1979 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 1979 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy as an independent during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by seventh-year head coach George Welsh, the Midshipmen compiled a record of 7–4.^[1]

1979 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	Independent
Record	7–4
Head coach	George Welsh (7th season)
Captains	Larry Klawinski Tom Paulk
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Florida State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
UNLV		–		–				9	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Temple		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
Tulane		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–				5	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
North Texas State		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Louisville		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
William & Mary		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Air Force		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Richmond		–		–				0	–	11	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	The Citadel		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 26–7	17,835	[2]
September 22	Connecticut		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 21–10	22,142	[3]
September 29	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 13–12	53,825	[4]
October 6	Air Force		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 13–9	31,109	[5]
October 13	vs. William & Mary		Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	W 24–7	25,000	[6]
October 20	Virginia	No. 20	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 17–10	22,604	[7]
October 27	at No. 12 Pittsburgh	No. 17	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 7–24	51,332	[8]
November 3	at No. 13 Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 0–14	59,075	[9]
November 10	Syracuse		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 14–30	20,385	[10]
November 17	at Georgia Tech		Grant Field Atlanta, GA	L 14–24	24,318	[11]
December 1	vs. Army		John F. Kennedy Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 31–7	77,052	[12]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]

Game summaries

Air Force

Navy had 107 yards of penalties but prevailed 13–9.^[14]

Vs. Army

See also: 1979 Army Cadets football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	10	7	7	7	31
Army	0	7	0	0	7

Game information

First quarter NAVY – Steve Fehr 36-yard field goal. Navy 3–0. Drive: NAVY – Troy Mitchell 12-yard pass from Bob Powers (Steve Fehr kick). Navy 10–0. Drive: Second quarter NAVY – Eddie Meyers 1-yard run (Steve Fehr kick). Navy 17–0. Drive: ARMY – Bobby Crumpton 8-yard run (Dave Aucoin kick). Navy 17–7. Drive: Third quarter NAVY – Eddie Meyers 5-yard run (Steve Fehr kick). Navy 24–7. Drive: Fourth quarter NAVY – Eddie Meyers 31-yard run (Steve Fehr kick). Navy 31–7. Drive: Top passers NAVY – Bob Powers – 6/15, 85 yards, TD ARMY – T.D. Decker – 2/5, 15 yards, INT Top rushers NAVY – Eddie Meyers – 43 rushes, 279 yards, 3 TD ARMY – Bobby Vicci – 12 rushes, 66 yards Top receivers NAVY – Steve Callahan – 3 receptions, 40 yards ARMY – Bill Skoda – 1 reception, 13 yards

Army Cadets (2–7–1) vs. Navy Midshipmen (6–4)

at John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Date: December 1
• Game attendance: 77,052
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson
• ^[15]

• Navy evened all-time series at 37–37–6
• Eddie Meyers set single game school rushing record

External videos
Full game
Game highlights

Personnel

1979 Navy Midshipmen football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 65 Jerome Barker Sr C 77 Rick Bott Sr RB 22 Steve Callahan Jr WR 86 Dave Dent Jr G 62 Tom Feldman Sr QB 19 Mark Fitzgerald So RB 25 Duane Flowers So TE Curt Gainer TE 83 Carl Hendershot Sr RB 33 Larry Klawinski Sr RB Chris Klein G 71 Frank McCallister Jr TE 85 Matt McLaughlin Jr FB 40 Eddie Meyers So WR Troy Mitchell TE Greg Papajohn So QB 18 Bob Powers Sr WR 31 Jon Ross So RB 23 Mike Sherlock Jr QB Mike Tarquinio OT 61 John Taylor Sr RB Kevin Tolbert OL Richard Welch	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 73 Steve Chambers Jr LB 69 Ted Dumbauld Jr DB 14 John Foley So DL Terry Huxel LB 63 Mike Kronzer Jr DL Mike Matthes DT 76 John Merrill Sr DB 66 Charlie Meyers Sr DB 49 Gregg Milo Sr DE 88 Hugh Nixon Sr LB 55 Tom Paulk Sr DB 26 Fred Reitzel Jr DE 84 Charlie Thornton Sr DL Reggie Trass DB 36 Chuck Zingler Sr DB Greg Zitterkopf	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 24 Steve Fehr So K 11 Dave Guin Jr P 81 Lex Lauletta Jr	Head coach George Welsh Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
2. "Middies sail past The Citadel, 26–7". The Baltimore Sun. September 16, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Navy beats UConn despite errors, 21–10". The Baltimore Sun. September 23, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Landlubber Middies top Illini". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 30, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Navy stops Air Force". The Odessa American. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Navy routs W&M in Oyster Bowl 24–7". The Roanoke Times & World News. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Late drive lifts Navy over Cavs". Winston-Salem Journal. October 21, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Pitt sinks Navy, 24–7". The Daily Item. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Notre Dame blanks Middies". Great Falls Tribune. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Syracuse rips Navy, 30–14, as Hurley stars". The Reporter Dispatch. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Navy loses 4th in row". The Baltimore Sun. November 18, 1979. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Meyers and Navy sink Army, 31–7". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 2, 1979. Retrieved October 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "1979 Navy Midshipmen Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
14. Sports Illustrated. 1979 October 15.
15. "Middies even series on Meyers' running." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Dec 02. Pg. 7E. Retrieved 2020-Dec-11.