1979 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

American college football season

1979 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 17–15 vs. Michigan
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 15
Record	8–3–1 (3–3 ACC)
Head coach	Dick Crum (2nd season)
Captain	Buddy Curry
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons← 1978 1980 →

1979 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
NC State $	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Clemson	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Maryland	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest	3	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 15 North Carolina	3	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Virginia	1	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Duke	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 North Carolina Tar Heels football team was an American football team that represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Dick Crum, the Tar Heels complied an overall record of 8–3–1, with a conference record of 3–3, and finished fifth in the ACC.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	1:00 p.m.	South Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	Raycom	W 28–0	49,500
September 22	1:00 p.m.	No. 13 Pittsburgh*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	Raycom	W 17–7	50,550
September 29	2:00 p.m.	at Army*	No. 20	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	Raycom	W 41–3	32,157
October 6	1:00 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 18	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	Raycom	W 35–14	49,000
October 13	1:00 p.m.	Wake Forest	No. 14	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	ABC	L 19–24	50,720
October 20	4:00 p.m.	at No. 15 NC State	No. 19	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	ABC	W 35–21	54,200
October 27	1:00 p.m.	East Carolina*	No. 15	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	Raycom	T 24–24	49,700
November 3	1:30 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 18	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	Raycom	L 14–17	35,618
November 10	1:00 p.m.	No. 18 Clemson		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	Raycom	L 10–19	50,100
November 17	1:30 p.m.	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (rivalry)	Raycom	W 13–7	31,472
November 24	1:30 p.m.	at Duke		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)	Raycom	W 37–16	39,800
December 28	9:00 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Michigan*		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	W 17–15	70,407
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1979 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
C	`51`	Rick Donnalley	Jr
QB	`12`	Matt Kupec	Sr
RB	`20`	Amos Lawrence	Jr
RB	`25`	Doug Paschal	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`57`	Buddy Curry	Sr
LB	`98`	Lawrence Taylor	Jr
DT	`76`	Donnell Thompson	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Dick Crum

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

1979 team players in the NFL

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

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Buddy Curry	Linebacker	2	36	Atlanta Falcons
Doug Paschal	Running back	5	121	Minnesota Vikings
Phil Farris	Wide receiver	11	297	Denver Broncos

References

"Tar Heels get their kicks in 28–0 win". The Charlotte Observer. September 9, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"North Carolina upsets 13th-ranked Pitt, 17–7". The Des Moines Register. September 23, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Lawrence stars as unbeaten Tar Heels rout Army, 41–3". The Tampa Tribune. September 30, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Heels rally, avery upset". Durham Morning Herald. October 7, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Wake Forest stuns UNC". Daily Press. October 14, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Tar Heels subdue Wolfpack". Winston-Salem Journal. October 21, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Smoocher! Heels, Bucs tie one on". The News and Observer. October 28, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Tice, Castro lead Terps by Tar Heels". The News and Observer. November 4, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Tigers boot Heels". The Greenville News. November 11, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Tar Heels defeat Cavaliers, 13–7". The Sun-News. November 18, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Lawrence, UNC rush past Duke". Winston-Salem Journal. November 25, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Michigan loses in Gator, 17–15". Detroit Free Press. December 29, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1979 North Carolina Tar Heels Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
"1980 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2012.

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels football
Venues	Emerson Field (1916–1926) Kenan Memorial Stadium (1927–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Duke: Victory Bell NC State South Carolina Virginia: South's Oldest Rivalry Wake Forest
Culture & lore	First forward pass Rameses The Marching Tar Heels 2010 football scandal 2011 academic-athletic scandal
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 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 2025

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