1979 Syracuse Orangemen football team

The 1979 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Frank Maloney. Due to the ongoing construction of Syracuse's new stadium, the Carrier Dome, home games in 1979 were played in various locations in New York and New Jersey. The Orangemen were invited to the 1979 Independence Bowl, where they defeated McNeese State, 31–7.

1979 Syracuse Orangemen football
Independence Bowl champion
Independence Bowl, W 31–7 vs. McNeese State
Conference	Independent
Record	7–5
Head coach	Frank Maloney (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Coughlin (4th season)
Captains	Jim Collins Bill Hurley Craig Wolfley[1]
Home stadium	Giants Stadium Rich Stadium Schoellkopf Field
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Florida State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
UNLV		–		–				9	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Temple		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
Tulane		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–				5	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
North Texas State		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Louisville		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
William & Mary		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Air Force		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Richmond		–		–				0	–	11	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 8–31	86,205	[2]
September 15	West Virginia	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)	W 24–14	10,375	[3]
September 22	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 54–21	20,121	[4]
September 29	Washington State	Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY	W 52–25	10,004	[5]
October 6	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 45–27	36,720	[6]
October 13	at Temple	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	L 17–49	18,504	[7]
October 20	Penn State	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)	L 7–35	53,789	[8]
October 27	Miami (FL)	Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY	W 25–15	7,729	[9]
November 3	at No. 12 Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	L 21–28	43,005	[10]
November 10	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 30–14	20,385	[11]
November 17	Boston College	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	L 10–27	20,245	[12]
December 15	vs. McNeese State	State Fair Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	W 31–7	27,234	[13]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14][1]

Roster

1979 Syracuse Orange football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 59 Andrew Gissinger Jr G 78 Gordon Grownkowski So WR 45 Art Monk Sr RB 47 Joe Morris So G 64 Craig Wolfley Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 33 Jim Collins Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Gary Anderson So	Head coach Frank Maloney Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt