1980 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw a university from the state of Georgia take its first national title since 1942.

1980 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams138[1]
Preseason AP No. 1Ohio State[2]
Post-season
Bowl games15
Heisman TrophyGeorge Rogers (running back, South Carolina)
Champion(s)Georgia
Division I-A football seasons
← 1979
1981 →

Nine days following the bowl games to close the 1979 season, tragedy struck when new LSU coach Bo Rein died when the plane he was flying in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia. Rein, who coached North Carolina State to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1979, was named on November 30 of that year as the successor to Charles McClendon, who coached LSU to a 137–59–7 mark from 1962 through 1979. Jerry Stovall, a former LSU All-American and St. Louis Cardinals defensive back, was named to succeed Rein approximately 36 hours after the crash.

The Georgia Bulldogs starred freshman running back Herschel Walker, who made his NCAA debut against Tennessee. Down 15–2 at halftime, Georgia sent in Walker, the third string running back at the time, to try to light a spark. Walker ran over All-American safety Bill Bates, in a play that would set the tempo for the rest of his career.

This year was the final season in which long time rivals Rutgers and Princeton played against each other. The rivalry between the New Jersey schools has not been played since.

This year's edition of Florida–Georgia game was won on a last minute 92 yard pass from Georgia's own endzone, known by the play by play call "Run, Lindsay, run!".

The Bulldogs ran through the rest of the season unscathed, beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Walker rushed for 150 yards against Notre Dame, a defense which had not given up a hundred-yard game that whole season. He did this with a dislocated shoulder.

The Pittsburgh Panthers also had a stellar season, led by defensive end Hugh Green. The team went 11–1 and finished ranked No. 2, finishing the season with a rout of South Carolina and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers in the Gator Bowl. 29 players from this team went on the play in the NFL.

Florida State defeated No. 3 ranked Nebraska on the Cornhuskers' home turf, and the following week defeated the No. 2 ranked Pitt Panthers

It was an unusual year for the Pac-10 as 5 of its 10 members were placed on probation by the conference (but not the NCAA) including traditional powers USC and UCLA, along with both Oregon schools and Arizona State. So half the conference was ineligible for bowl games and it was feared that the 4th or 5th-place finisher would end up in the Rose Bowl. Ironically, USC and UCLA both got as high as No. 2 in the polls before being upset. As it turned out, the probation didn't matter as Washington won the conference outright with a 6–1 record.

This year's edition of the Holiday Bowl was a classic as the BYU staged a fourth quarter comeback, led by future NFL star Jim McMahon. Down 45–25 to SMU with less than four minutes left, McMahon threw three touchdown passes, including a Hail Mary as time expired, caught in the endzone by Clay Brown, despite being surrounded by three SMU defenders.

Rules changes
  • Offensive linemen are permitted full arm extension on so-called "retreat" blocking during pass plays, and clenched hands are permitted.
  • The "chop block" (a second offensive player blocking a defensive player below the knees while engaged with another offensive player) is outlawed.
  • A tie-breaker system was proposed for the post-season (similar to the one adopted for the 1995 post-season, except the start of overtime was at the 15–yard line and no defensive scores allowed), but failed to gain acceptance by the bowls.
  • Facemasking now includes grabbing the helmet as well as the facemask.

Conference and program changes
School1979 Conference1980 Conference
Air Force FalconsIndependentWAC

Season recap

The pre season poll had a top six of 1. Ohio State, 2. Alabama, 3. Pittsburgh, 4. USC, 5. Oklahoma, and 6. Nebraska. Also of note is that Georgia was ranked 16th. For the first month of the season, the top 6 teams did not change, although there was some movement within the top 6. Going into games on September 27, the poll was 1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Nebraska, 4. Oklahoma, 5. USC, and 6. Pittsburgh. On that day, Oklahoma lost at home to John Elway and Stanford, 31–14. Texas replaced Oklahoma in the top 5, and the new rankings were 1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Nebraska, 4. USC, and 5. Texas.

October

On October 4, No. 2 Ohio State was shut out at home by No. 11 UCLA, 17–0. Nebraska was also upset at home, losing to No. 16 Florida State 18–14. The new poll was 1. Alabama, 2. USC, 3. Texas, 4. Pittsburgh, and 5. UCLA.

On October 11, No. 4 Pittsburgh suffered their only loss of the season, losing to No. 11 Florida State in Tallahassee by a score of 36–22. It was one of only two games all season in which the stout Panthers allowed more than 14 points. Undefeated Notre Dame, with three wins over top 20 teams, joined the top 5 after their 32–14 win over No. 13 Miami. The new poll was 1. Alabama, 2. USC, 3. Texas, 4. UCLA, and 5. Notre Dame.

