1979 BC Lions season

Canadian football team season March 2026 BC Lions 1979 9–6–1 3rd, West Bob Ackles Vic Rapp Empire Stadium Lost 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 RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool Ter Ter Nick Hebeler Defensive tackle Simon Fraser Ter Ter Ron Morehouse Linebacker San Diego State 1 3 Mark Houghton Running back California 2 12 Chris Curran Defensive back Western Ontario 3 20 Ken Aver Defensive back St. Francis Xavier 3 21 Murray Watson Defensive end Western Ontario 4 30 Torindo Panetta Linebacker Carleton 5 39 John MacKay Running back UBC 6 48 Berry Muis Wide receiver UBC 7 57 Paul Jaffe Guard Carleton Preseason Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record A Tue, June 12 at Edmonton Eskimos W 32–27 1–0 Commonwealth Stadium 41,326 B Tue, June 19 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 16–11 2–0 Empire Stadium 17,839 C Tue, June 26 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 12–6 3–0 Empire Stadium 17,155 D Tue, July 3 at Calgary Stampeders L 1–32 3–1 McMahon Stadium 26,554 Regular season Season standings + Western Football Conference Team GP W L T PF PA PtsEdmonton Eskimos 16 12 2 2 495 219 26Calgary 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 CFL.ca https://www.cfl.ca/standings/1979/reg https://web.archive.org/web/20120616114159/http://www.cfl.ca/standings/1979/reg 2012-06-16 dead 2009-07-03 Season schedule Week Game Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record 1 1 Wed, July 11 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 28–4 1–0 Taylor Field 19,030 2 2 Tue, July 17 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 25–10 2–0 Empire Stadium 51,237 3 3 Tue, July 24 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 19–18 3–0 Winnipeg Stadium 24,727 4 4 Tue, July 31 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 24–15 4–0 Empire Stadium 23,308 5 5 Tue, Aug 7 vs. Edmonton Eskimos T 14–14 4–0–1 Empire Stadium 30,137 6 6 Wed, Aug 15 at Calgary Stampeders L 10–22 4–1–1 McMahon Stadium 34,825 7 7 Tue, Aug 21 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 22–16 5–1–1 Ivor Wynne Stadium 18,420 8 8 Tue, Aug 28 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 18–17 6–1–1 Empire Stadium 30,018 9 Bye 10 9 Sun, Sept 9 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 17–15 7–1–1 Winnipeg Stadium 27,203 11 10 Sun, Sept 16 at Edmonton Eskimos L 8–40 7–2–1 Commonwealth Stadium 42,776 12 11 Sat, Sept 22 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 34–25 8–2–1 Empire Stadium 25,819 13 12 Sat, Sept 29 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 22–21 9–2–1 Empire Stadium 23,964 14 Bye 15 13 Sun, Oct 14 at Ottawa Rough Riders L 26–28 9–3–1 Lansdowne Park 25,708 16 14 Sat, Oct 20 vs. Calgary Stampeders L 32–37 9–4–1 Empire Stadium 25,301 17 15 Sun, Oct 28 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 12–26 9–5–1 Taylor Field 28,012 18 16 Sat, Nov 3 vs. Edmonton Eskimos L 17–25 9–6–1 Empire Stadium 26,575British Columbia Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records http://michigan-football.com/cfl/f/brcolumb.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20090311040646/http://michigan-football.com/cfl/f/brcolumb.htm 2009-03-11 live 2009-03-08 Playoffs Round Date Opponent Results Venue Attendance Score Record West Semi-final Sat, Nov 10 at Calgary Stampeders L 2–37 0–1 McMahon Stadium 31,424 West Semi-Final Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TotalBC Lions 1 0 0 1 2Calgary Stampeders 3 5 29 0 37 Offensive leaders Player Passing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD Joe Paopao 1508 1600 Jerry Tagge 1131 3800 Larry Key 10602899 John Henry White 7764225 Leon Bright 75695 Harry Holt 515603 Al Charuk 05153 Tyrone Gray 03561 Roster 1979 BC Lions final roster Quarterbacks 12 I Mike Nott  6 I Joe Paopao Running backs 36 N Terry Bailey 11 I Larry Key 19 N Don Taylor 20 I John Henry White Wide receivers 26 I Leon Bright 25 N Al Charuk 32 I Ty Gray DB 30 N Jim Young Tight ends 72 I Harry Holt 70 N Mark Houghton Offensive linemen 68 N John Blain G/T 69 N John Blake G/T 51 N Tom Kudaba G 54 N Glenn Leonhard G 55 I Jim Lohmann T 64 I Larry Watkins T 52 N Al Wilson C Defensive linemen 63 N Rick Goltz DT 56 N Nick Hebeler DE 78 N Frank Landy DT 71 I Richard Murray DE 77 I Louie Richardson DE 61 N Doug Seymour DT Linebackers 45 I Sam Britts 37 N Glen Jackson 44 N Ron Morehouse Defensive backs 10 N John Beaton 28 N Doug Carlson 16 I Devon Ford 14 I Joe Fourqurean 18 I Ken Hinton  3 N Hal Lund 17 I Frank Oliver Special teams  5 N Lui Passaglia K/P Injured List  8 I Jerry Tagge QB Italics indicate International player Awards and records 1979 CFL All-Stars RB – Larry Key, CFL All-Star C – Al Wilson, CFL All-Star K – Lui Passaglia, CFL All-Star References Category:BC Lions seasons BC Lions BC Lions Category:Long stubs with short prose