1979 Idaho Vandals football team

1979 Idaho Vandals football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
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)
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

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,^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Junior running back Glen White was the Vandals' leading rusher in 1979,^[4] the best season by a UI running back in the 1970s. He missed the opener at Fresno,^[5] but gained 889 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per carry in the final ten games;^[2] in the game at Idaho State, he rushed for 163 yards on 19 carries.^[5][6] A military brat, White graduated from Kaiserslautern American High School in West Germany in 1977. All-Europe for two seasons,^[7][8] he had not been recruited by college football programs; a high school coach was a former Vandal and alerted UI head coach Ed Troxel.^[4]

While in off-season training in February 1980, White felt weakness and underwent medical testing in Moscow and Seattle.^[9] 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.^[10][11][12] White, age 22, was posthumously designated an honorary team captain for all eleven games in 1980,^[13] and his Vandal teammates wore his number 32 on the left side of their helmets in tribute.^[14][15]

Future NFL linebacker Sam Merriman of Tucson, Arizona,^[16][17] was a standout on defense in 1979 as a true freshman.^[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	7:30 p.m.	at Fresno State*	Ratcliffe Stadium Fresno, CA	L 10–30	11,418	[18][19]
September 15	7:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	NAU Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	L 18–29	13,056	[20]
September 22	7:30 p.m.	Pacific (CA)*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 17–13	10,500	[21]
September 29	7:30 p.m.	Puget Sound*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 34–10		[22][23]
October 6	7:00 p.m.	at Idaho State	ASISU Minidome Pocatello, ID	W 28–23	8,175	[6]
October 13	7:30 p.m.	Boise State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	L 17–41	15,500	[24]
October 20	1:30 p.m.	Montana	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	W 20–17	14,200	[25]
October 27	12:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Montana State	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 20–28	7,127	[26]
November 3	1:30 p.m.	Nevada	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 26–38	5,500	[27][28]
November 10	12:30 p.m.	at Weber State	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	L 7–12	2,323	[29][30]
November 17	1:30 p.m.	No. 8 (D-II) South Dakota State*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 13–27	6,000	[31][32]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

1979 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Jay Goodenbour Jr QB Rob Petrillo So RB 3 Russell Davis So RB, WR 12 Rocky Tuttle (C) Sr RB 30 Tim Lappano Sr RB 32 Glen White Jr RB 33 Terry Idler   So RB 40 Randy Davenport Jr TE Al Swenson Fr TE 85 Dan Meyer Sr WR, TE 88 Mike Hagadone Sr WR 7 Jack Klein So WR John Palumbo Jr LT 74 Bruce Fery So LT Royal Hart Jr LG Dave Monico Jr C 69 Larry Coombs Sr RG John Girnt Jr RT 70 Kyle Riddell Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 43 Larry Barker Jr DT 78 Steve Parker Sr NG Steve Nelson So NG 75 Monty Elder Jr DT 71 Mark McNeal (C) Sr DE Jay Hayes So LB 50 Mike Hasfurther Sr LB Marty Marshall Sr LB 51 Chris Eads Sr LB 52 Sam Merriman Fr LB 83 Phil Vance Sr LB 90 Lloyd Williamson Fr CB 34 Mike Keough Jr FS 22 Ray McCanna Jr SS 25 Kelly Miller So SS Marc Watts SS Rick Brown Jr CB Carlton McBride Jr CB 20 Ron Jessie Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 2 Dion Jergo So P Chris Brockman Jr PK Mike Browne Sr PK 6 Pete O'Brien So	Head coach Jerry Davitch (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Bill Tripp (OC) Tim Hundley (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^{[18][27][29][31][33][34][35][36]}

Tackle Kyle Riddell, center Larry Coombs, defensive tackle Mark McNeal, and placekicker Pete O'Brien were named to the all-conference team.^[37][38] Second team selections were safety Ray McCanna and linebacker Sam Merriman, a true freshman.^[38]

One Vandal senior was selected in the 1980 NFL draft,^[39][40] which lasted twelve rounds (333 selections).

• Idaho Argonaut – student newspaper – 1979 editions