1980 Tulane Green Wave football team

The 1980 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by first-year coach Vince Gibson. The Green Wave played home games in the Louisiana Superdome and finished with a 7–5 record, losing to Arkansas 15–34 in the Hall of Fame Classic. In the 78th edition of the Battle for the Flag, Tulane lost 7–24 to LSU. Throughout the season the offense scored 279 points, while the defense allowed 243 points. Two members of the Green Wave team were drafted into the National Football League (NFL).

1980 Tulane Green Wave football
Hall of Fame Classic, L 15–34 vs. Arkansas
Conference	Independent
Record	7–5
Head coach	Vince Gibson (1st season)
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome (capacity: 71,330)
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Southern Miss*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Battle for the Bell)	L 14–17	44,698	^[1]
September 13	at No. 13 Stanford*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 14–19
September 20	Rice*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 35–14
September 27	at Ole Miss*	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS	W 26–24
October 4	SMU*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	L 21–31	42,563
October 11	at Vanderbilt*	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 43–21
October 18	Air Force*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 28–7	28,101	^[2]
October 25	at Georgia Tech*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 31–14	35,119
November 1	Kentucky*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 24–22	42,139	^[3]
November 15	Memphis State*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 21–16
November 22	at LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Flag)	L 7–24
December 27	vs. Arkansas*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	L 15–34	29,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[4][5]

Roster

1980 Tulane Green Wave football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 9 Paul Catanese Jr QB 12 Nickie Hall Sr TE 87 Rodney Holman Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 97 Marty Wetzel Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Vince Gibson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL team
Marty Wetzel	Linebacker	10	251	New York Jets
Nickie Hall	Quarterback	10	255	Green Bay Packers

^[6]

References

1. "Southern rallies to best Tulane 17–14". The Greenwood Commonwealth. September 7, 1980. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Tulane Rips Air Force". The Daily Advertiser. Associated Press. October 19, 1980. p. 41. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Mark Bradley (November 2, 1980). "Tulane Kills Kentucky Comeback After Time Runs Out". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. C1, C6 – via Newspapers.com.
4. . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
5. "1980 Preseason Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
6. . Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.