1979 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1979 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 14–17 vs. Houston
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 9
Record	10–2 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (7th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Lance Van Zandt (3rd season)
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	1:30 pm	Utah State*	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 35–14	75,953	[1]
September 22	1:05 pm	at Iowa*	No. 7	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)		W 24–21	60,005	[2]
September 29	11:45 am	No. 18 Penn State*	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 42–17	76,151	[3]
October 6	1:30 pm	New Mexico State*	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 57–0	76,135	[4]
October 13	1:30 pm	Kansas	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 42–0	76,011	[5]
October 20	1:30 pm	at Oklahoma State	No. 3	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 36–0	51,000	[6]
October 27	1:30 pm	Colorado	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 38–10	76,158	[7]
November 3	1:30 pm	at Missouri	No. 2	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)		W 23–20	74,575	[8]
November 10	1:30 pm	at Kansas State	No. 2	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)		W 21–12	43,210	[9]
November 17	1:30 pm	Iowa State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 34–3	76,049	[10]
November 24	11:30 am	at No. 8 Oklahoma	No. 3	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–17	72,516	[11]
January 1, 1980	1:10 pm	vs. No. 8 Houston*	No. 7	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 14–17	72,032	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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Adams, Joe #64 (Jr.) OG Baker, Kim #41 (Jr.) LB Barnett, Bill #97 (Sr.) DT Bates, Phil (So.) FB Beach, Jim (So.) DB Bergkamp, Tim #36 (Jr.) PK Bess, Donnie (So.) DE Bloom, Jeff #50 (Sr.) C Boll, Peter (So.) OT Branch, Anthony #4 (So.) WB Brandl, Matt (So.) OG Brown, Kenny #22 (Sr.) WB Brown, Todd #29 (Fr.) SE Bruce, Mike #76 (Jr.) OT Bush, Anthony (So.) SE Carlstrom, Tom #78 (So.) OG Clark, David #63 (Jr.) DT Cole, Lawrence #81 (Sr.) DE Conneally, Jerry (So.) LB Damkroger, Steve #35 (Fr.) LB Davies, Steve #82 (Jr.) TE DeLoach, Trey #52 (Jr.) C England, Gary #70 (Jr.) OT Evans, Brent (So.) FB Finn, Jeff #87 (Jr.) TE Fischer, Dan #26 (So.) DB Franklin, Andra #39 (Jr.) FB Gary, Russell #9 (Jr.) DB Gdowski, Tom (So.) DT Gebert, Chris #14 (So.) QB Gemar, Scott #1 (Jr.) PK Gerlach, Dan (So.) DB Glathar, Kurt (So.) OG Goodspeed, Mark #72 (Sr.) OT Hager, Tim #10 (Sr.) QB Havekost, John #69 (Sr.) OG Hedrick, Brian #43 (Jr.) DT Hill, Dan (So.) TE Hineline, Curt #59 (So.) MG Hipp, I.M. #32 (Sr.) IB Holbrook, Tim (So.) DB Holmes, Daryl #94 (Jr.) DE		Horn, Rod #55 (Sr.) DT Huebert, Randy (So.) WB Hunt, Al #49 (So.) FB Hurley, Dan #73 (So.) OT Iodence, Brian (So.) DB Johnson, Brad (So.) C Johnson, Craig #30 (Jr.) IB Keith, Percy #21 (Jr.) IB Keuten, John #62 (Jr.) OG Kirk, Donnie #13 (So.) PK Knoll, Eric (So.) QB Kotera, Jim #44 (Jr.) FB Krejci, Jeff #2 (So.) DB Kwapick, Jeff (So.) OT Landwehr, Randy #27 (So.) IB Larsen, Pat (So.) DB Lee, Oudious #65 (Sr.) MG LeRoy, Mark #23 (Sr.) DB Letcher, Paul #8 (Sr.) DB Lewis, Rodney #5 (So.) DB Liegl, David #28 (Jr.) DB Lindquist, Ric #15 (So.) DB Lindstrom, Dan #98 (Jr.) DE Lingenfelter, Bruce (So.) OT Lynch, Greg (So.) OG Mandelko, Mike #68 (So.) OG Mathison, Bruce #19 (So.) QB Mauer, Mark #17 (So.) QB McCloney, Maurice #31 (So.) WB McCrady, Tim #24 (Jr.) WB McElroy, Mike (So.) C McWhirter, Steve #45 (Fr.) LB Means, Andy #34 (Jr.) DB Michaelson, Steve #18 (So.) QB Miles, Darwin #91 (So.) DE Miller, Junior #89 (Sr.) TE Minor, John #86 (Sr.) MG Moravec, Mark (So.) FB Nelson, Derrie #92 (Jr.) DE Noonan, John (So.) SE Nyden, Richard (Jr.) SE Pensick, Dan #93 (Sr.) DT		Peterson, Dick #83 (So.) TE Phillips, Patrick #94 (So.) DE Poppe, Scott (So.) LB Potadle, Paul #61 (Sr.) OG Quinn, Jeff #11 (Jr.) QB Rabas, Greg #85 (So.) TE Redwine, Jarvis #12 (Jr.) IB Reiners, Dan (So.) DE Rice, Dan #74 (Sr.) C Rimington, Dave #56 (Fr.) C Roark, Larry (So.) DB Ruud, John #46 (Sr.) LB Saalfeld, Kelly #57 (Sr.) C Santin, John (So.) DE Schleusener, Randy #53 (Jr.) OG Sculley, Mike (Jr.) MG Searcey, L.G. #37 (So.) DB Seibel, Kevin (Fr.) P/PK Sims, Sammy #6 (So.) DB Slobodnik, Tim (Fr.) DB Smith, Tim #84 (Sr.) SE Steels, Anthony #33 (So.) WB Steiner, Dan #58 (Sr.) OT Stocker, Kevin (Fr.) PK Sukup, Dean #3 (Sr.) PK Theiss, Randy (So.) OT Theissen, Gordon #90 (Sr.) DE Trent, Phil #16 (Fr.) DB Vair, Duke (So.) IB Van Lent, Bill (Fr.) DT Van Norman, Kris #38 (So.) DB Vergith, Tom (So.) WB Vering, Tom #47 (Sr.) LB Waechter, Henry #75 (So.) DT Wallace, Walter (So.) IB Wees, Dennis (So.) LB Weinmaster, Kerry #51 (Sr.) MG Williams, Jamie (Fr.) TE Williams, Brent (Jr.) LB Williams, Jimmy #96 (So.) DE Woodard, Scott #88 (Jr.) SE Wurth, Tim #25 (Sr.) FB

