1979 BC Lions season

1979 BC Lions season
General managerBob Ackles
Head coachVic Rapp
Home fieldEmpire Stadium
Results
Record9–6–1
Division place3rd, West
Playoff finishLost Western Semi-Final

The 1979 BC Lions finished in third place in the Western Conference with a 9–6–1 record. They appeared in the Western Semi-Final.

Jerry Tagge had a great start to the season and led the Lions to a 6–1–1 record. However, he suffered a catastrophic knee injury mid-season that would end his career. Under sophomore backup Joe Paopao, the Lions lost five, but finished third with a 9-6-1 record, before bowing out to Calgary in the semi-final. The duo threat backfield of Larry Key with 1060 rushing yards & 289 receiving yards and John Henry White with 776 rushing yards & 422 receiving yards help carry the team after Tagge went down.

Key was a CFL All-star, along with Centre Al Wilson (for 5th straight season) and kicker Lui Passaglia who was led the league punting and was 2nd in league scoring.

After the season, "Dirty Thirty" Jim Young retired from football after 13 seasons. He retired as the Lions all-time leading receiver with 9248 yards and 65 touchdowns. Young's receiving yardage record would stand for 31 years.

Norm Fieldgate became the second Lions player to be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School

Roster

1979 BC Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Slotbacks

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Inactive List

(1 Game)

(9 Game)

Practice Roster


Italics indicate Import players

Preseason

Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance
Score Record

Regular season

Season standings

Western Football Conference
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Edmonton Eskimos 16 12 2 2 495 219 26
Calgary Stampeders 16 12 4 0 382 278 24
BC Lions 16 9 6 1 328 333 19
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 4 12 0 283 340 8
Saskatchewan Roughriders 16 2 14 0 194 437 4

[1]

Season schedule

Week Game Date Opponent Results
Score Record
1 1 July 11 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 28–4 1–0
2 2 July 17 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 25–10 2–0
3 3 July 24 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 19–18 3–0
4 4 July 31 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 24–15 4–0
5 5 Aug 7 vs. Edmonton Eskimos T 14–14 4–0–1
6 6 Aug 15 at Calgary Stampeders L 10–22 4–1–1
7 7 Aug 21 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 22–16 5–1–1
8 8 Aug 28 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 18–17 6–1–1
9 Bye
10 9 Sept 9 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 17–15 7–1–1
11 10 Sept 16 at Edmonton Eskimos L 8–40 7–2–1
12 11 Sept 22 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 34–25 8–2–1
13 12 Sept 29 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 22–21 9–2–1
14 Bye
15 13 Oct 14 at Ottawa Rough Riders L 26–28 9–3–1
16 14 Oct 20 vs. Calgary Stampeders L 32–37 9–4–1
17 15 Oct 28 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 12–26 9–5–1
18 16 Nov 3 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 17–25 9–6–1

[2]

Playoffs

West Semi-Final

Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
BC Lions 1 0 0 1 2
Calgary Stampeders 3 5 29 0 37

Offensive leaders

Player Passing yds Rushing yds Receiving yds TD
Joe Paopao 1508 16 0 0
Jerry Tagge 1131 38 0 0
Larry Key 1060 289 9
John Henry White 776 422 5
Leon Bright 7 569 5
Harry Holt 51 560 3
Al Charuk 0 515 3
Tyrone Gray 0 356 1

Awards and records

1979 CFL All-Stars

References

  1. ^ "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  2. ^ "British Columbia Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
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