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The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Georgia take its first national title since World War II.

The Georgia Bulldogs starred freshman running back Herschel Walker, who made his NCAA debut against Tennessee. Down 15-2 at halftime, Georgia sent in Walker, the third string running back at the time, to try to light a spark. Walker ran over All-American safety Bill Bates, in a play that would set the tempo for the rest of his career.

This year's edition of Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic was won on a last minute 92 yard pass from Georgia's own endzone, known by the play by play call "Run, Lindsay, run!".

The Bulldogs ran through the rest of the season unscathed, beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Walker rushed for 150 yards against Notre Dame, a defense which had not given up a hundred yard game that whole season. He did this with a dislocated shoulder.

The Pittsburgh Panthers also had a stellar season, led by offensive tackle Mark May. The team went 11-1 and finished ranked #2, finishing the season with a rout of South Carolina and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers in the Gator Bowl. 29 players from this team went on the play in the NFL.

Florida State defeated #3 ranked Nebraska on the Cornhuskers' home turf, and the following week defeated the #2 ranked Pitt Panthers

It was an unusual year for the Pac-10 as 5 of its 10 members were placed on probation by the conference (but not the NCAA) including traditional powers USC and UCLA, along with both Oregon schools and Arizona State. So half the conference was ineligible for bowl games and it was feared that the 4th or 5th place finisher would end up in the Rose Bowl. Ironically, USC and UCLA both got as high as #2 in the polls before being upset. As it turned out, the probation didn't matter as Washington won the conference outright with a 6-1 record.

This year's edition of the Holiday Bowl was a classic as the BYU staged a fourth quarter comeback, led by future NFL star Jim McMahon. Down 45-25 to SMU with less than four minutes left, McMahon threw three touchdown passes, including a Hail Mary as time expired, caught in the endzone by Clay Brown, despite being surrounded by three SMU defenders.

Rules changes for 1980[]

  • Full arm extension on pass blocking allowed.
  • Illegal use of hands penalty reduced to 5 yards.

Conference standings[]

