1979 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 1979 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by second-year head coach Sonny Lubick, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 6–4 and a mark of 6–1 in conference play. They were named the Big Sky champion after Boise State was ruled ineligible.

1979 Montana State Bobcats football
Big Sky champion
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 9 (I-AA)
Record	6–4 (6–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Sonny Lubick (2nd season)
Home stadium	Reno H. Sales Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Boise State *	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Montana State $	6	–	1	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
No. 5 Nevada ^	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. T–10 Northern Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Weber State	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Idaho	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Montana	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Idaho State	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Boise State was on probation Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	North Dakota*		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 16–20	7,070	[1]
September 15	Fresno State*		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 20–22	8,143	[2]
September 22	at Idaho State		ASISU Minidome Pocatello, ID	W 31–14	5,912	[3]
September 29	at Boise State		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	L 0–14	20,712	[4]
October 6	Weber State		Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 40–21		[5]
October 13	at No. T–8 Nevada		Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 12–10	9,215	[6]
October 20	at No. 6 Northern Arizona		NAU Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	W 10–7	9,166	[7]
October 27	Idaho	No. 9	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 28–20	7,127	[8]
November 3	Montana	No. 8	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry)	W 38–21		[9]
November 10	North Dakota State*	No. 6	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND	L 7–21	2,250	[10]
*Non-conference game Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

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Roster

1979 Montana State Bobcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Tony Boddie Fr WR 81 Mike Carle Fr WR 8 Mark McGrath Sr C Larry Rubens So	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 32 Mike McLeod Sr SS Tim Sturdevant So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Sonny Lubick Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt