1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

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)
Captains	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

The 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team was an American football team that 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. In their third year under head coach Dick Crum, the Tar Heels compiled an 11–1 record (6–0 in conference games), kept six opponents from scoring a touchdown, and outscored all opponents by a total of 281 to 123. They won the ACC championship, were ranked No. 10 in the final AP poll, and defeated Texas in the Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl. ^[1] The 11 wins tied a program record set during the 1972 season.

Senior linebacker Lawrence Taylor had 16 sacks, was a consensus selection on the 1980 All-America college football team and won ACC player of the year honors. ^{[2] [3]} Crum was named ACC coach of the year. ^[4]

The team had two backs who gained over 1,000 rushing yards: Amos Lawrence (1,118 yards, 90 points) and Kelvin Bryant (1,039 yards, 72 points). Quarterback Rod Elkins led the team with 1,002 passing yards. ^[5]

The team played its home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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

^[18]

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

^[19]

At Oklahoma

See also: 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team

^[20]

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

^[21]

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

Statistics

The Tar Heels gained an average of 297.7 rushing yards and 104.1 passing yards per game. On defense, they gave up 138.0 rushing yards and 144.1 passing yards per game. ^[5]

Two North Carolina backs tallied over 1,000 rushing yards:

• Amos Lawrence tallied 1,118 rushing yards on 229 carries for an average of 4.9 yards per carry. He also caught nine passes for 80 yards and led the team in scoring with 90 points on 15 touchdowns. ^[5]
• Kelvin Bryant gained 1,039 rushing yards on 177 carries for an average of 5.9 yards per carry. He also caught 12 passes for 194 yards and scored 72 points on 12 touchdowns. ^[5]

Billy Johnson ranked third with 433 yards on 103 carries for a 4.2 yard average. ^[5]

Quarterback Rod Elkins completed 181 of 160 passes (50.6%) for 1,002 yards with 11 touchdowns, nine interceptins, and a 114.7 quarterback rating. The team's leading receivers were Mike Chatham (20 receptions, 239 yards), Victor Harrison (16 receptions, 210 yards), Jon Richardson (15 receptions, 206 yards), and Kelvin Bryant (12 receptions, 194 yards). ^[5]

Awards and honors

Linebacker Lawrence Taylor won the award as the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. ^[22]

Three North Carolina players received All-America honors. Taylor was a consensus pick, receiving first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), and United Press International (UPI). Guard Ron Wooten received first-team honors from the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF), second-team honors from the UPI, and third-team honors from the AP. Center Rick Donnalley received second-team honors from the AP.

Eight North Carolina players received first-team honors on the 1980 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team: guard Ron Wooten; center Rick Donnalley; running backs Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant; Lawrence Taylor (at defensive line); linebacker Darrell Nicholson; Steve Streater (honored both as defensive back and punter). ^[23]

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

^[24]

References

1. "1980 North Carolina Tar Heels Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
2. Whitley, David. L.T. was reckless, magnificent, espn.com, accessed January 29, 2007.
3. "UNC's Taylor Piles Up Honors For His Defense". Winston-Salem Journal. December 20, 1980. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
4. > "Crum named ACC coach of the year". The Plain Dealer. December 3, 1980. p. 5F – via Newspapers.com.
5. "1980 North Carolina Tar Heels Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
6. "Carolina topples Furman". The News and Observer. September 7, 1980. Retrieved November 30, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
7. "North Carolina tops Tech". The Tyler Courier-Times. September 14, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Tar Heels' defense stops Maryland, 17–3". The Tampa Tribune. September 28, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "North Carolina rolls over Georgia Tech". The Victoria Advocate. October 5, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Tar Heels dominate Wake in 27–9 victory". The Daily Progress. October 12, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "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.
12. "No. 7 Tar Heels clip East Carolina 31–3". News-Press. October 26, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Sooners demolish sixth-rated Tarheels". Wisconsin State Journal. November 2, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Goal line stand saves Tar Heels". The Danville Register. November 9, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Tar Heels earn Bluebonnent berth with 26–3 victory over Virginia". Suffolk News-Herald. November 16, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
16. "Bryant's running helps Tar Heels KO Blue Devils' rally". The Charlotte Observer. November 23, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
17. "North Carolina runs over Longhorns, 16–7". San Angelo Standard-Times. January 1, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
18. "Carolina Football : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive".
19. "UNC Deals Maryland 1st Defeat, 17-3". The Washington Post . September 28, 1980. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
20. "Hey, Not Everyone Can Be Perfect". Sports Illustrated . November 10, 1980. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
21. "N. CAROLINA DEFEATS TEXAS, 16-7". The New York Times . January 1, 1981. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
22. "Tar Heels' Lawrence Taylor named best player in ACC". The Salisbury Post. December 1, 1980. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
23. "Tar Heels Dominate All-ACC Team". The Robesonian. November 30, 1980. p. 2B.
24. "1981 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.