1979 Utah Utes football team

1979 Utah Utes football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	6–6 (5–2 WAC)
Head coach	Wayne Howard (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron McBride (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Gadd (3rd season)
Home stadium	Robert Rice Stadium
Seasons ←  1978 1980  →

1979 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 13 BYU $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
Utah	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Hawaii	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Colorado State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	1
Wyoming	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
UTEP	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third season under head coach Wayne Howard, the Utes compiled an overall record of 6–6 with a mark of 5–2 against conference opponents, placing second in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	7:30 pm	Long Beach State *	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City UT	W 34–10	26,238	[1]
September 8	11:30 pm	Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	W 27–23	41,511	[2]
September 15	2:30 pm	at No. 14 Washington *	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–41	49,416	[3]
September 22	5:30 pm	at Tennessee *	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	L 18–51	85,783	[4]
September 29	7:30 pm	Utah State *	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (rivalry)	L 21–47	31,108	[5]
October 6	1:30 pm	at Colorado State	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 21–16	27,257	[6]
October 13	7:30 pm	Wyoming	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 24–14	25,258	[7]
October 20	7:30 pm	at UNLV *	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	L 41–43	24,782	[8]
October 27	1:30 pm	San Diego State	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	L 13–17	22,196	[9]
November 3	4:00 pm	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	W 26–7	19,093	[10]
November 10	1:30 pm	UTEP	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 35–0	25,016	[11]
November 17	1:30 pm	at No. 10 BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)	L 0–27	40,236	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

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Roster

1979 Utah Utes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 82 Steve Folsom Jr G 68 Darryl Haley So QB 10 Floyd Hodge Jr G 64 Dean Miraldi Jr RB 33 Del Rodgers So RB 11 Lewis Walker Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 99 Steve Clark So DB 1 Jeff Griffin Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Wayne Howard Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL draft

One Utah player was selected in the 1980 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL team
Lewis Walker	Running back	10	268	Washington Redskins

References

1. "Utah buries Long Beach". The Daily Herald. September 2, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Utes hold off Hawaii, 27–23". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 10, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Stevens' kickoff return ignites Huskies rout of Utah". The Spokesman-Review. September 16, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tennessee blasts Utah, 51–18". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 23, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Utah State bombs Utah". The Fresno Bee. September 30, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Hodge and Lindsay power Utah past Colorado State". The Courier-Journal. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Utes win conference game". South Idaho Press. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "UNLV rallies to nip Utah, 43–41". Nevada State Journal. October 21, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Aztecs, leading 17–0, win the hard way". The Los Angeles Times. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Utah finishes strong, bombs New Mexico". The El Paso Times. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Utes, 'popcorn' explode, 35–0". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "BYU blanks Utes 27–0". The Daily Herald. November 18, 1979. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1980 Utah Football Media Guide". University of Utah Athletic Department. Archived from the original on December 15, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
14. "Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
15. "1979 Utah Utes Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 19, 2024.