1979 Tulane Green Wave football team

1979 Tulane Green Wave football
1979 Tulane Green Wave football
Liberty Bowl, L 6–9 vs. Penn State
Conference	Independent
Record	9–3
Head coach	Larry Smith (4th season);
Defensive coordinator	Moe Ankney (4th season)
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Pittsburgh		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
UNLV		–		–		9	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Temple		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Tulane		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–		5	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Louisville		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Air Force		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Richmond		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by Larry Smith. The Green Wave played home games in the Louisiana Superdome. The team finished with a record of 9–3 and played in the 1979 Liberty Bowl, losing 6–9 to Penn State.

The offense scored 318 points while the defense allowed 179 points. Two members of the Green Wave team were drafted into the National Football League.

The Wave opened the season by smashing Stanford 33-10, spoiling John Elway's collegiate debut.

In the 77th edition of the Battle for the Rag, Tulane beat LSU 24–13 in what was LSU coach Charles McClendon's final regular season game after 18 seasons.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	No. 13 Stanford		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 33–10	41,251	^[1]
September 15	at Rice		Rice Stadium Houston, TX		L 17–21	15,000	^[2]
September 22	at TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX		W 33–19	15,208	^[3]
September 29	No. 19 SMU		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 24–17	42,563	^[4]
October 6	Vanderbilt		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 42–14	27,873	^[5]
October 13	at Southern Miss		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS (rivalry)		W 20–19	30,028	^[6]
October 20	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		L 17–27	28,303	^[7]
October 27	Georgia Tech		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 12–7	51,963	^[8]
November 3	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 43–8	12,236	^[9]
November 10	Ole Miss		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (rivalry)		W 49–15	45,647	^[10]
November 24	LSU	No. 18	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Battle for the Flag)	ABC	W 24–13	73,496	^[11]
December 22	vs. Penn State	No. 15	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ABC	L 6–9	50,021	^[12]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]^[14]

Roster

1979 Tulane Green Wave football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`3`	Alton Alexis	Sr
QB	`12`	Nickie Hall	Jr
TE	`87`	Rodney Holman	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`4`	Mike Sims
LB	`97`	Marty Wetzel	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`9`	Eddie Murray	Sr

Head coach

Larry Smith

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Team
Eddie Murray	Kicker	7	166	Detroit Lions
Alton Alexis	Wide receiver	11	281	Cincinnati Bengals

^[15]

References

^ "Stanford is stunned by Tulane, 33–10". The Los Angeles Times. September 9, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Hertel directs Owls past Tulane, 21–17". The Daily Advertiser. September 16, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane shocks Frogs, 33–19". The Tyler Courier-Times. September 23, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane edges Ponies, 24–17". San Angelo Standard-Times. September 30, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane Green Wave crush Vandy, 42–14". The Daily Advertiser. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane slips by Eagles". The Daily Advertiser. October 14, 1979. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Mountaineers upset Green Wave, 27–17". The Daily Advertiser. October 21, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane holds on to beat Tech, 12–7". The Atlanta Constitution. October 28, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane 43, Boston College 8". St. Petersburg Times. November 4, 1979. p. 7C – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rebs get smashed at Tulane party". The Commercial Appeal. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Wave rides crest into Liberty". The Commercial Appeal. November 25, 1979. Retrieved October 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lions dip into magic bag, pull out a Liberty Bowl win". Sunday News. December 23, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulane Football Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
^ "1980 Preseason Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
^ "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.

v t e Tulane Green Wave football
Venues	Sportsman's Park (1893–1894) Tulane Athletic Field (1895–1901) Athletic Park (1902–1907) Pelican Park (1908) First Tulane Stadium (1909–1916) Second Tulane Stadium (1917–1925) Third Tulane Stadium (1926–1974) Louisiana Superdome (1975–2013) Tad Gormley Stadium (2002–2004, 2008) (alternate) Yulman Stadium (2014–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Auburn LSU: Battle for the Rag Ole Miss Southern Miss: Battle for the Bell
Culture & lore	History Riptide "The Olive and the Blue" "The Hullabaloo" Marching Band Porter Cup Effect of Hurricane Katrina The Ten Win Turnaround
People	Head coaches NFL draftees All-Americans Statistical leaders
Seasons	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

1979 Tulane Green Wave football team

Schedule

Roster

Team players in the NFL

References

Suggest as cover photo

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