On October 18, No. 2 USC got bogged down in the rain at Oregon and had to settle for a 7–7 tie. Thus the Trojans fell out of the top 5, to be replaced by undefeated Georgia. The new poll was 1. Alabama, 2. Texas, 3. UCLA, 4. Notre Dame, and 5. Georgia.

On October 25, for the 5th straight week, a top 5 team lost. This time, it was No. 2 Texas falling to SMU by a score of 20–6. Texas would end up losing 5 of its last 7 games after a 5–0 start. Florida State would take the Longhorns place in the new top 5 that was 1. Alabama, 2. UCLA, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Georgia, and 5. Florida State.

November

After 5 straight weeks of major upsets, November 1 may have been the craziest day of all. Alabama, who had held the top ranking for 6 weeks, was knocked off by Mississippi State, 6–3. Having heard the news that Alabama lost, No. 2 UCLA went out and promptly lost to Arizona in Tucson, 23–17. USC and Nebraska re-entered the top 5. The new poll was 1. Notre Dame, 2. Georgia, 3. Florida State, 4. USC, and 5. Nebraska.

The madness continued on November 8 as new No. 1 Notre Dame was held to a 3–3 tie by Georgia Tech, dropping the Irish to No. 6. 2nd ranked Georgia trailed rival No. 20 Florida late in the game when QB Buck Belue hit WR Lindsay Scott on an out pattern; Scott turned up field and went 90 yards for the winning score in the season's most memorable play. It was Scott's only touchdown reception all season and it gave the Bulldogs a 26–21 win. Alabama would take Notre Dame's place in the top five of the new poll that was 1. Georgia, 2. USC, 3. Florida State, 4. Nebraska, and 5. Alabama.

The surprises continued the following week on November 15. No. 2 USC lost at home to Washington as the Huskies clinched the Pac-10 title. No. 6 Notre Dame went down to Birmingham and beat No. 5 Alabama 7–0; this win vaulted the Irish over Alabama, Nebraska, and Florida State to No. 2 in the new poll. Ohio State, who started at No. 1 and had just the one loss to UCLA, returned to the top 5 that was 1. Georgia, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Florida State, 4. Nebraska, and 5. Ohio State.

On November 22, in the showdown for the Big 8 title and Orange Bowl berth, No. 4 Nebraska was dumped at home by No. 9 Oklahoma, 21–17. In the game to decide the Big 10 title and Rose Bowl berth, No. 10 Michigan beat No. 5 Ohio State in Columbus, 9–3. No. 6 Pittsburgh returned to the top 5 by winning at No. 7 Penn State, 14–9. The new poll was 1. Georgia, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Florida State, 4. Pittsburgh, and 5. Oklahoma.

Although there were still games left to be played, the major bowls extended their invitations. Top ranked Georgia earned a Sugar Bowl berth by virtue of its SEC championship and Notre Dame was invited to play them in a 1 vs. 2 matchup. No. 5 Oklahoma earned the Big 8's Orange Bowl berth and would play No. 3 Florida State. 6th ranked Michigan would face No. 16 Washington in the Rose Bowl, while No. 7 Baylor earned the Cotton Bowl berth by winning the SWC. Most people assumed No. 4 Pittsburgh would earn a major bowl bid and face Baylor, but the Cotton Bowl opted for No. 9 Alabama instead. The Fiesta Bowl also passed over Pitt, inviting No. 11 Ohio State and No. 10 Penn State (who had just lost to Pittsburgh). Thus, Pittsburgh had to settle for a Gator Bowl bid vs. No. 18 South Carolina and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers.

On December 6, No. 17 USC spoiled the 1 vs. 2 Sugar Bowl matchup by upsetting No. 2 Notre Dame by a score of 20–3. The final regular season top five was 1. Georgia, 2. Florida State, 3. Pittsburgh, 4. Oklahoma, and 5. Michigan.

