# 1980 Stanford Cardinals football team

The 1980 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. Following the surprise resignation of Rod Dowhower after one season in January, Stanford's new head coach was alumnus Paul Wiggin, and he led the Cardinals to a 6–5 record (3–4 in Pac-10, tied for sixth). Home games were played on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
Hired in February, Wiggin was a former star defensive end at Stanford (All-Pacific Coast in 1955, 1956), played 11 years in the National Football League (NFL), was a head coach for three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs (1975–1977), and most recently was the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints.
After the season in December, offensive coordinator Dennis Green became the head coach at Northwestern in the Big Ten Conference, and receivers/backs coach Jim Fassel was promoted. Green returned to Stanford as head coach in 1989.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | at Oregon | No. 15 | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | | W 35–25 | 37,300 |
| September 13 | Tulane* | No. 13 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | | W 19–14 | 54,829 |
| September 20 | at Boston College* | No. 11 | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | | L 13–30 | 32,037 |
| September 27 | at No. 4 Oklahoma* | | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 31–14 | 75,811 |
| October 4 | San Jose State* | No. 15 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | | W 35–21 | 61,127 |
| October 11 | at No. 5 UCLA | No. 16 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | | L 21–35 | 64,175 |
| October 18 | Washington | No. 20 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | | L 24–27 | 60,066 |
| October 25 | at Washington State | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | | W 48–34 | 30,371 |
| November 1 | Oregon State | | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | | W 54–13 | 43,294 |
| November 8 | No. 4 USC | | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | ABC | L 9–34 | 84,892 |
| November 22 | at California | | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA (Big Game) | | L 23–28 | 78,258 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At California

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Stanford | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 23 |
| California | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
at California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
* Date: November 22
* Game attendance: 78,258
* Source:
Game information :
First quarter
CAL – John Tuggle 15-yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick). Cal 7–0. Drive:
STAN – Vincent White 1-yard run (Ken Naber kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
Second quarter
CAL – Tyrone Portee 24-yard pass from J Torchio (Mick Luckhurst kick). Cal 14–7. Drive:
CAL – John Tuggle 2-yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick). Cal 21–7. Drive:
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
STAN – Vincent White 32-yard pass from John Elway (Ken Naber kick). Cal 21–14. Drive:
STAN – Vincent White 4-yard run (Ken Naber kick). Tie 21–21. Drive:
CAL – J Torchio 3-yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick). Cal 28–21. Drive:
STAN – Safety, center snapped ball out of end zone. Cal 28–23.
Top passers
STAN – John Elway – 28/44, 257 yards, TD
CAL – J Torchio – 11/22, 186 yards, TD
Top rushers
STAN – Vincent White – 24 rushes, 83 yards, 2 TD
CAL – John Tuggle – 27 rushes, 110 yards, TD
Top receivers
STAN – Vincent White – 9 receptions, 109 yards, TD
CAL – Don Sprague – 2 receptions, 62 yards :
Two costly fumbles and being stopped on the goal line with 1:07 left, ended Stanford's season on a sour note, and knocked them out of possible Peach Bowl consideration.