1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The 1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Panthers competed in the 1979 Fiesta Bowl. Pitt was awarded the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the champion of the East.

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Fiesta Bowl champion Eastern champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 16–10 vs. Arizona
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 7
Record	11–1
Head coach	Jackie Sherrill (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Wally English (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Foge Fazio (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple front
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
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

Schedule

In the Backyard Brawl, Pittsburgh was led by freshman quarterback Dan Marino. He directed Pitt to a 24–17 victory in the last college football game played at old Mountaineer Field.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	1:30 p.m.	Kansas	No. 16	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 24–0	41,545
September 22	1:00 p.m.	at North Carolina	No. 13	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		L 7–17	50,500
September 29	7:30 p.m.	at Temple		Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 10–9	34,039
October 6	1:30 p.m.	Boston College		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 28–7	37,146
October 13	10:00 a.m.	Cincinnati		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry)		W 35–0	31,620
October 20	4:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Washington	No. 17	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		W 26–14	52,485
October 27	1:30 p.m.	No. 17 Navy	No. 12	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 24–7	51,332
November 3	12:30 p.m.	Syracuse	No. 12	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 28–21	43,500
November 10	1:30 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 12	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)		W 24–17	38,681	^[2]
November 17	1:30 p.m.	at Army	No. 11	Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 40–0	31,689
December 1	12:30 p.m.	at No. 20 Penn State	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 29–14	76,958
December 25	3:30 p.m.	vs. Arizona	No. 10	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 16–10	55,347
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 70 Emil Boures So C 56 Russ Grimm Jr OT 64 Bob Gruber Sr QB 13 Dan Marino Fr OT 73 Mark May Jr RB 40 Randy McMillan Jr WR 81 Cliff Moore TE 84 Benjie Pryor Jr WR 88 Ralph Still Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 68 Jerry Boyarsky Jr DE 99 Hugh Green Jr DE 87 Rickey Jackson Jr DT 86 Greg Meisner Jr DT 76 Bill Neill Jr CB 3 Lynn Thomas Jr SS 48 Carlton Williamson Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 5 Mark Schubert Sr	Head coach Jackie Sherrill Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

Coaching staff

1979 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
	Coaching staff Jackie Sherrill – Head coach Jimmy Sharpe – Assistant head coach/offensive line Wally English – Offensive coordinator/Receivers Foge Fazio – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Ron Dickerson – Defensive backs Bob Matey – Defensive line Joe Moore – Offensive backs Joe Pendry – Quarterbacks Ray Zingler – Defensive ends			Support staff Alex Kramer – Executive Assistant Kevin Dickey – Recruiting coordinator Nick Gasparato – Graduate assistant Jerry Leith – Graduate assistant Nick Rapone – Graduate assistant			Strength and conditioning staff Paul Stark – Weight, Strength Coach

^[3]

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Jo Jo Heath	Defensive back	6	141	Cincinnati Bengals
Bob Gruber	Tackle	10	276	Los Angeles Rams

^[4]

References

 

Dan Marino quarterbacks Pitt in 35–0 rout of Cincinnati on October 13.

1. "Site Unavailable".
2. "Pitt holds on to beat W. Va". The Sunday News. November 11, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Coaches Biographies". 1979 Pitt Football. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1979. pp. 19–24. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
4. . Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.