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma mater
Tom Osborne	Head coach Offensive coordinator	1973	1964–1997	Hastings College
Lance Van Zandt	Defensive coordinator Defensive backs	1977	1977–1980	Lamar
Charlie McBride	Defensive line	1977	1977–1999	Colorado
Cletus Fischer	Offensive line		1960–1985	Nebraska
John Melton	Linebackers	1973	1962–1988	Wyoming
Mike Corgan	Running backs	1962	1962–1982	Notre Dame
Boyd Epley	Head strength coach	1969	1969–2003	Nebraska
George Darlington	Defensive ends		1973–2002	Rutgers
Milt Tenopir	Offensive line	1974	1974–2002	Sterling
Gene Huey	Receivers	1977	1977–1986	Wyoming
Frank Solich	Head freshman coach	1979	1979–2003	Nebraska
Jack Pierce			1979–1991
Jake Cabell	Freshman Defensive Coordinator	1979	1979	Nebraska
Pat Fischer		1979	1979	Nebraska

Utah State at #8 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Utah State 6 8 0 0 14 • #8 Nebraska 7 7 7 14 35 Date: 1979-09-15 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,953

Nebraska started out the 1979 season with less than convincing power, as relatively unheralded Utah State was still in the game as the teams entered intermission tied at 14. After adjustments were made, coaching and conditioning put the distance between the two teams as the Aggies failed to score again while the Cornhuskers added 21 with the help of 455 yards on the ground for the day.

#7 Nebraska at Iowa [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #7 Nebraska 0 7 7 10 24 Iowa 7 0 14 0 21 Date: 1979-09-22 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 60,005

For the second week in a row, an unranked team came out strong against Nebraska, as Iowa scored first and held Nebraska to the 7-7 tie at the half. The situation wasn't looking up for the Cornhuskers as Iowa moved ahead to 21-14 by the end of the 3rd, but finally the Blackshirts put the brakes on Iowa's offensive output and eventually forced a fumble as the 4th quarter wound down which Nebraska successfully converted into the winning field goal before the Cornhuskers escaped Iowa City with the win.

#18 Penn State at #6 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #18 Penn State 14 0 3 0 17 • #6 Nebraska 0 28 0 14 42 Date: 1979-09-29 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,151

Nebraska continued their season trend of posting weak starts, as Penn State surged to a 14-point lead in the 1st quarter, but the Blackshirts seemed to figure out the Nittany Lions from that point forward, allowing only a 3rd-quarter field goal, while the Cornhusker offense came to life and put up 42 points to pass by Penn State and quell any hopes of an upset in Lincoln.

New Mexico State at #5 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total New Mexico State 0 0 0 0 0 • #5 Nebraska 21 10 19 7 57 Date: 1979-10-06 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,135

This game was all Nebraska, as IB Jarvis Redwine made his first start and racked up 120 yards in just 16 carries, leaving the game before halftime. Eighty four Cornhuskers saw playing time, including some true freshmen, as Nebraska coasted to an easy 57-0 pasting of the Aggies.

Kansas at #5 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 0 0 0 0 • #5 Nebraska 0 15 27 0 42 Date: 1979-10-13 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,011

Nebraska again dominated, although the Kansas defense prevented three of four touchdown attempts in the first half and forced the Cornhuskers to settle for field goals instead. This was little help for the Jayhawks, however, who could not muster any kind of response to get onto the scoreboard. By the end of the game, Kansas had acquired only 8 first downs, 79 total yards, and suffered 3 interceptions as Nebraska's 611 offensive yards allowed them to steamroll to a 42-0 shutout victory.

#3 Nebraska at Oklahoma State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #3 Nebraska 0 15 7 14 36 Oklahoma State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: 1979-10-20 Location: Lewis Field, Stillwater, Oklahoma Game attendance: 51,000

Nebraska settled into a remarkable groove, posting their 3rd straight shutout victory on the road in Stillwater. Two Nebraska runners exceeded 100 yards as the Cornhuskers rolled up 433 yards on the ground compared to only 37 by the Cowboys, who only crossed midfield twice.

Colorado at #2 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 3 7 0 0 10 • #2 Nebraska 7 10 14 7 38 Date: 1979-10-27 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,158

Colorado's only touchdown came on an interception return, which left intact a record 19 straight quarters that the Blackshirts had prevented a touchdown, while IB Jarvis Redwine amassed over 200 yards and three touchdowns as the Cornhuskers defeated the Buffaloes for the 12th consecutive time.

#2 Nebraska at Missouri [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Nebraska 7 10 3 3 23 Missouri 0 6 14 0 20 Date: 1979-11-03 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game attendance: 74,575

Nebraska pulled out to an early 20-6 lead shortly after halftime, and a relatively easy win seemed to be on the horizon, but someone forgot to tell Missouri to give up. The Tigers came right back, scoring 14 straight to tie the game at 20 as the 3rd quarter ended, and the game was on. Both teams struggled to make progress until Nebraska was able to muster a single field goal with a little over 3 minutes left to play, but the game was not decided until the final play, as Missouri opted out of the easy, game-tying field goal and went for the win from the Nebraska 11 with 3 seconds left, only for QB Phil Bradley to get sacked by the Blackshirts before he could unload the ball.

#2 Nebraska at Kansas State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Nebraska 7 0 7 7 21 Kansas State 6 0 6 0 12 Date: 1979-11-10 Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas Game attendance: 43,210

Kansas State turned over four interceptions, but it seemed as if Nebraska was intent on repaying the favor by losing five of seven fumbles to help keep the Wildcats in the game. By the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Wildcats trailed the Cornhuskers by just 2 points. Halfway through the 4th, Nebraska put up 7 more points to create some breathing room, and held off Kansas State until time expired.

Iowa State at #3 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 0 0 0 3 3 • #3 Nebraska 3 25 0 6 34 Date: 1979-11-17 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,049

Nebraska experienced yet another slow start as the 1st quarter ended with only a Cornhusker field goal on the board, but in the second quarter things seemed to fall into place as Nebraska posted another 25 points by halftime without any response from Iowa State. The Cyclones managed to avoid the shutout with a field goal in the 4th, but avoiding the disgrace of the shutout was about all they accomplished for the day as they departed Lincoln with a 3-34 loss on the books.

#3 Nebraska at #8 Oklahoma [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #3 Nebraska 0 7 0 7 14 • #8 Oklahoma 0 3 7 7 17 Date: 1979-11-24 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 71,187

A hard fought battle for the Big 8 title resulted in disappointment for Nebraska, who surrendered a 4-point halftime lead as Oklahoma overpowered the Blackshirts, who had been ranked #1 against the run leading up to this game. The final score of the day came from Nebraska's second-ever fumblerooski, picked up by All-American guard Randy Schleusener.

#7 Nebraska vs #8 Houston [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #7 Nebraska 7 0 0 7 14 • #8 Houston 0 7 0 10 17 Date: 1980-01-01 Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas Game start: 1:10 p.m. CST Game attendance: 72,032 Referee: Robert Aillet TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson, Frank Glieber and Paul Hornung

The Cornhuskers got onto the scoreboard first with a 1st-quarter touchdown, but offensive production stalled as Houston caught up and tied the Cornhuskers before halftime. The Cougars gave up an interception and lost three of seven fumbles during the game, giving Nebraska a 4-1 turnover margin edge, but Houston's passing and rushing efforts were successful enough to overcome the setbacks. Nebraska gained a slim 3-point lead with little more than 3 minutes to play, but Houston marched down the field and put one more touchdown into the end zone with just 12 seconds on the clock, handing Nebraska a loss to close the season.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	8	8	7	6	5	5	3	2	2	2	3	3	7	7	9
Coaches															7

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Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Junior Miller
All-America 2nd team	Mark Goodspeed, Jarvis Redwine, Kerry Weinmaster
All-America 3rd team	Kelly Saalfeld
All-America honorable mention	John Havekost, Rod Horn, Derrie Nelson, Kerry Weinmaster
Big 8 Newcomer of the Year	Jarvis Redwine
All-Big 8 1st team	Kenny Brown, John Havekost, Rod Horn, Junior Miller, Derrie Nelson, Jarvis Redwine, Kelly Saalfeld, Tim Smith, Dean Sukup, Kerry Weinmaster
All-Big 8 2nd team	Bill Barnett, Mark Goodspeed, Andy Means, Randy Schleusener, Tim Smith
All-Big 8 honorable mention	Lawrence Cole, Andra Franklin, I. M. Hipp, Mark LeRoy, Dan Steiner, Tom Vering, Brent Williams

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1979 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.^[17]

Name	Team
Bill Barnett	Miami Dolphins
Todd Brown	Montreal Concordes
Andra Franklin	Miami Dolphins
Russell Gary	New Orleans Saints
Mark Goodspeed	St. Louis Cardinals
Rod Horn	Cincinnati Bengals
Dan Hurley	Boston Breakers
Brad Johnson	Boston Breakers
Oudious Lee	St. Louis Cardinals
Rodney Lewis	New Orleans Saints
Allen Lyday	Houston Oilers
Bruce Mathison	San Diego Chargers
Junior Miller	Atlanta Falcons
Derrie Nelson	San Diego Chargers
Jeff Quinn	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jarvis Redwine	Minnesota Vikings
Dave Rimington	Cincinnati Bengals
Kevin Seibel	Chicago Blitz
Anthony Steels	Boston Breakers
Henry Waechter	Chicago Bears
Jamie Williams	St. Louis Cardinals
Jimmy Williams	Detroit Lions