The 1979 LSU Tigers football team represented

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) during the

1979 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title. This was an extremely dominant ...

. Under head coach

Charles McClendon Charles Youmans McClendon (October 17, 1923 – December 6, 2001), also known as "Cholly Mac", was an American football player and coach. He served at the head coach at Louisiana State University from 1962 to 1979. McClendon was inducted into the ...

, the Tigers had a record of 7–5 with a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

record of 4–2. It was McClendon's 18th and final season as head coach at LSU.

Bo Rein Robert Edward "Bo" Rein (July 20, 1945 – January 10, 1980) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He was a two-sport athlete at Ohio State University and served as the head football coach at North Carolina State Univ ...

, who led

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

to the 1979

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

championship, was hired six days after the regular season finale, but McClendon and his staff coached the Tangerine Bowl vs. Wake Forest. Rein perished in a bizarre plane crash January 10, 1980, only 42 days after his hiring and was succeeded by former LSU All-American

Jerry Stovall Jerry Lane Stovall (born April 30, 1941) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he was a unanimous selection to the 1962 College F ...

Schedule

Roster

References

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

LSU Tigers football seasons Citrus Bowl champion seasons

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) an ...

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