1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

The 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Jim Young, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big Ten. Purdue was invited to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, where the Boilermakers defeated Tennessee. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Schedule

^[4]

Starters

Offense: se Burrell/Ray Smith, lt Feil, lg Schwan, c Quinn, rg Hall, rt McKenzie, te Young, qb Herrmann, fb Augustyniak, tb Jones/McCall, fl Harris, k Seibel

Defense: de Kingsbury, lt Clark, mg Loushin, rt Jackson, de Turner, lb Motts/Looney/Marks, cb W. smith/Kay, ss Seneff, fs Williams/McKinnie, p Hayes

Roster

Staff

Head coach: Jim Young

Assistants: Bob Bockrath, Leon Burtnett, Mike Hankwitz, Randy Hart, Doug Redmann, Bob Spoo, Larry Thompson, Ed Zaunbrecher

Game summaries

Oregon

• Wally Jones 30 rushes, 156 yards

Illinois

• Mark Herrmann breaks Mike Phipps' school record for career passing yardage
• Dave Young 114 Rec Yds, 2 TD^[5]
• Jimmy Smith 23 rushes, 125 yards

At Michigan State

Mark Herrmann broke the Big Ten career completion record set by Michigan State's Ed Smith in the previous year.^[6]

At Iowa

^[7]

Michigan

^[8]

At Indiana

• Ben McCall 20 rushes, 148 yards

Vs. Tennessee (Bluebonnet Bowl)

• PUR: Mark Herrmann 21/39, 303 Yds, 3 TD
• PUR: Bart Burell 8 Rec, 144 Yds, TD ^[9]

Statistics

Passing

Awards

All-Big Ten

• Calvin Clark (1st)
• Ken Loushin (1st)
• Steve McKenzie (1st)
• Dale Schwan (1st)
• Keena Turner (1st)
• Dave Young (1st)
• Mark Herrmann (2nd)
• Marcus Jackson (2nd)
• Kevin Motts (2nd)
• Pete Quinn (2nd)
• Wayne Smith (2nd)

References

1. Mick McCabe (November 11, 1979). "Purdue jolts U-M, 24-21". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1F, 5F – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Boilermakers bump blue, 24-21". The Michigan Daily. November 11, 1979. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Tennessee rally falls short, Purdue wins Bluebonnet Bowl". Johnson City Press-Chronicle. January 1, 1980. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 90. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
5. Ocala Star-Banner. 1979 Oct 14. Retrieved 2018-Oct-28.
6. Palm Beach Post. 1979 Oct 21.
7. Palm Beach Post. 1979 Nov 4.
8. "Boilermakers nip Michigan but it only helps Buckeyes." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 11.
9. Eugene Register-Guard. 1980 Jan 1.