1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Dick Crum in his third season as ahead coach, the team finished the season with an 11–1 overall record, winning the ACC title with a 6–0 mark in conference played and beating Texas in the Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl. The 11 wins tied a program record set during the 1972 season.

1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football
ACC champion Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion
Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl, W 16–7 vs. Texas
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 10
Record	11–1 (6–0 ACC)
Head coach	Dick Crum (3rd season)
Captain	Rick Donnalley, Steve Streater, Lawrence Taylor, Ron Wooten
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		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

Linebacker Lawrence Taylor had 16 sacks in his final year for the Tar Heels and set numerous defensive records. His accolades included a consensus selection to the 1980 College Football All-America Team included All-America and ACC Player of the Year honors.^[1] Crum was named ACC Coach of the Year.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	1:00 p.m.	Furman*	No. 14	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 35–13	50,100	^[2]
September 13	8:30 p.m.	at Texas Tech*	No. 15	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX		W 9–3	37,797	^[3]
September 27	1:00 p.m.	No. 19 Maryland	No. 14	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 17–3	51,400	^[4]
October 4	1:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech*	No. 10	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 33–0	49,750	^[5]
October 11	1:00 p.m.	at Wake Forest	No. 8	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)		W 27–9	37,411	^[6]
October 18	1:00 p.m.	NC State	No. 8	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)		W 28–8	51,845	^[7]
October 25	1:00 p.m.	East Carolina*	No. 7	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 31–3	48,100	^[8]
November 1	2:30 p.m.	at No. 16 Oklahoma*	No. 6	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ESPN	L 7–41	74,852	^[9]
November 8	1:00 p.m.	at Clemson	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC		W 24–19	62,500	^[10]
November 15	1:00 p.m.	Virginia	No. 15	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)		W 26–3	49,500	^[11]
November 22	1:00 p.m.	Duke	No. 15	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)		W 44–21	51,389	^[12]
December 31	8:00 p.m.	vs. Texas*	No. 13	Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	W 16–7	36,669	^[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[14]

Roster

1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 1 Travis Freeman Sr FB 1 Billy "Freight Train" Johnson Sr QB 10 Rod Elkins So WR 19 Jon Richardson Jr WR 41 Wayne Tucker Sr RB 20 Amos Lawrence Sr C 51 Rick Donnalley Sr OT 54 Dave Drechsler So G 78 Ron Wooten Sr OL Kevin Wilson Fr WR 85 Mike McCormick Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 5 Steve Streater Sr SS 28 Bill Jackson Jr LB 29 Darrell Nicholson Jr NG 34 Paul Davis Sr DT 76 Donnell Thompson Sr OLB 84 Mike Wilcher So OLB 93 Calvin Daniels Jr OLB 98 Lawrence Taylor Sr DB unk Larry Winters So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 5 Steve Streater Sr	Head coach Dick Crum Coordinators/assistant coaches Denny Marcin, Larry Marmie, Cleve Bryant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Main article: 1980 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

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	14	Final
AP	14	15	13	14	10	8	8	7	6	14	15	15	13	12	13	10
Coaches	17	13	13	15	11	8	8	7	6	14	15	13	11	11	11	9

Game summaries

Maryland

See also: 1980 Maryland Terrapins football team

^[15]

At Oklahoma

See also: 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team

^[16]

Duke

See also: 1980 Duke Blue Devils football team and Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

Vs. Texas (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)

North Carolina vs. Texas

1 2 3 4 Total • Tar Heels 6 7 3 0 16 Longhorns 0 7 0 0 7 Date: December 31 Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas Game attendance: 36,669 Referee: Jim Harper, Jr. TV announcers (Mizlou): Ray Scott, John Unitas, and Howard David

Main article: 1980 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl

See also: 1980 Texas Longhorns football team

^[17]

1981 NFL Draft

Main article: 1981 NFL Draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Lawrence Taylor	Linebacker	1	2	New York Giants
Donnell Thompson	Defensive tackle	1	18	Baltimore Colts
Rick Donnalley	Center	3	73	Pittsburgh Steelers
Amos Lawrence	Running back	4	103	San Diego Chargers
Ron Wooten	Guard	6	157	New England Patriots
Harry Stanback	Defensive tackle	6	164	Atlanta Falcons

^[18]

Awards and honors

• Lawrence Taylor, All-America selection
• Lawrence Taylor, Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors

References

1. Whitley, David. L.T. was reckless, magnificent, espn.com, accessed January 29, 2007.
2. "Carolina topples Furman". The News and Observer. September 7, 1980. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "North Carolina tops Tech". The Tyler Courier-Times. September 14, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tar Heels' defense stops Maryland, 17–3". The Tampa Tribune. September 28, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "North Carolina rolls over Georgia Tech". The Victoria Advocate. October 5, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Tar Heels dominate Wake in 27–9 victory". The Daily Progress. October 12, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "UNC looks like the class of the ACC against State". The Roanoke Times & World-News. October 19, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "No. 7 Tar Heels clip East Carolina 31–3". News-Press. October 26, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Sooners demolish sixth-rated Tarheels". Wisconsin State Journal. November 2, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Goal line stand saves Tar Heels". The Danville Register. November 9, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Tar Heels earn Bluebonnent berth with 26–3 victory over Virginia". Suffolk News-Herald. November 16, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Bryant's running helps Tar Heels KO Blue Devils' rally". The Charlotte Observer. November 23, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "North Carolina runs over Longhorns, 16–7". San Angelo Standard-Times. January 1, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Carolina Football : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive".
15. "UNC Deals Maryland 1st Defeat, 17-3". The Washington Post. September 28, 1980. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
16. "Hey, Not Everyone Can Be Perfect". Sports Illustrated. November 10, 1980. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
17. "N. CAROLINA DEFEATS TEXAS, 16-7". The New York Times. January 1, 1981. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
18. . Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.