Conference standings
1980 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 10 North Carolina $ 6 –0 –0  11 –1 –0
Maryland 5 –1 –0  8 –4 –0
NC State 3 –3 –0  6 –5 –0
Clemson 2 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Wake Forest 2 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Virginia 2 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Duke 1 –5 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Oklahoma $ 7 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 7 Nebraska 6 –1 –0  10 –2 –0
Missouri 5 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
Iowa State 3 –4 –0  7 –4 –0
Oklahoma State 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Kansas State 2 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Kansas 1 –6 –0  2 –8 –1
Colorado 1 –6 –0  1 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Michigan $ 8 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 15 Ohio State 7 –1 –0  9 –3 –0
No. 17 Purdue 7 –1 –0  9 –3 –0
Iowa 4 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Minnesota 4 –5 –0  5 –6 –0
Indiana 3 –5 –0  6 –5 –0
Wisconsin 3 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Illinois 3 –5 –0  3 –7 –1
Michigan State 2 –6 –0  3 –8 –0
Northwestern 0 –9 –0  0 –11 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Ivy League football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Yale $ 6 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Cornell 5 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
Harvard 4 –3 –0  7 –3 –0
Brown 4 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Princeton 4 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Dartmouth 4 –3 –0  4 –6 –0
Penn 1 –6 –0  1 –9 –0
Columbia 0 –7 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1980 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Central Michigan $ 7 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
Western Michigan 6 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Northern Illinois 4 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Miami 4 –3 –0  5 –6 –0
Ball State 5 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Ohio 5 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Bowling Green 4 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Toledo 3 –6 –0  4 –7 –0
Kent State 3 –6 –0  3 –8 –0
Eastern Michigan 1 –7 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1980 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Tulsa $ 4 –1 –0  8 –3 –0
Wichita State 4 –1 –1  5 –5 –1
Indiana State 4 –2 –0  6 –5 –0
Drake 3 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
West Texas State 2 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
New Mexico State 1 –4 –1  3 –7 –1
Southern Illinois 1 –5 –0  3 –8 –0
Illinois State   –    4 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Illinois State was admitted to the MVC in June, 1980; ineligible for championship
1980 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Long Beach State $ 5 –0 –0  8 –3 –0
Utah State 4 –1 –0  6 –5 –0
San Jose State 3 –2 –0  7 –4 –0
Fresno State 1 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Cal State Fullerton 1 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Pacific (CA) 1 –4 –0  4 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 16 Washington $ 6 –1 –0  9 –3 –0
No. 13 UCLA 5 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 11 USC 4 –2 –1  8 –2 –1
Arizona State 5 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Oregon 4 –3 –1  6 –3 –2
Stanford 3 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Arizona 3 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Washington State 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
California 3 –5 –0  3 –8 –0
Oregon State 0 –8 –0  0 –11 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Georgia $ 6 –0 –0  12 –0 –0
No. 19 Mississippi State 5 –1 –0  9 –3 –0
No. 6 Alabama 5 –1 –0  10 –2 –0
LSU 4 –2 –0  7 –4 –0
Florida 4 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
Tennessee 3 –3 –0  5 –6 –0
Ole Miss 2 –4 –0  3 –8 –0
Kentucky 1 –5 –0  3 –8 –0
Auburn 0 –6 –0  5 –6 –0
Vanderbilt 0 –6 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Furman $ 7 –0 –0  9 –1 –0
Chattanooga 5 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
Appalachian State 4 –2 –1  6 –4 –1
The Citadel 3 –2 –0  7 –4 –0
Western Carolina 2 –4 –1  3 –7 –1
VMI 1 –4 –1  3 –7 –1
East Tennessee State 1 –4 –0  2 –9 –0
Marshall 0 –5 –1  2 –8 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southland Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
McNeese State $ 5 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
Southwestern Louisiana 4 –1 –0  7 –4 –0
Texas–Arlington 3 –2 –0  3 –8 –0
Louisiana Tech 2 –3 –0  5 –6 –0
Lamar 1 –4 –0  3 –8 –0
Arkansas State 0 –5 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1980 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 14 Baylor $ 8 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 20 SMU 5 –3 –0  8 –4 –0
Houston 5 –3 –0  7 –5 –0
Texas 4 –4 –0  7 –5 –0
Rice 4 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Arkansas 3 –5 –0  7 –5 –0
Texas A&M 3 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Texas Tech 3 –5 –0  5 –6 –0
TCU 1 –7 –0  1 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 12 BYU $ 6 –1 –0  12 –1 –0
Colorado State 5 –1 –1  6 –4 –1
Hawaii 3 –3 –0  8 –3 –0
Wyoming 4 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
San Diego State 4 –4 –0  4 –8 –0
New Mexico 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Utah 2 –3 –1  5 –5 –1
Air Force 1 –3 –0  2 –9 –1
UTEP 1 –6 –0  1 –11 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Pittsburgh   –  –   11 –1 –0
No. 5 Florida State   –  –   10 –2 –0
No. 8 Penn State   –  –   10 –2 –0
No. 9 Notre Dame   –  –   9 –2 –1
No. 18 Miami (FL)   –  –   9 –3 –0
Southern Miss   –  –   9 –3 –0
Navy   –  –   8 –4 –0
South Carolina   –  –   8 –4 –0
Virginia Tech   –  –   8 –4 –0
Boston College   –  –   7 –4 –0
Northeast Louisiana   –  –   7 –4 –0
Rutgers   –  –   7 –4 –0
UNLV   –  –   7 –4 –0
Tulane   –  –   7 –5 –0
Colgate   –  –   5 –4 –1
North Texas State   –  –   6 –5 –0
Villanova   –  –   6 –5 –0
West Virginia   –  –   6 –6 –0
Louisville   –  –   5 –6 –0
Richmond   –  –   5 –6 –0
Syracuse   –  –   5 –6 –0
East Carolina   –  –   4 –7 –0
Illinois State   –  –   4 –7 –0
Temple   –  –   4 –7 –0
Army   –  –   3 –7 –1
Holy Cross   –  –   3 –8 –0
Cincinnati   –  –   2 –9 –0
Memphis State   –  –   2 –9 –0
William & Mary   –  –   2 –9 –0
Georgia Tech   –  –   1 –9 –1
Rankings from AP Poll

