American college football season
The1980 Stanford Cardinals football team representedStanford University in thePacific-10 Conference during the1980 NCAA Division I-A football season . Following the surprise resignation ofRod Dowhower after one season in January,[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] Paul Wiggin ,[ 4] [ 5] [ 6] Stanford Stadium inStanford, California .
Hired in February, Wiggin was a former stardefensive end atStanford (All-Pacific Coast in1955 ,1956 ), played 11 years in theNational Football League (NFL), was a head coach for three seasons with theKansas City Chiefs (1975–1977), and most recently was thedefensive coordinator of theNew Orleans Saints .[ 4] [ 7]
After the season in December,offensive coordinator Dennis Green became the head coach atNorthwestern in theBig Ten Conference ,[ 8] [ 9] Jim Fassel was promoted. Green returned to Stanford as head coach in 1989 .
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 6 atOregon No. 15 W 35–2537,300 [ 10] September 13 Tulane * No. 13 W 19–1454,829 [ 11] September 20 atBoston College * No. 11 L 13–3032,037 [ 12] September 27 at No. 4Oklahoma * W 31–1475,811 [ 13] October 4 San Jose State * No. 15 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry ) W 35–2161,127 [ 14] October 11 at No. 5UCLA No. 16 L 21–3564,175 [ 15] October 18 Washington No. 20 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA ABC L 24–2760,066 [ 16] October 25 atWashington State W 48–3430,371 [ 17] November 1 Oregon State Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 54–1343,294 [ 18] November 8 No. 4USC Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry ) ABC L 9–3484,892 [ 19] November 22 atCalifornia L 23–2878,258 [ 20] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game
[ 21]
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
CAL – Tyrone Portee 24-yard pass fromJ Torchio (Mick Luckhurst kick).Cal 14–7.Drive: CAL – John Tuggle 2-yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick).Cal 21–7.Drive: Third quarter
Fourth quarter
STAN – Vincent White 32-yard pass fromJohn 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 Top rushers 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 possiblePeach Bowl consideration.
1980 Stanford Cardinal football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 65 Craig Awbrey Jr DB 48 Kevin Baird So DL 74 Duke Dapper Sr DB 11 Rick Gervais Sr DB 20 Rod Gilmore Jr DL 83 Kevin Lamar Fr DB 12 Kevin MacMillan So LB 80 Milt McColl Sr LB 50 Dave Morze Jr DL 60 Doug Rogers Jr LB 98 Jay Summers Jr DB 45 Vaughn Williams Fr LB 58 Gary Wimmer So LB 52 Craig Zellmer Sr
Special teams Pos. # Name Class K ,P 10 Ken Naber Sr
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible
[ 22] [ 23]
^ "Card coach resigns" .Spokane Daily Chronicle . Washington. Associated Press. January 24, 1980. p. 30.^ "Dowhower suddenly leaves Stanford for NFL" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. wire service reports. January 24, 1980. p. 3B.^ "Dowhower resigns as Stanford football coach" .Lodi News-Sentinel . California. UPI. January 24, 1980. p. 18.^a b "Wiggin Stanford football coach" .Lodi News-Sentinel . California. UPI. February 2, 1980. p. 10.^ "Wiggin gets Stanford job" .Spokane Daily Chronicle . Washington. Associated Press. February 2, 1980. p. 14.^a b "Cal shuffles the Cards, 28-23" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. Associated Press. November 23, 1980. p. 4B.^ "Stanford job to thrill Wiggin" .Lawrence Journal-World . Kansas. February 2, 1980. p. 9.^ "Green is coach at Northwestern" .Lodi News-Sentinel . California. UPI. December 24, 1980. p. 12.^ "Big 10 gets its first black head football coach" .Tuscaloosa News . Alabama. Associated Press. December 24, 1980. p. 9.^ "Stanford downs Oregon, 35–25" .The Macon Telegraph & News . September 7, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Tulane beaten in final minute" .Daily World . September 14, 1980. RetrievedJuly 25, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford falls 30–12 in a shocker" .Tallahassee Democrat . September 21, 1980. p. 3F – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford stuns Oklahoma" .The Sioux City Journal . September 28, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford QB defeats dad 35–21" .The Sunday Oregonian . October 5, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "UCLA, McNeil rip Cards" .The Victoria Advocate . October 12, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "FG prunes Cards, Huakies smell Rosy" .The Sacramento Bee . October 19, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford pyrotechnics burn Cougs" .Tri-City Herald . October 26, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cards make it look easy" .The San Francisco Examiner . November 2, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "USC stomps on Stanford" .The San Francisco Examiner . November 9, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cal's Big Game ruins Stanford's" .Oakland Tribune . November 23, 1980. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "1980 Stanford Cardinal Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024 .^ "Starting lineups" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. September 6, 1980. p. 2C.^ "Starting lineups" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. November 1, 1980. p. 2B.
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