1980 ACC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#10 North Carolina 6 0 0     11 1 0
Maryland 5 1 0     8 4 0
NC State 3 3 0     6 5 0
Clemson 2 4 0     6 5 0
Wake Forest 2 4 0     5 6 0
Virginia 2 4 0     4 7 0
Duke 1 5 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Big 8 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#3 Oklahoma 7 0 0     10 2 0
#7 Nebraska 6 1 0     10 2 0
Missouri 5 2 0     8 4 0
Iowa State 3 4 0     7 4 0
Oklahoma State 3 4 0     4 7 0
Kansas State 2 5 0     4 7 0
Kansas 1 6 0     2 8 1
Colorado 1 6 0     1 10 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#4/4 Michigan 8 0 0     10 2 0
#15/15 Ohio State 7 1 0     9 3 0
#17/16 Purdue 7 1 0     9 3 0
Iowa 4 4 0     4 7 0
Minnesota 4 5 0     5 6 0
Indiana 3 5 0     6 5 0
Wisconsin 3 5 0     4 7 0
Illinois 3 5 0     3 7 1
Michigan State 2 6 0     3 8 0
Northwestern 0 9 0     0 11 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll
1980 Ivy League football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Yale 6 1 0     8 2 0
Cornell 5 2 0     5 5 0
Harvard 4 3 0     7 3 0
Brown 4 3 0     6 4 0
Princeton 4 3 0     6 4 0
Dartmouth 4 3 0     4 6 0
Pennsylvania 1 6 0     1 9 0
Columbia 0 7 0     1 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Mid-American Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Central Michigan 7 2 0     9 2 0
Western Michigan 6 3 0     7 4 0
Northern Illinois 4 3 0     7 4 0
Miami 4 3 0     5 6 0
Ball State 5 4 0     6 5 0
Ohio 5 4 0     6 5 0
Bowling Green 4 4 0     4 7 0
Toledo 3 6 0     4 7 0
Kent State 3 6 0     3 8 0
[[{{{school}}}|Eastern Michigan]] 1 7 0     1 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Tulsa 4 1 0     8 3 0
Wichita State 4 1 1     5 5 1
Indiana State 4 2 0     6 5 0
Drake 3 2 0     8 3 0
West Texas State 2 4 0     5 6 0
New Mexico State 1 4 1     3 7 1
Southern Illinois 1 5 0     3 8 0
Illinois State         4 7 0
† – Conference champion
  • Illinois State was admitted to the MVC in June, 1980; ineligible for championship
    Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#16 Washington 6 1 0     9 3 0
#13 UCLA 5 2 0     9 2 0
#11 USC 4 2 1     8 2 1
Arizona State 5 3 0     7 4 0
Oregon 4 3 1     6 3 2
Stanford 3 4 0     6 5 0
Arizona 3 4 0     5 6 0
Washington State 3 4 0     4 7 0
California 3 5 0     3 8 0
Oregon State 0 8 0     0 11 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Long Beach State 5 0 0     8 3 0
Utah State 4 1 0     6 5 0
San Jose State 3 2 0     7 4 0
Fresno State 1 4 0     5 6 0
Cal State Fullerton 1 4 0     4 7 0
Pacific 1 4 0     4 8 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 SEC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 Georgia 6 0 0     12 0 0
#6 Alabama 5 1 0     10 2 0
#19 Mississippi State 5 1 0     9 3 0
Florida 4 2 0     8 4 0
LSU 4 2 0     7 4 0
Tennessee 3 3 0     5 6 0
Ole Miss 2 4 0     3 8 0
Kentucky 1 5 0     3 8 0
Auburn 0 6 0     5 6 0
Vanderbilt 0 6 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southern Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Furman 7 0 0     9 1 0
Chattanooga 5 2 0     8 3 0
Appalachian State 4 2 1     6 4 1
The Citadel 3 2 0     7 4 0
Western Carolina 2 4 1     3 7 1
VMI 1 4 1     3 7 1
East Tennessee State 1 4 0     2 9 0
Marshall 0 5 1     2 8 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southland Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
McNeese State 5 0 0     10 2 0
Southwestern Louisiana 4 1 0     7 4 0
Texas–Arlington 3 2 0     3 8 0
Louisiana Tech 2 3 0     5 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Lamar]] 1 4 0     3 8 0
[[{{{school}}}|Arkansas State]] 0 5 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Division I-A independents football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#2 Pittsburgh           11 1 0
#5 [[{{{school}}}|Florida State]]           10 2 0
#8 Penn State           10 2 0
#9 Notre Dame           9 2 1
#18 Miami           9 3 0
[[{{{school}}}|Southern Miss]]           9 3 0
[[{{{school}}}|Navy]]           8 4 0
South Carolina           8 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|Virginia Tech]]           8 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|Boston College]]           7 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|Northeast Louisiana]]           7 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|Rutgers]]           7 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|UNLV]]           7 4 0
Tulane           7 5 0
[[{{{school}}}|Colgate]]           5 4 1
[[{{{school}}}|North Texas]]           6 5 0
[[{{{school}}}|Villanova]]           6 5 0
West Virginia           6 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Louisville]]           5 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Richmond]]           5 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Syracuse]]           5 6 0
East Carolina           4 7 0
Illinois State           4 7 0
[[{{{school}}}|Temple]]           4 7 0
[[{{{school}}}|Army]]           3 7 1
[[{{{school}}}|Holy Cross]]           3 8 0
[[{{{school}}}|Cincinnati]]           2 9 0
[[{{{school}}}|Memphis]]           2 9 0
William & Mary           2 9 0
[[{{{school}}}|Georgia Tech]]           1 9 1
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 Southwest Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#14 Baylor 8 0 0     10 2 0
#20 SMU 5 3 0     8 4 0
[[{{{school}}}|Houston]] 5 3 0     7 5 0
Texas 4 4 0     7 5 0
[[{{{school}}}|Rice]] 4 4 0     5 6 0
Arkansas 3 5 0     7 5 0
Texas Tech 3 5 0     5 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Texas A&M]] 3 5 0     4 7 0
[[{{{school}}}|TCU]] 1 7 1     1 10 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1980 WAC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
No. 12 BYU 6 1 0     12 1 0
[[{{{school}}}|Colorado State]] 5 1 1     6 4 1
Hawaii 3 3 0     8 3 0
Wyoming 4 4 0     6 5 0
San Diego State 4 4 0     4 8 0
[[{{{school}}}|New Mexico]] 3 4 0     4 7 0
Utah 2 3 1     5 5 1
Air Force 1 3 0     2 9 1
[[{{{school}}}|UTEP]] 1 6 0     1 11 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

#1 and #2 Progress[]

WEEKS #1 #2 Event
PRE Ohio State Alabama
1-3 Alabama Ohio State UCLA 17, Ohio State 0 (Oct. 4)
4-5 Alabama USC Oregon 7, USC 7 (Oct 18)
6 Alabama Texas SMU 20, Texas 6 (Oct 25)
7 Alabama UCLA Miss. St 6, Alabama 3 (Nov. 1) Arizona 23, UCLA 17 (Nov. 1)
8 Notre Dame Georgia Ga. Tech 3, Notre Dame 3 (Nov. 8)
9 Georgia USC Washington 20, USC 10 (Nov 15)
10-11 Georgia Notre Dame USC 20, Notre Dame 3 (Dec 6)
12 Georgia Florida State End Regular Season

Bowl games[]

Final AP Poll[]

  1. Georgia
  2. Pittsburgh
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Michigan
  5. Florida State
  6. Alabama
  7. Nebraska
  8. Penn State
  9. Notre Dame
  10. North Carolina
  11. UCLA
  12. Brigham Young
  13. Southern California
  14. Baylor
  15. Ohio St
  16. Washington
  17. Purdue
  18. Miami (FL)
  19. Mississippi State
  20. SMU

Final Coaches Poll[]

  1. Georgia
  2. Pittsburgh
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Michigan
  5. Florida St.
  6. Alabama
  7. Nebraska
  8. Penn St.
  9. North Carolina
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Brigham Young
  12. UCLA
  13. Baylor
  14. Southern California
  15. Ohio St.
  16. Purdue
  17. Washington
  18. Miami (FL)
  19. Florida
  20. Southern Methodist

Heisman Trophy voting[]

  1. George Rogers South Carolina, RB
  2. Hugh Green Pittsburgh, DE
  3. Herschel Walker Georgia, RB
  4. Mark Herrmann Purdue, QB
  5. Jim McMahon Brigham Young, QB

Other major awards[]

References[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with American Football Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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