1979 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1979 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 9–2 record and lost to Washington in the Sun Bowl.

1979 Texas Longhorns football
Sun Bowl, L 7–14 vs. Washington
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 12
Record	9–3 (6–2 SWC)
Head coach	Fred Akers (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Leon Manley (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Leon Fuller (3rd season)
Home stadium	Texas Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Houston +	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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Iowa State*	No. 4	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 17–9	73,652	[1]
September 29	1:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Missouri*	No. 4	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 21–0	75,136	[2]
October 6	7:00 p.m.	Rice	No. 4	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 26–9	65,227	[3]
October 13	3:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	ABC	W 16–7	72,032	[4]
October 20	3:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Arkansas	No. 2	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–17	55,838	[5]
October 27	1:30 p.m.	at SMU	No. 9	Texas Stadium Irving, TX		W 30–6	53,327	[6]
November 3	2:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 8	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 14–6	77,809	[7]
November 10	7:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Houston	No. 8	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 21–13	53,650	[8]
November 17	2:00 p.m.	TCU	No. 6	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 35–10	61,597	[9]
November 24	2:00 p.m.	No. 17 Baylor	No. 6	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 13–0	63,288	[10]
December 1	1:30 p.m.	at Texas A&M	No. 6	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)		L 7–13	69,017	[11]
December 22	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 13 Washington*	No. 11	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	L 7–14	33,412	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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Roster

1979 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 54 Mike Baab So WR 26 Lam Jones Sr QB 1 Donnie Little So TE 87 Lawrence Sampleton So RB Rodney Tate So G 79 Terry Tausch So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 53 Bill Acker Sr DT 99 Steve McMichael Sr LB 51 Bruce Scholtz So DE 77 Kenneth Sims So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Fred Akers Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

1979 team players in the NFL

Main article: 1980 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Lam Jones	Wide receiver	1	2	New York Jets
Johnnie Johnson	Cornerback	1	17	Los Angeles Rams
Derrick Hatchett	Safety	1	24	Baltimore Colts
Steve McMichael	Defensive tackle	3	73	New England Patriots
Ricky Churchman	Strong safety	4	84	San Francisco 49ers
Bill Acker	Defensive tackle	6	142	St. Louis Cardinals
Charles Vaclavik	Defensive back	12	306	Pittsburgh Steelers