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1979 Baylor Bears football team

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American college football season

1979 Baylor Bears football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 24–18 vs. Clemson
ConferenceSouthwest Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
APNo. 14
Record8–4 (5–3 SWC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJohn O'Hara (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinatorDuke Christian (1st season)
Offensive schemeI formation
Home stadiumBaylor Stadium
Seasons← 19781980 →
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 Baylor Bears football team represented the Baylor University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Bears finished the regular season fourth in the Southwest Conference. A win over Clemson in the Peach Bowl capped the season.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 8Lamar*W 20–725,000
September 15Texas A&MW 17–748,500
September 22at No. 2 Alabama*L 0–4577,512
September 29Texas TechW 27–1735,800
October 6at No. 6 HoustonL 10–1337,142
October 13at SMUW 24–2165,101
October 20at Army*W 55–032,591
October 27TCUW 16–336,250
November 10at No. 9 ArkansasNo. 17L 20–2943,284
November 17RiceNo. 20
  • Baylor Stadium
  • Waco, TX
W 45–1428,500
November 24at No. 6 TexasNo. 17L 0–1363,288
December 31vs. No. 18 Clemson*No. 19W 24–1857,321
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Peach Bowl

#19 Baylor vs. #17 Clemson
1 234Total
• Baylor 0 14100 24
Clemson 7 038 18
Scoring summary
1CLEMBrown 1-yard run (Ariri kick)CLEM 7-0
2BAYTaylor 3-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick)Tied 7-7
2BAYHolt 24-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick)BAY 14-7
3CLEMAriri 40-yard field goalBAY 14-10
3BAYBledsoe 29-yard field goalBAY 17-10
3BAYCockrell 7-yard pass from Brannon (Bledsoe kick)BAY 24-10
4CLEMMcSwain 1-yard run (Lott to McCall pass)BAY 24-18

Freshman DB Kyle Woods, who injured his neck in preseason practice, spoke to the team before the game and was on the sidelines in wheelchair as team wore No. 23 towels as tribute.

Roster

1979 Baylor Bears football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 34 Walter Abercrombie So
OL 57 Ron Barnes Sr
OT 54 Keith Bishop Sr
QB 7 Mike Brannan Fr
TE 80 Raymond Cockrell Jr
G 60 Frank Ditta Jr
RB 3 Dennis Gentry So
G 79 Bill Glass Sr
WR 17 Robert Holt Jr
TE 86 Sam Houston Fr
OT 72 Brent Jones Sr
C 58 Buzzy Nelson So
FB 30 Frank Pollard Sr
WR 5 Bo Taylor Sr
OT 51 Arland Thompson Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 90 Thomas Brown Sr
DL 78 Joe Campbell Jr
DB 42 Kirk Collins Sr
LB 53 Paul Hurst Sr
LB 46 Doak Field Jr
CB 44 Howard Fields Sr
SS 16 Vann McElroy So
DE 89 Andrew Melontree Sr
LB 63 Mike Singletary Jr
LB 49 Lester Ward Jr
DB 32 Thomas Earl Young Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
William Glass Guard 4 86 Cincinnati Bengals
Arland Thompson Guard 4 103 Chicago Bears
Keith Bishop Guard 6 157 Denver Broncos
Bo Taylor Running back Tampa Bay
Andrew Melontree Linebacker 6 159 Cincinnati Bengals
Gary Don Johnson Defensive tackle 7 168 Cincinnati Bengals
Kirk Collins Defensive back 7 176 Los Angeles Rams
Thomas Brown Defensive end 11 302 Philadelphia Eagles
Frank Pollard Running back 11 305 Pittsburgh Steelers
Howard Fields Defensive back 12 329 Philadelphia Eagles

Awards and honors

References

  1. "Baylor Bears bite upstart Lamar, 20–7". The Paris News. September 9, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Clean-shaven Aggies lose to Bears, 17–7". The Abilene Reporter-News. September 16, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Alabama feasts on Bear meat, 45–0". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 23, 1979. Retrieved February 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Baylor posts comeback victory over Texas Tech". The State. September 30, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "UH outscraps Bears 13–10". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Baylor wins on late FG". The Victoria Advocate. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Army emparrassed 55–0". Mount Vernon Argus. October 21, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Baylor rolls by TCU, 16–3". San Angelo Standard-Times. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Hogs rally past Bears". The Marshall News Messenger. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Baylor whips Rice, 45 to 14". The News and Daily Advance. November 18, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Texas stops Baylor cold". Poughkeepsie Journal. November 25, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Baylor's passing game shocks Clemson". The Odessa American. January 1, 1980. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "1979 Baylor Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  14. "Injured player spurs Baylor to Peach win." Eugene Register-Guard. pg. 18. 1980 January 1.
  15. "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
  16. "HickokSports.com - History - Davey O'Brien Award". Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
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