What If: The 1979 College Football Season

In college football, games and legacies can be decided by a matter of inches.

Throughout much of college football history, even a single loss could derail a team’s hopes for a national championship. A tipped pass, a bad call, or an unlucky ball bounce can flip a game's outcome in one-score games.

Inspired by the Nebraska Cornhuskers' historic trend of losing so many close games over the last decade, I decided to dive into college football history to see how different the sport might look if the outcome of every one-score game was flipped season by season.

Welcome to What If: The 1979 College Football Season.

Other What If seasons: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978

What Did Happen

The 1979 season opened with traditional power Ohio State outside of the top 25 after firing Woody Hayes following his Gator Bowl punch. The co-champions of the 1978 season opened the 1979 AP Poll as the leaders, with USC ranked No. 1 and Alabama ranked No. 2. The Tide would spend the entire season in one of the top two spots in the country, while the other top spot would shuffle between Texas, Nebraska, Ohio State, and USC throughout the season.

The 1978 Heisman Trophy winner, Billy Sims, returned to Oklahoma with the goal of becoming the second two-time Heisman winner in the sport's history. USC Trojan running back Charles White ultimately stole the hardware from Sims after leading the nation with 1,803 rushing yards. Sims still led the nation in rushing touchdowns.

The Big Eight title once again hinged on the Nebraska-Oklahoma matchup. Switzer’s squad avenged their loss from the previous year in Lincoln, winning by the same score – 17-14. Despite coming off its worst season in seven years and an unexpected coaching change, Ohio State surprised the Big 10 by winning the conference title. USC and Alabama dominated, easily winning their respective conferences.

The Southwest Conference provided drama in 1979, with Texas, Arkansas, and Houston all vying for the title as December approached. Texas A&M upset the Longhorns, while Houston and Arkansas both secured easy victories, resulting in a split conference crown. Ultimately, Houston earned the Cotton Bowl bid due to their head-to-head win over the Razorbacks. The Florida State Seminoles, which had won only four games in the three seasons preceding Bobby Bowden’s arrival, emerged as a title contender with an unbeaten record.

Unbeaten Teams: BYU (11-0), Alabama (11-0), USC (10-0-1), Ohio State (11-0), Central Michigan (10-0-1), Florida State (11-0), McNeese (11-0)

With seven teams unbeaten and seven more with just one loss, the championship picture was open going into bowl season. In addition to the five automatic bids, Arkansas, Florida State, and Nebraska earned at-large bids to the New Year’s Day bowl games.

Bowl	Winner	Loser
Cotton Bowl	Houston (10-1) 17	Nebraska (10-1) 14
Orange Bowl	Oklahoma (10-1) 24	Florida State (11-0) 7
Rose Bowl	USC (10-0-1) 17	Ohio State (11-0) 16
Sugar Bowl	Alabama (11-0) 24	Arkansas (10-1) 9

In the Cotton Bowl, the Huskers and Cougars saved most of their scoring for the fourth quarter. Houston won the game with a go-ahead touchdown with just 12 seconds left in the game. The Sugar Bowl was played simultaneously with the Cotton Bowl, and the Tide were able to run all over Lou Holtz's Razorbacks. Alabama was likely to earn at least a share of a title for a second consecutive season with its perfect record.

USC spoiled Ohio State’s perfect record and title hopes with a close win in the Rose Bowl. The Sooners also ended Bobby Bowden’s quest for a title by easily beating the Seminoles in Miami. With two unbeaten major bowl winners, another split title between USC and Alabama would be likely. Voters, on the other hand, decided that the Trojans’ 21-21 tie with Stanford means they belong below Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide. Ultimately, both polls crown Alabama as the sole national champion.

What Almost Happened

In this alternate scenario, all the unbeaten teams from reality suffer losses. The Richmond Spiders see the most significant improvement, going from 0-11 to 4-7. Among major conference teams, Arizona State, Kentucky, and Kansas State improve the most, each gaining three wins. McNeese, which had seven one-score victories in 1979, sees all those wins turn into losses. Similarly, Wake Forest loses seven wins, falling to 1-10.

