# 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Jim Young, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big Ten. Purdue was invited to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, where the Boilermakers defeated Tennessee. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 8 | Wisconsin | No. 6 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 41–20 | 65,002 |
| September 15 | at UCLA* | No. 5 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | | L 21–31 | 44,174 |
| September 22 | No. 5 Notre Dame* | No. 17 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | | W 28–22 | 70,567 |
| September 29 | Oregon* | No. 10 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 13–7 | 69,327 |
| October 6 | at Minnesota | No. 12 | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | | L 14–31 | 47,686 |
| October 13 | Illinois | No. 20 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | | W 28–14 | 69,413 |
| October 20 | at Michigan State | No. 16 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | | W 14–7 | 79,561 |
| October 27 | Northwestern | No. 16 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 20–16 | 69,656 |
| November 3 | at Iowa | No. 15 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 20–14 | 59,940 |
| November 10 | No. 10 Michigan | No. 14 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 24–21 | 69,829 |
| November 17 | at Indiana | No. 12 | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket) | | W 37–21 | 53,202 |
| December 31 | vs. Tennessee | No. 12 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl) | Mizlou | W 27–22 | 40,542 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Starters

Offense: se Burrell/Ray Smith, lt Feil, lg Schwan, c Quinn, rg Hall, rt McKenzie, te Young, qb Herrmann, fb Augustyniak, tb Jones/McCall, fl Harris, k Seibel
Defense: de Kingsbury, lt Clark, mg Loushin, rt Jackson, de Turner, lb Motts/Looney/Marks, cb W. smith/Kay, ss Seneff, fs Williams/McKinnie, p Hayes

## Game summaries
### Oregon

* Wally Jones 30 rushes, 156 yards

### Illinois

* Mark Herrmann breaks Mike Phipps' school record for career passing yardage
* Dave Young 114 Rec Yds, 2 TD
* Jimmy Smith 23 rushes, 125 yards

### At Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Michigan St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Mark Herrmann broke the Big Ten career completion record set by Michigan State's Ed Smith in the previous year.

### At Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Boilermakers | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Hawkeyes | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 21 |
| • Purdue | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |

### At Indiana

* Ben McCall 20 rushes, 148 yards

### Vs. Tennessee (Bluebonnet Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 0 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 22 |
* PUR: Mark Herrmann 21/39, 303 Yds, 3 TD
* PUR: Bart Burell 8 Rec, 144 Yds, TD

## Statistics
### Passing

| Player | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT |
| Mark Herrmann | 203 | 348 | 2,377 | 16 | 19 |

## Awards
### All-Big Ten

* Calvin Clark (1st)
* Ken Loushin (1st)
* Steve McKenzie (1st)
* Dale Schwan (1st)
* Keena Turner (1st)
* Dave Young (1st)
* Mark Herrmann (2nd)
* Marcus Jackson (2nd)
* Kevin Motts (2nd)
* Pete Quinn (2nd)
* Wayne Smith (2nd)