1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

1979 Purdue Boilermakers football
Astro-Bluebonne Bowl champion
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, W 27–22 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	10–2 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jim Young (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bockrath (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Leon Burtnett (3rd season)
MVP	Dave Young
Captain	Steve McKenzie, Pete Quinn, Keena Turner
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 18 Michigan	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Wisconsin	No. 6	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 41–20	65,002
September 15	at UCLA*	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 21–31	44,174
September 22	No. 5 Notre Dame*	No. 17	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		W 28–22	70,567
September 29	Oregon*	No. 10	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 13–7	69,327
October 6	at Minnesota	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		L 14–31	47,686
October 13	Illinois	No. 20	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		W 28–14	69,413
October 20	at Michigan State	No. 16	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 14–7	79,561
October 27	Northwestern	No. 16	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 20–16	69,656
November 3	at Iowa	No. 15	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 20–14	59,940
November 10	No. 10 Michigan	No. 14	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 24–21	69,829	^[1]^[2]
November 17	at Indiana	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)		W 37–21	53,202
December 31	vs. Tennessee	No. 12	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	W 27–22	40,542	^[3]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[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

1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`23`	Mike Augustyniak	Sr
QB	`9`	Mark Herrmann	Jr
TE	`80`	Dave Young	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`85`	Keena Turner	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Jim Young

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

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

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Purdue	7	0	7	0	14
Michigan St	0	0	0	7	7

Date: Saturday, October 20
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan

Scoring summary

1	Purdue	Wayne Smith]\|Wayne Smith 42-yard interception return (Seibel kick)	Purdue 7-0

3	Purdue	Jimmy Smith 1-yard run (Seibel kick)	Purdue 14-0

4	Michigan St	Steve Smith 1-yard run (Andersen kick)	Purdue 14-7

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

At Iowa

Purdue at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Boilermakers	7	7	6	0	20
Hawkeyes	6	8	0	0	14

Date: November 3
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa

Scoring summary

1	Purdue	D. Young 3-yard pass from Herrmann (Seibel kick)	Purdue 7-0

1	Iowa	Mosley 1-yard run (kick failed)	Purdue 7-6

2	Iowa	McKillip 16-yard run (Reid pass from Mosley)	Iowa 14-7

2	Purdue	McCall 17-yard pass from Herrmann (Seibel kick)	Tie 14-14

3	Purdue	McCall 6-yard run (kick failed)	Purdue 20-14

^[7]

Michigan

#10 Michigan at #14 Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	0	0	6	15	21
• Purdue	7	0	7	10	24

Date: November 10
Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN
Game attendance: 69,829

Scoring summary

1	PUR	Ben McCall 2-yard run (Seibel kick)	Purdue 7-0

3	PUR	Mark Herrmann 1-yard run (Seibel kick)	Purdue 14-0

3	MICH	Curt Marsh 6-yard pass from John Wangler (kick failed)	Purdue 14-6

4	PUR	Seibel 29-yard field goal	Purdue 17-6

4	PUR	Ben McCall 9-yard run	Purdue 24-6

4	MICH	Roosevelt Smith 1-yard run (run failed)	Purdue 24-12

4	MICH	Butch Woolfolk 2-yard run (Virgil kick)	Purdue 24-19

4	MICH	Safety, Mark Herrmann tackled in end zone	Purdue 24-21

^[8]

At Indiana

Ben McCall 20 rushes, 148 yards

Vs. Tennessee (Bluebonnet Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Purdue	0	14	7	6	27
Tennessee	0	0	16	6	22

Date: December 31
Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Game attendance: 40,542

Scoring summary

2	Purdue	Ben McCall 6-yard run (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 7-0

2	Purdue	Bart Burrell 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 14-0

3	Purdue	Dave Young 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick)	Purdue 21-0

3	Tennessee	Glenn Ford 8-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (pass failed)	Purdue 21-6

4	Tennessee	James Berry 15-yard pass from Phil Ingram (Hubert Simpson run)	Purdue 21-14

4	Tennessee	Hubert Simpson 1-yard run (Hubert Simpson pass from Jimmy Streater)	Tennessee 22-21

4	Purdue	Dave Young 17-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (pass failed)	Purdue 27-22

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

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
Mark Herrmann	203	348	2,377	16	19

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

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

v t e Purdue Boilermakers football
Venues	Stuart Field (1892–1924) Ross–Ade Stadium (1924–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Chicago (defunct) Illinois Indiana: Old Oaken Bucket Notre Dame
Culture & lore	Boilermaker Special Cradle of Quarterbacks Purdue Pete Purdue Wreck "Hail Purdue!" All-American Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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