The 1979 Gator Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on December 28, 1979. The

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

defeated the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, 17–15.

Background

An 8-1 start (With a loss to #9 Notre Dame) had propelled Michigan to be ranked at 10th in the polls, before a loss to #14 Purdue followed by a loss to #2 Ohio State at home. This made them fall to 14th position in the polls and they finished as 3rd in the

. The Tar Heels had started with a score of 4-0 and were ranked #14 before a loss to Wake Forest started a 1-3-1 middle stretch that ended with victories over Virginia and Duke to make them finish 5th in the

. This was Michigan's first Gator Bowl appearance. This was North Carolina's third ever Gator Bowl appearance.

Scoring summary

First quarter

* No score

Second quarter

* Michigan - Virgil, 20-yard field goal * Michigan - Anthony Carter, 53-yard pass from John Wangler (kick failed) * North Carolina - Doug Paschal, 1-yard run (Hayes kick)

Third quarter

* North Carolina - Phil Farris 12-yard pass from Matt Kupec (Hayes kick)

Fourth quarter

* North Carolina - Hayes 32-yard field goal * Michigan - Anthony Carter 30-yard pass from B. J. Dickey (B.J. Dickey pass failed)

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

Gator Bowl Michigan Wolverines football bowl games North Carolina Tar Heels football bowl games 20th century in Jacksonville, Florida

{{Collegefootball-bowl-stub