Even with an 8-3 record for the Trojans, Charles White would likely still win the Heisman, though the voting would be closer among the top three. The BYU Cougars emerge as the only one-loss team in the country, with a 10-1 record. Cougar quarterback Marc Wilson led the nation in most passing statistics. As the best player on the best team, he would likely be a stronger contender in the Heisman voting, rather than finishing a distant third.

Every conference gets a shakeup this season despite every contender suffering more losses. Tom Osborne’s close loss to Barry Switzer’s Sooners is flipped, making the Cornhuskers the Big Eight champions. The SEC and Pac-10 also have significant changes. Kentucky and Arizona State each improve by three games, earning automatic bowl bids as their conference champions. The Texas Longhorns become Southwest champions through the head-to-head tiebreaker over Arkansas. The Game still decides the Big 10 championship, but in our hypothetical, Michigan claims the Big 10 crown for the fourth straight season.

Unbeaten Teams: None

The at-large bowl bids become a toss-up among major conference teams with two or three losses. Alabama, Ohio State, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Washington would all be in contention for a berth, along with 10-1 BYU. Bear Bryant would likely have the final say on whether the Tide plays in the Orange or Cotton Bowl. Ultimately, seeking the best shot at the title, he would choose to face the 9-2 Huskers in Miami. USC and Arkansas also receive at-large berths, based on their two-loss records.

Bowl	Winner	Loser
Cotton Bowl	USC (8-2-1)	Texas (8-3)
Orange Bowl	Alabama (9-2)	Nebraska (9-2)
Rose Bowl	Michigan (9-2)	Arizona State (9-3)
Sugar Bowl	Arkansas (9-2)	Kentucky (8-3)

The 1979 Trojans were a great football team. Quarterback Paul McDonald finished sixth in the Heisman voting, and future Heisman winner Marcus Allen was the backup running back. While the Longhorns finished the 1979 season with the third-ranked defense, the Trojan rushing attack would be too much for them.

The 1979 Arizona State Sun Devils could have contended for the Rose Bowl had it not been for their controversial head coach. In September of that season, a former player sued the school, alleging abuse by head coach Frank Kush. Kush had brought the Sun Devils to national prominence after taking over from Dan Devine. However, he was fired midway through the 1979 season, during which all four of the team's conference losses were decided by a single score. In our hypothetical matchup, the Sun Devils would be outmatched by a Wolverine offense that ranked 31st nationally, compared to Arizona State’s 55th-ranked defense.

Kentucky, like Arizona State, was a major winner, going from a middle-of-the-pack record to a conference champion. However, Lou Holtz’s Razorbacks were a significant power in the Southwest Conference. They finished the season with a top-10 scoring defense, which would have stifled the Wildcats' poor offense.

The winner of our hypothetical Orange Bowl would almost certainly claim at least a share of the national title in 1979. The Crimson Tide shut out five opponents, tying the NCAA regular-season record in modern college football. They also hold the record for most games allowing fewer than seven points, with nine games. Only one modern-era defense allowed a lower points-per-game average than the 1979 Crimson Tide (5.3): the 1973 Ohio State Buckeyes, with just 4.3 points per game.

The Huskers were also outstanding on defense, allowing just 10.4 points per game during the regular season. The Orange Bowl would have likely been a defensive struggle, despite both offenses ranking in the top 12 in the nation. Tom Osborne would once again come up just short against one of college football's most outstanding defensive units. Ultimately, this hypothetical concludes similarly to reality. USC would have a strong claim to a title with their 9-2-1 record. Still, Alabama’s 10-2 record, including a win against the Big Eight champion Nebraska Cornhuskers, would exclude the Trojans from title contention.

While a lot of years in this series saw major changes in who won the title, this one did not. The 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide was one of the best teams in college football history. ESPN ranked this team as the eighth best ever in 2019. This article series not only highlights some forgotten teams that fell just short, but it also does a great job of showcasing the most dominant teams whose results are unaffected by this alternative scenario.

More From Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.