1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

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1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football
ACC champion
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 10
Record11–1 (6–0 ACC)
Head coach
CaptainRick Donnalley, Steve Streater, Lawrence Taylor, Ron Wooten
Home stadiumKenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1979
1981 →
1980 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 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

The 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Dick Crum in his third season as ahead coach, the team finished the season with an 11–1 overall record, winning the ACC title with a 6–0 mark in conference played and beating Texas in the Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl. The 11 wins tied a program record set during the 1972 season.

Linebacker Lawrence Taylor had 16 sacks in his final year for the Tar Heels and set numerous defensive records. His accolades included a consensus selection to the 1980 College Football All-America Team included All-America and ACC Player of the Year honors.[1] Crum was named ACC Coach of the Year.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 61:00 p.m.Furman*No. 14
W 35–1350,100[2]
September 138:30 p.m.at Texas Tech*No. 15
W 9–337,797[3]
September 271:00 p.m.No. 19 MarylandNo. 14
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
W 17–351,400[4]
October 41:00 p.m.Georgia Tech*No. 10
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
W 33–049,750[5]
October 111:00 p.m.at Wake ForestNo. 8
W 27–937,411[6]
October 181:00 p.m.NC StateNo. 8
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)
W 28–851,845[7]
October 251:00 p.m.East Carolina*No. 7
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
W 31–348,100[8]
November 12:30 p.m.at No. 16 Oklahoma*No. 6
ESPNL 7–4174,852[9]
November 81:00 p.m.at ClemsonNo. 14
W 24–1962,500[10]
November 151:00 p.m.VirginiaNo. 15
W 26–349,500[11]
November 221:00 p.m.DukeNo. 15
W 44–2151,389[12]
December 318:00 p.m.vs. Texas*No. 13
MizlouW 16–736,669[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[14]

Roster[edit]

1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 1 Travis Freeman Sr
FB 1 Billy "Freight Train" Johnson Sr
QB 10 Rod Elkins So
WR 19 Jon Richardson Jr
WR 41 Wayne Tucker Sr
RB 20 Amos Lawrence Sr
C 51 Rick Donnalley Sr
OT 54 Dave Drechsler So
G 78 Ron Wooten Sr
OL Kevin Wilson Fr
WR 85 Mike McCormick Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
FS 5 Steve Streater Sr
SS 28 Bill Jackson Jr
LB 29 Darrell Nicholson Jr
NG 34 Paul Davis Sr
DT 76 Donnell Thompson Sr
OLB 84 Mike Wilcher So
OLB 93 Calvin Daniels Jr
OLB 98 Lawrence Taylor Sr
DB unk Larry Winters So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 5 Steve Streater Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Denny Marcin, Larry Marmie, Cleve Bryant

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 1980 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP1415131410887614151513121310
Coaches171313151188761415131111119

Game summaries[edit]

Maryland[edit]

See also: 1980 Maryland Terrapins football team

[15]

At Oklahoma[edit]

See also: 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team

[16]

Duke[edit]

See also: 1980 Duke Blue Devils football team and Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

Vs. Texas (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)[edit]

North Carolina vs. Texas
1 234Total
• Tar Heels 6 730 16
Longhorns 0 700 7
Main article: 1980 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
See also: 1980 Texas Longhorns football team

[17]

1981 NFL Draft[edit]

Main article: 1981 NFL Draft

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

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Lawrence Taylor Linebacker 1 2 New York Giants
Donnell Thompson Defensive tackle 1 18 Baltimore Colts
Rick Donnalley Center 3 73 Pittsburgh Steelers
Amos Lawrence Running back 4 103 San Diego Chargers
Ron Wooten Guard 6 157 New England Patriots
Harry Stanback Defensive tackle 6 164 Atlanta Falcons

[18]

Awards and honors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Whitley, David. L.T. was reckless, magnificent, espn.com, accessed January 29, 2007.
  2. ^ "Carolina topples Furman". The News and Observer. September 7, 1980. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "North Carolina tops Tech". The Tyler Courier-Times. September 14, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Tar Heels' defense stops Maryland, 17–3". The Tampa Tribune. September 28, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "North Carolina rolls over Georgia Tech". The Victoria Advocate. October 5, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Tar Heels dominate Wake in 27–9 victory". The Daily Progress. October 12, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "UNC looks like the class of the ACC against State". The Roanoke Times & World-News. October 19, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "No. 7 Tar Heels clip East Carolina 31–3". News-Press. October 26, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Sooners demolish sixth-rated Tarheels". Wisconsin State Journal. November 2, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Goal line stand saves Tar Heels". The Danville Register. November 9, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Tar Heels earn Bluebonnent berth with 26–3 victory over Virginia". Suffolk News-Herald. November 16, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Bryant's running helps Tar Heels KO Blue Devils' rally". The Charlotte Observer. November 23, 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "North Carolina runs over Longhorns, 16–7". San Angelo Standard-Times. January 1, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Carolina Football : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive".
  15. ^ "UNC Deals Maryland 1st Defeat, 17-3". The Washington Post. September 28, 1980. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  16. ^ "Hey, Not Everyone Can Be Perfect". Sports Illustrated. November 10, 1980. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "N. CAROLINA DEFEATS TEXAS, 16-7". The New York Times. January 1, 1981. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  18. ^ "1981 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
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