1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team
| 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football | |
|---|---|
ACC champion Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion | |
Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl, W 16–7 vs. Texas | |
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 9 |
| AP | No. 10 |
| Record | 11–1 (6–0 ACC) |
| Head coach |
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| Captains |
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| Home stadium | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 North Carolina $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1980 North Carolina Tar Heels football team was an American football team that represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Dick Crum, the Tar Heels compiled an 11–1 record (6–0 in conference games), kept six opponents from scoring a touchdown, and outscored all opponents by a total of 281 to 123. They won the ACC championship, were ranked No. 10 in the final AP poll, and defeated Texas in the Astro–Bluebonnet Bowl. The 11 wins tied a program record set during the 1972 season.
Senior linebacker Lawrence Taylor had 16 sacks, was a consensus selection on the 1980 All-America college football team and won ACC player of the year honors. Crum was named ACC coach of the year.
The team had two backs who gained over 1,000 rushing yards: Amos Lawrence (1,118 yards, 90 points) and Kelvin Bryant (1,039 yards, 72 points). Quarterback Rod Elkins led the team with 1,002 passing yards.
The team played its home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.