College football game
The
1979 Tangerine Bowl
was an American
college football
bowl game
that was played on December 22, 1979 at
Orlando Stadium
in
Orlando, Florida
. The game matched the
LSU Tigers
against the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
.
[2]
It was the final contest of the
1979 NCAA Division I-A football season
for both teams. The game ended in a 34?10 victory for the Tigers.
[3]
Teams
[
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]
The game matched the
LSU Tigers
of the
Southeastern Conference
against the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
of the
Atlantic Coast Conference
. The Tigers had a conference record of
4?2
and the Demon Decons had a conference record of
3?2
. The game was the first bowl game featuring the Tigers and the Demon Deacons, and was their third overall meeting. LSU led the series
2?0
heading into the game.
The teams' first meeting was in 1960, when the Tigers defeated the Demon Deacons 16?0. The teams also played in 1978, with LSU prevailing 13-11 at Baton Rouge.
LSU entered the matchup looking to end a four-game bowl skid, dating to a 33-15 decision over
Iowa State
in the
1971 Sun Bowl
.
Finale for "Cholly Mac"
[
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]
The game was the last for LSU coach
Charles McClendon
, who was stepping down after 18 seasons at the helm of the Bayou Bengals.
Bo Rein
was named McClendon's successor 22 days prior to the bowl.
Ironically, Rein coached
North Carolina State
to victory over Wake Forest en route to the 1979 ACC championship. The Wolfpack, however, did not play in a bowl game, while three other ACC teams which finished below NC State (Wake Forest, Clemson and North Carolina), did.
McClendon had been at LSU since 1955. He was defensive coordinator under
Paul Dietzel
from 1955?61, helping the Tigers win the national championship in
1958
. Dietzel left to coach
Army
following the
1961 season
.
In 1978, Dietzel returned to LSU as its athletic director. He was fired in February 1982 after the LSU Board of Supervisors discovered gross financial mismanagement within the school's athletic department under Dietzel's watch.
Game summary
[
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]
Scoring summary
[
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]
Scoring summary
|
Quarter
|
Time
|
Drive
|
Team
|
Scoring information
|
Score
|
Plays
|
Yards
|
TOP
|
LSU
|
WF
|
1
|
9:08
|
12
|
80
|
5:52
|
LSU
|
David Woodley
13-yard touchdown run, Don Barthel kick good
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
4:14
|
6
|
35
|
2:44
|
LSU
|
David Woodley 3-yard touchdown run, Don Barthel kick good
|
14
|
0
|
2
|
3:28
|
5
|
91
|
1:39
|
LSU
|
Jerry Murphree 19-yard touchdown reception from David Woodley, Don Barthel kick good
|
21
|
0
|
2
|
2:53
|
4
|
4
|
0:26
|
LSU
|
31-yard field goal by Don Barthel
|
24
|
0
|
2
|
0:00
|
6
|
40
|
0:45
|
WF
|
43-yard field goal by Phil Denfeld
|
24
|
3
|
3
|
11:45
|
8
|
80
|
3:15
|
WF
|
Wayne Baumgardner 19-yard touchdown reception from Jay Venuto, Frank Harnisch kick good
|
24
|
10
|
4
|
12:17
|
6
|
7
|
3:07
|
LSU
|
41-yard field goal by Don Barthel
|
27
|
10
|
4
|
8:32
|
6
|
42
|
1:57
|
LSU
|
Steve Ensminger
3-yard touchdown run, Don Barthel kick good
|
34
|
10
|
"TOP" =
time of possession
. For other American football terms, see
Glossary of American football
.
|
34
|
10
|
|
[1]
[4]
Statistics
[
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]
Statistics
[4]
|
LSU
|
WF
|
Plays?yards
|
81?496
|
64?263
|
Rushes?yards
|
55?223
|
34?30
|
Passing yards
|
273
|
233
|
Passing: Comp?Att?Int
|
26?16?1
|
30?15?4
|
Aftermath
[
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]
LSU and Wake Forest have not played each other in football since this game.
The victory gave McClendon a final record of 137-59-7. He still holds LSU records for longest tenure and most victories. He was named Executive Director of the
American Football Coaches Association
in 1980 after serving as its president in 1979. Following his death in 2001, LSU's football practice fields were named in McClendon's honor.
No LSU coach after McClendon lasted longer than five seasons until
Les Miles
, who coached 11 full seasons (2005?15). Miles was fired after four games of the
2016 season
.
Bo Rein perished in a plane crash on January 10, 1980. Former LSU All-American
Jerry Stovall
, the runner-up for the
Heisman Trophy
in 1962, McClendon's first year as head coach, was named Rein's successor.
Paul Dietzel was fired as LSU's athletic director in early 1982. The LSU Board of Supervisors cited mismanagement of athletic department finances as the reason for Dietzel's dismissal.
LSU has returned to Orlando three times to play in the Tangerine Bowl's successor, the
Citrus Bowl
. The Tigers lost 30-25 to
Iowa
in
2005
and 19-17 to
Penn State
in
2010
and 21-17 to
Notre Dame
in
2018
, while defeating
Louisville
29-9 in
December 2016
.
Wake Forest did not return to a bowl game until the
1992 Independence Bowl
. The Demon Deacons have played in only one bowl in Florida since this game, the
2007 Orange Bowl
, which they lost 24-13 to Louisville.
References
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]
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History & conference tie-ins
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Tangerine Bowl
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Florida Citrus Bowl
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Capital One Bowl
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Citrus Bowl
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- There were games in January and December of 1958, 1960, and 2016. As a result, there were no games in 1959, 1986 or 2017.
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