1979 Houston Cougars football team

1979 Houston Cougars football
SWC co-champion
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
ConferenceSouthwest Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 5
Record11–1 (7–1 SWC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeHouston Veer
Defensive coordinatorDon Todd (8th season)
Home stadiumHouston Astrodome
1979 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 + 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

The 1979 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The Cougars were led by 18th-year head coach Bill Yeoman and played their home games at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. They competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing as co-champions with Arkansas. This was Houston's second consecutive conference championship, and their third overall in their first four years as members of the conference.

The Cougars finished the season with a record of 11–1. Their only loss was at home to the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns, 21–13. Houston was invited to the 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic, played on New Year's Day, where they defeated seventh-ranked Nebraska. Houston finished ranked fifth in both major final polls.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 8at UCLA*No. 16
W 24–1640,008[2]
September 15Florida*No. 13
W 14–1033,851–34,432[3]
September 29West Texas State*No. 8
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston, TX
W 49–1027,080[4]
October 6BaylorNo. 6
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston, TX (rivalry)
W 13–1037,142[5]
October 13at Texas A&MNo. 7
W 17–1459,545[6]
October 20SMUNo. 5
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston, TX (rivalry)
W 37–1043,409[7]
October 27at No. 4 ArkansasNo. 6
ABCW 13–1043,319[8]
November 3at TCUNo. 4
W 21–1025,412[9]
November 10No. 8 TexasNo. 5
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston, TX
L 13–2153,650[10]
November 23Texas TechNo. 9
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston, TX (rivalry)
ABCW 14–1025,637[11]
December 1at RiceNo. 10
W 63–027,800[12]
January 1vs. No. 7 Nebraska*No. 8
CBSW 17–1472,032[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

at UCLA

vs Florida

vs West Texas State

vs Baylor

at Texas A&M

vs SMU

at Arkansas

See also: 1979 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
Game Seven – No. 6 Houston Cougars (6–0) at No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks (6–0) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 6 Cougars 7 0 0613
No. 4 Razorbacks 3 7 0010

at Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas

Game information
First Quarter
  • (0:00) ARK –
  • (0:00) HOU –
Second Quarter
  • (0:00) ARK –
Third Quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth Quarter
  • (0:00) HOU –
  • (0:00) HOU –
Statistics HOU ARK
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Houston Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Arkansas Passing
Rushing
Receiving

at TCU

vs Texas

See also: 1979 Texas Longhorns football team
Game Nine – No. 8 Texas Longhorns (6–1) at No. 5 Houston Cougars (8–0) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 8 Longhorns 7 7 0721
No. 5 Cougars 3 7 0313

at Houston Astrodome • Houston, Texas

  • Date: November 10, 1979
  • Game time: 7:30 p.m. CST
  • Game attendance: 53,650
  • Referee: Clint Fuller (SWC)
Game information
First Quarter
  • (8:09) HOU –
  • (1:45) TEX –
Second Quarter
  • (11:14) HOU –
  • (1:24) TEX –
Third Quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth Quarter
  • (13:24) HOU –
  • (1:25) TEX –
Statistics TEX HOU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Texas Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Houston Passing
Rushing
Receiving

vs Texas Tech

See also: 1979 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team and Houston–Texas Tech football rivalry
Game Ten – Texas Tech Red Raiders (3–5–2) at No. 9 Houston Cougars (8–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Red Raiders 3 0 7010
No. 9 Cougars 0 0 7714

at Houston Astrodome • Houston, Texas

Game information
First Quarter
  • (0:00) TTU –
Second Quarter

No scoring plays

Third Quarter
  • (0:00) TTU –
  • (0:00) HOU –
Fourth Quarter
  • (0:00) HOU –
Statistics TTU HOU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Texas Tech Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Houston Passing
Rushing
Receiving

at Rice

vs Nebraska (Cotton Bowl Classic)

See also: 1979 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic
1980 Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10–1) vs No. 8 Houston Cougars (10–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 7 Cornhuskers 7 0 0714
No. 8 Cougars 0 7 01017

at Cotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas

  • Date: January 1, 1980
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
  • Game attendance: 72,032
  • Referee: Robert Aillet (SEC)
  • TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson (play-by-play – 1st quarter), Frank Glieber (sideline reporter – 1st quarter; play-by-play – 2nd thru 4th quarters) and Paul Hornung (color commentator)
Game information
First quarter
  • (5:13) NEB – Jarvis Redwine 9-yard run, (Dean Sukup kick) (Drive: 14 plays, 85 yards, 0:00; Nebraska 7–0)
Second quarter
  • (12:17) HOU – Terry Elston 8-yard run, (Kenny Hatfield kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 71 yards, 0:00; Tied 7–7)
Third quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth quarter
  • (8:25) HOU – Kenny Hatfield 41-yard field goal (Drive: 13 plays, 59 yards, 0:00; Houston 10–7)
  • (3:56) NEB – Jeff Finn 6-yard pass from Jeff Quinn, (Dean Sukup kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 31 yards, 0:00; Nebraska 14–10)
  • (0:12) HOU – Eric Herring 6-yard pass from Terry Elston, (Kenny Hatfield kick) (Drive: 13 plays, 66 yards, 0:00; Houston 17–14)
Statistics NEB HOU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Nebraska Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Houston Passing
Rushing
Receiving

Roster

1979 Houston Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 70 Leonard Mitchell Jr
DT 79 Hosea Taylor Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "1979 Houston Cougars Schedule and Results".
  2. ^ "Houston whips UCLA 24–16 with 2nd-half comeback". The Sunday Oregonian. September 9, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Backup Elston guides slumbering Coogs past Florida". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 16, 1979. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Coogs maul West Texas". Victoria Advocate. September 30, 1979. Retrieved May 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "UH outscraps Bears 13–10". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "7th-ranked Cougars beat A&M". The Paris News. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Houston first quarter dumps Ponies, 37–10". The Odessa American. October 21, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Houston edges Arkansas". Tallahassee Democrat. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "No. 4 Houston passes over TCU". Fort Myers News-Press. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Longhorns stick Cougars with loss". Syracuse Herald-Journal. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Houston rallies to pin 14–10 loss on Texas Tech". The Patriot-News. November 24, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Houston annihilates Rice, gets Cotton". The Victoria Advocate. December 2, 1979. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Houston gets help from above in Cotton Bowl win over Nebraska". Rapid City Journal. January 2, 1980. Retrieved October 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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