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

The 1979 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Florida State finished #6 in the AP poll and #8 in the UPI poll with an 11–1 record. The Seminoles' offense scored 326 points while the defense allowed 160 points. The Seminoles finished the regular season unbeaten for only the second time in program history and played in the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	Southern Miss	No. 19	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, Florida		W 17–14	45,467
September 15	vs. Arizona State	No. 18	Tampa Stadium Tampa, Florida		W 31–3	33,484
September 22	Miami (FL)	No. 14	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, Florida (rivalry)		W 40–23	47,679
September 29	at Virginia Tech	No. 12	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, Virginia	ABC	W 17–10	39,200
October 6	at Louisville	No. 9	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky		W 27–0	27,306
October 13	Mississippi State	No. 9	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, Florida		W 17–6	48,701
October 27	at LSU	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, Louisiana	ABC	W 24–19	67,197
November 3	at Cincinnati	No. 6	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati		W 26–21	14,539
November 10	No. 19 South Carolina	No. 7	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, Florida		W 27–7	49,490
November 17	Memphis State	No. 5	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee		W 66–17	48,021
November 23	at Florida	No. 5	Florida Field Gainesville, Florida (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–16	58,262
January 1	vs. No. 5 Oklahoma	No. 6	Miami Orange Bowl Miami (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 7–24	66,714
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Season summary

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Southern Miss	0	7	7	0	14
• Florida St	3	0	0	14	17

Date: September 8
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium

^[1]

Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona St	0	0	3	0	3
• Florida St	7	17	0	7	31

Date: September 15
Location: Tampa Stadium

^[2]

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	7	0	0	16	23
• Florida St	3	16	14	7	40

Date: September 22
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium

^[3]

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	0	14	3	0	17
Virginia Tech	7	0	3	0	10

Date: September 29
Location: Lane Stadium
Television network: ABC

^[4]

Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	7	8	9	3	27
Louisville	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 6
Location: Cardinal Stadium

^[5]

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miss St	0	0	0	6	6
• Florida St	0	14	3	0	17

Date: October 13
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium

^[6]

LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	7	7	0	10	24
LSU	0	13	0	6	19

Date: October 27
Location: Tiger Stadium
Television network: ABC

^[7]

Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	7	0	0	19	26
Cincinnati	0	21	0	0	21

Date: November 3
Location: Nippert Stadium

^[8]

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Carolina	0	7	0	0	7
• Florida St	10	6	0	11	27

Date: November 10
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium

^[9]

Memphis State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Memphis St	3	0	0	14	17
• Florida St	3	21	28	14	66

Date: November 17
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium

^[10]

Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	3	7	0	17	27
Florida	0	0	10	6	16

Date: November 23
Location: Florida Field
Game attendance: 58,263
Television network: ABC

^[11]

Orange Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Oklahoma	0	17	0	7	24
Florida St	7	0	0	0	7

Date: January 1
Location: Orange Bowl

^[12]

Roster

1979 Florida State Seminoles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`63`	Lee Adams	Jr
C	`52`	Willie Andrusko	So
WR	`88`	Jeff Bowden	So
OT	`75`	Tom Brannon	Jr
G	`61`	Brent Brock	Jr
WR	`23`	Jackie Flowers	Sr
QB	`4`	Rick Houston	Sr
QB	`15`	Jimmy Jordan	Sr
OT	`72`	Ken Lanier	Jr
WR	`18`	Joe Moss	So
TE	`81`	Zeke Mowatt	Fr
QB	`11`	Rick Stockstill	So
WR	`82`	Lawrence Strainge	So
WR	`9`	Greg Thompson	Fr
WR	`19`	Kurt Unglaub	Sr
FB	`26`	Wade Wallace	Sr
FB	`27`	Michael Whiting	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`21`	Bobby Butler	Jr
DT	`76`	Walter Carter	Sr
DT	`91`	John Diamantas	So
DB	`20`	Jeff Ector	Fr
DB	`43`	Hector Gray	Sr
DT	`60`	Scott McLean	So
DT	`77`	Jeremy Mindlin	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`3`	Rohn Stark	So

Head coach

Bobby Bowden

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Awards and honors

Monk Bonasorte

Associated Press – 3rd Team All-American

Bobby Butler

Associated Press – All-American – Honorable Mention

Jackie Flowers

Football News – 2nd Team All-American
United Press International – 2nd Team All-American
Associated Press – All-American – Honorable Mention
The Sporting News – All-American – Honorable Mention

Mike Good

Associated Press – All-American – Honorable Mention

Ken Lanier

Associated Press – All-American – Honorable Mention

Ron Simmons

American Football Coaches Association – 1st Team All-American
Associated Press – 1st Team All-American
Walter Camp – 1st Team All-American
Football News – 1st Team All-American
Kodak – 1st Team All-American
United Press International – 1st Team All-American
NCAA – Consensus All-American
The Sporting News – All-American – Honorable Mention

Scott Warren

Churchman's – 1st Team All-American
Associated Press – All-American – Honorable Mention

^[13]

References

^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.
^ http://nolefan.org/football/football_pros.html#award

[1] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[2] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[3] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[4] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[5] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[6] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[7] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[8] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[9] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[10] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[11] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[12] NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2015-Nov-24.

[13] ttp://nolefan.org/football/football_pros.html#award

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v t e Florida State Seminoles football
Venues	Centennial Field (1947–1949) Doak Campbell Stadium (1950–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Florida Cup Clemson Florida Miami Virginia
Culture & lore	Osceola and Renegade The War Chant Marching Chiefs FSU Hymns Sod Cemetery #22 Wide Right I Wide Right II 1993 'Game of the Century' Choke at Doak/The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter Bob Crenshaw Award Tomahawk chop
People	Alumni Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders Annual awards
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905–1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold