The 1979 Tulane Green Wave football team represented

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in the

1979 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title. This was an extremely dominan ...

. The team was led by Larry Smith. The Green Wave played home games in the

Louisiana Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

. The team finished with a record of 9–3 and played in the 1979 Liberty Bowl, losing 6–9 to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. The offense scored 318 points while the defense allowed 179 points. Two members of the Green Wave team were drafted into the National Football League. The Wave opened the season by smashing Stanford 33-10, spoiling

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who spent his entire 16-year career with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, he then spent 1 ...

's collegiate debut. In the 77th edition of the

Battle for the Rag The Battle for the Rag is the name given to the LSU–Tulane football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played by the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University and the Tulane Green Wave football team of Tulan ...

, Tulane beat

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

24–13 in what was LSU coach

Charles McClendon Charles Youmans McClendon (October 17, 1923 – December 6, 2001), also known as "Cholly Mac", was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1962 to 1979, compilin ...

's final regular season game after 18 seasons.

Schedule

Roster

Team players in the NFL

References

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

Tulane Green Wave football seasons

Tulane Green Wave football The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football. The Tulane Green Wave, Green Wave compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a memb ...

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