No. 1 and No. 2 Progress
WEEKS No. 1 No. 2 Event
PRE Ohio State Alabama
1-3 Alabama Ohio State UCLA 17, Ohio State 0 (Oct. 4)
4-5 Alabama USC Oregon 7, USC 7 (Oct 18)
6 Alabama Texas SMU 20, Texas 6 (Oct 25)
7 Alabama UCLA Miss. St 6, Alabama 3 (Nov. 1) & Arizona 23, UCLA 17 (Nov. 1)
8 Notre Dame Georgia Ga. Tech 3, Notre Dame 3 (Nov. 8)
9 Georgia USC Washington 20, USC 10 (Nov 15)
10-11 Georgia Florida State USC 20, Notre Dame 3 (Dec 6)
12 Georgia Pittsburgh End Regular Season

Notable rivalry games
  • Notre Dame 29, Michigan 27
  • Rutgers 44, Princeton 13 (Final meeting)
  • Michigan 9, Ohio State 3
  • No. 9 Oklahoma 21, No. 5 Nebraska 17
  • UCLA 20, USC 17
  • Pitt 14, Penn State 9
  • California 28, Stanford 23
  • No. 1 Georgia 38, Georgia Tech 20
  • LSU 24, Tulane 7
  • USC 20, No. 2 Notre Dame 3

Bowl games

Other Bowls

Final AP and UPI rankings
Main article: 1980 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Rank AP UPI
1. Georgia Georgia
2. Pittsburgh Pittsburgh
3. Oklahoma Oklahoma
4. Michigan Michigan
5. Florida State Florida State
6. Alabama Alabama
7. Nebraska Nebraska
8. Penn State Penn State
9. Notre Dame North Carolina
10. North Carolina Notre Dame
11. UCLA BYU
12. BYU UCLA
13. USC Baylor
14. Baylor USC
15. Ohio State Ohio State
16. Washington Purdue
17. Purdue Washington
18. Miami (FL) Miami (FL)
19. Mississippi St. Florida
20. SMU SMU

Heisman Trophy
  1. George Rogers, RB, South Carolina, 1,128 points
  2. Hugh Green DE, Pittsburgh, 861
  3. Herschel Walker RB, Georgia, 683
  4. Mark Herrmann QB, Purdue, 405
  5. Jim McMahon QB, BYU, 189
  6. Art Schlichter, QB, Ohio State, 158
  7. Neil Lomax, QB, Portland State, 69
  8. Jarvis Redwine, RB, Nebraska, 64
  9. Kenny Easley, DB, UCLA, 44
  10. Anthony Carter, WR, Michigan, 34
  11. Mike Singletary, LB, Baylor
  12. Dave Wilson, QB, Illinois
  • Walker was a freshman, McMahon (redshirt) and Schlichter were juniors, and Carter was a sophomore. All others listed were seniors.

Source:[3][4]

Other major awards
  • Maxwell - Hugh Green, DE, Pittsburgh
  • Outland – Mark May, OT, Pittsburgh
  • Camp - Hugh Green, DE, Pittsburgh
  • Lombardi - Hugh Green, DE, Pittsburgh

References
  • Pitt To Honor Mark May and The 1980 Panthers At Homecoming This Weekend, retrieved 2007-07-25
  1. http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf1980.htm
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2009-01-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Rogers wins Heisman Trophy". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 1, 1980. p. 1B.
  4. "Rogers selected Heisman winner". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). UPI. December 1, 1980. p. 21.
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