Hidden Yardage: The Story of the 1980 College Football Season

Joe Moore
  • 5.0 (21)
  • FOOTBALL
  • SERIES

Reliving the 1980 College Football Season week by week, through the memories of those that played, coached and covered it.

  1. EPISODE 1

    Episode 01: At The Battle's End

    As the 1980 college football season begins, everybody is hunting Alabama and The Bear. Winners of two straight national titles to close out the decade, the Crimson Tide starts the year perched at number two and riding an eighteen-game winning streak. The first week of games features Bobby Bowden and his renegade band of Seminoles continuing their raid on college football’s elite with a season opener in Death Valley against LSU while the Georgia Bulldogs and their prized freshman recruit, Herschel Walker, take on Tennessee in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a football game in the South. Meanwhile, in the Midlands of South Carolina, the Gamecocks’ George Rogers gallops against the University of the Pacific.

    53 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Episode 02: Across the Field

    After losing the 1979 National Championship by a single point, the number-one ranked Ohio State Buckeyes open their 1980 season against the Syracuse Orangemen in the Horseshoe. In Pittsburgh, Jackie Sherrill and the Panthers uncage one the most talented defenses of all time to feast on Boston College while Lawrence Taylor and the fifteenth-ranked UNC Tar Heels travel to West Texas for a duel with the Red Raiders.

    42 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Episode 03: Fight On

    Alabama reclaims its top spot in the polls after Ohio State’s close call with Syracuse. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame look for their second big win of the season when the Michigan Wolverines come calling and it’s a battle of USC’s as South Carolina and George Rogers invade Los Angeles to take on Ronnie Lott and the Southern Cal Trojans. Plus, Georgia squares off against Clemson between the hedges with freshman running back Herschel Walker firmly entrenched as the starter.

    41 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Episode 04: In All Kinds of Weather

    The oldest rivalry in college football plays its final chapter 111 years after giving birth to the game. The Nebraska Cornhuskers make a trip to Happy Valley for their biggest test of the season against an unbeaten Penn State team looking for revenge. Michigan once again finds itself in a close contest that is decided on the final play, this time against George Rogers and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Plus Bobby Bowden has to make a do or die decision when Florida State and its top-ranked defense puts its shutout streak on the line in the Orange Bowl against Miami and sophomore quarterback Jim Kelly.

    38 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Episode 05: Triumphant Evermore

    The Florida State Seminoles take on third-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln with a walk-on center and big, bad Ron Simmons. Ohio State defends The Horseshoe against a revenge-minded UCLA Bruins team with nothing to lose while Penn State goes to Columbia, Missouri and comes away with a win and a quarterback. Plus, Colorado is on the wrong end of history as Oklahoma puts up offensive numbers higher than the Rocky Mountains.

    36 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Episode 06: On The Warpath

    The largest crowd in Florida State history awaits an encore from the Seminoles as they take on their second straight top-five opponent. This time they host the Pitt Panthers, the Beast of the East, and their star defender Hugh Green in a battle of top-ranked independents. Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide look for some national media exposure while in the Big Apple to take on Rutgers and find themselves in an unexpected battle with the Scarlet Knights. UCLA continues its redemption tour as it returns to the West Coast after silencing the Horseshoe with a win over Ohio State and tries to slow down John Elway and Stanford. Plus, a recap of the title contenders as we near the midway point of the 1980 season.

    32 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Episode 07: Through Fair and Stormy Weather

    College offenses are taking to the air as Illinois and Purdue combine for the greatest passing day in Big Ten history. Jim McMahon and the BYU Cougars continue their assault on the record books when their aerial circus invades Logan, Utah for a game against the Utah State Aggies. The Pitt Panthers look to take out their frustrations after an upset loss to Florida State with a rumble against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. After quarterback Dan Marino is lost to injury, the Panthers are just hoping to survive. On the west coast, second-ranked USC’s undefeated streak is in jeopardy against the Oregon Ducks and George Rogers and Herschel Walker continue to punish defenses as they set their sights on each other for southeastern supremacy and the Heisman Trophy.

    32 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Episode 08: Pluck and Grit

    The 1980 college football season wraps up its second month with Alabama still looking like the team to beat. The top-ranked Tide welcome Southern Miss to Tuscaloosa where Bear Bryant hasn't lost in nearly two decades. In Texas, the number two Longhorns figure to keep their winning streak going against SMU but a freshman quarterback making his first start helps to spark Mustang Mania in the Southwest. Plus, Pittsburgh's Jackie Sherrill takes his Panthers on the road to face his mentor Johnny Majors and the Tennessee Volunteers as Pitt tries to climb back into the national championship hunt.

    34 min

  9. EPISODE 9

    Episode 09: Bear Down

    Undefeated and top-ranked Alabama looks to roll to a 23rd straight victory over Mississippi State in Jackson but the Bulldogs and their coach have a plan to change history. The nation tunes in for a legendary showdown between freshman Herschel Walker and senior George Rogers. Both will have huge days on the ground but a crucial fumble will decide the game and, potentially, the Heisman Trophy. The Oklahoma Sooners humiliate sixth-ranked North Carolina as part of one of the wildest Saturdays in college football history. Four of the six remaining undefeated teams suffer an upset and for the sixth week in a row a top-five team is upended.

    52 min

  10. EPISODE 10

    Episode 10: A Hell of an Engineer

    After a chaotic week that saw four top ten teams fall victim to an upset, college football's new number one, Notre Dame, tries to avoid a trap game in Atlanta. Resurgent Florida seeks its first ever SEC championship as it takes on Georgia in Jacksonville where the two teams combine for one of the wildest endings in college football history. Plus, the incredibly true story of Illinois quarterback Dave Wilson's battle with the Big Ten and his record-breaking performance in the Horseshoe against Ohio State to become college football's first 600-yard man.

    57 min

  11. EPISODE 11

    Episode 11: What Though the Odds

    1980's top teams jockey for position and a shot at the title as bowl bids are handed out. The sport's two pre-eminent programs do battle at Legion Field as Notre Dame and Alabama meet with the Sugar Bowl on the line. Meanwhile the USC Trojans, suspended from postseason play, look to spoil the party and extend their unbeaten streak to 29 games against a Washington Huskies team with something to prove. And Heisman favorite George Rogers tries to carry his South Carolina teammates to a win and a berth in the Gator Bowl against upset-minded Wake Forest.

    45 min
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Reliving the 1980 College Football Season week by week, through the memories of those that played, coached and covered it.

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