1979 Idaho Vandals football team

Coordinates: 46°43′34″N 117°01′05″W / 46.726°N 117.018°W / 46.726; -117.018

1979 Idaho Vandals football
Conference Big Sky Conference
1979 record 4–7 (2–5 Big Sky)
Head coach Jerry Davitch (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator Bill Tripp (2nd season)
Offensive scheme Veer
Defensive coordinator Tim Hundley (1st season)
Home stadium Kibbie Dome
1979 Big Sky football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Boise State 7 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0
Montana State $ 6 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0
Nevada ^ 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 4 – 0
Northern Arizona 3 – 4 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Weber State 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0
Idaho 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0
Montana 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0
Idaho State 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant
  • Boise State was ineligible for title or I-AA playoffs; Montana State was conference champion and Nevada-Reno was selected for I-AA playoffs.

The 1979 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals were led by second-year head coach Jerry Davitch and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They played their home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

With quarterbacks Jay Goodenbour and Rob Petrillo running the veer offense, the Vandals were 4–7 overall and 2–5 in the Big Sky. They won four of five in mid-season, but dropped their final four games.[1] Idaho lost to rival Boise State for the third straight year; the Broncos went undefeated in conference play but were on probation for a scouting violation and not eligible for the title or the I-AA playoffs.[2]

Notable players

Junior running back Glen White was the Vandals' leading rusher in 1979,[3] the best season by a UI running back in the 1970s. He missed the opener at Fresno but gained 889 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per carry in the final ten games;[1] in the game at Idaho State, he rushed for 163 yards on 19 carries.[4] A military brat, White graduated from high school in West Germany and had not been recruited by college football programs; a high school coach was a former Vandal and alerted UI head coach Ed Troxel.[3]

While in off-season training in February 1980, White felt weakness and underwent medical testing in Moscow and Seattle.[5] Diagnosed with aplastic anemia, he battled it for several months until his death from complications on August 9 at an Oklahoma City hospital, near his parents' home at Fort Sill.[6][7] White, age 22, was posthumously designated an honorary team captain for all eleven games in 1980,[8] and his Vandal teammates wore his number 32 on the left side of their helmets in tribute.[9][10]

Future NFL linebacker Sam Merriman of Tucson, Arizona,[11][12] was a standout on defense in 1979 as a true freshman.[1]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent Site Result Attendance
Sep 08 7:30 p.m. at Fresno State - (Div. I-A)* Ratcliffe Stadium • Fresno, CA [13][14] L 10–30   11,418
Sep 15 7:00 p.m. at Northern Arizona NAU Skydome • Flagstaff, AZ [15] L 18–29   13,056
Sep 22 7:30 p.m. Pacific - (Div. I-A)* Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [16] W 17–13    
Sep 29 7:30 p.m. Puget Sound - (Div. II)* Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [17][18] W 34–10    
Oct 06 7:00 p.m. at Idaho State ISU Minidome • Pocatello, ID [4] W 28–23   8,175
Oct 13 7:30 p.m. Boise State Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [19] - (BSU-UI rivalry) L 17–41   15,500
Oct 20 1:30 p.m. Montanadagger Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [20] - (Little Brown Stein) W 20–17   14,200
Oct 27 12:30 p.m. at Montana State Reno H. Sales Stadium • Bozeman, MT [21] L 20–28   7,127
Nov 03 1:30 p.m. Nevada-Reno Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [22] L 26–38   5,500
Nov 10 12:30 p.m. at Weber State Wildcat Stadium • Ogden, UT [23] L   7–12   2,323
Nov 17 1:30 p.m. South Dakota State - (Div. II)* Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID [24] L 13–27   6,000
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Pacific Time.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Peaks and valleys". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 22, 1979. p. 1B.
  2. ↑ Killen, John (October 13, 1979). "Idaho: possibility looms for a winning season". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  3. 1 2 Killen, John (November 14, 1979). "Prodigal son: Glen White came back to Idaho and everybody's happy he did". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  4. 1 2 Emerson, Paul (October 6, 1979). "Vandals stop ISU for 3rd straight win". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  5. ↑ "Idaho back stricken". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). February 21, 1980. p. 23.
  6. ↑ "UI running back dies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). August 10, 1980. p. 2B.
  7. ↑ "UI grid star dies of anemia". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 11, 1980. p. 17.
  8. ↑ "Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 18, 1980. p. 4C.
  9. ↑ "White memory spurs Vandals to big victory". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 18, 1980. p. 30.
  10. ↑ "'96 Vandals will sport new look". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 28, 1996. p. 6B.
  11. ↑ "Sam Merriman". NFL.com. (historical players). Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Sam Merriman". Database Football. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  13. ↑ Killen, John (September 8, 1979). "Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  14. ↑ Killen, John (September 9, 1979). "Vandals: Fresno St. delivers 30-10 loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  15. ↑ Killen, John (September 16, 1979). "Lumberjacks fell Vandals in wild one, 29-18". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  16. ↑ Killen, John (September 23, 1979). "Idaho nips Pacific". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  17. ↑ Killen, John (September 30, 1979). "Vandals drown Puget Sound". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  18. ↑ Stewart, Chuck (October 1, 1979). "Vandals erupt late to 'win for Lappano'". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 17.
  19. ↑ Killen, John (October 14, 1979). "End of a Vandal winning streak". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1D.
  20. ↑ Emerson, Paul (October 21, 1979). "Winners by a foot". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 5D.
  21. ↑ Emerson, Paul (October 28, 1979). "Bad day at Bozeman". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 2D.
  22. ↑ Emerson, Paul (November 4, 1979). "High rollers". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 8D.
  23. ↑ "Cornered cats can kill". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 11, 1979. p. 4D.
  24. ↑ Barrows, Bob (November 18, 1979). "Hard-hitting Jackrabbits". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 4D.
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