1979_Baylor_Bears_football_team Knowpia

1979 Baylor Bears football
1979 Baylor Bears football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 24–18 vs. Clemson
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 14
Record	8–4 (5–3 SWC)
Head coach	Grant Teaff (8th season);
Offensive coordinator	John O'Hara (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Duke Christian (1st season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Home stadium	Baylor Stadium
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

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.

1979 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	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

Schedule edit

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Lamar*		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 20–7	25,000
September 15	Texas A&M		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (Battle of the Brazos)	W 17–7	48,500
September 22	at No. 2 Alabama*		Legion Field Birmingham, AL	L 0–45	77,512	^[1]
September 29	Texas Tech		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	W 27–17	35,800
October 6	at No. 6 Houston		Astrodome Houston, TX	L 10–13	37,142
October 13	at SMU		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	W 24–21	65,101
October 20	at Army*		Michie Stadium West Point, NY	W 55–0	32,591
October 27	TCU		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	W 16–3	36,250
November 10	at No. 9 Arkansas	No. 17	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 20–29	43,284
November 17	Rice	No. 20	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 45–14	28,500
November 24	at No. 6 Texas	No. 17	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	L 0–13	63,288
December 31	vs. No. 18 Clemson*	No. 19	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	W 24–18	57,321
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries edit

Peach Bowl edit

#19 Baylor vs. #17 Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Baylor	0	14	10	0	24
Clemson	7	0	3	8	18

Date: December 31
Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
Game attendance: 57,371

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.^[2]

Roster edit

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

Grant Teaff

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL edit

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.^[3]

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 edit

Mike Singletary, (All-America) honors
Mike Singletary, Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in the Southwest Conference.^[4]
Mike Singletary was the only college junior to be selected to the All-Southwest Conference Team of the 1970s.

References edit

^ "Alabama feasts on Bear meat, 45–0". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 23, 1979. Retrieved February 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Injured player spurs Baylor to Peach win." Eugene Register-Guard. pg. 18. 1980 January 1.
^ "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
^ "HickokSports.com - History - Davey O'Brien Award". Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2015.

[1] "Alabama feasts on Bear meat, 45–0". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 23, 1979. Retrieved February 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Injured player spurs Baylor to Peach win." Eugene Register-Guard. pg. 18. 1980 January 1.

[3] "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.

[4] "HickokSports.com - History - Davey O'Brien Award". Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]