1979 San Francisco 49ers (NFL) |
| 4th place • National Football Conference • Western Division • 2-14-0 .125 |
| Head Coach: Bill Walsh |
| Dennis Green | Special Teams/Receivers |
| Norb Hecker | Secondary |
| Billie Matthews | Running Backs |
| Bobb McKittrick | Offensive Line |
| Bill McPherson | Linebackers |
| Chuck Studley | Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| Al Vermeil | Strength-Conditioning |
| Mike White | Administrative Assistant/Assistant Offensive Line |
| Sam Wyche | Quarterbacks |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/4/1979 | H | San Diego Chargers | 13-10 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 32275 | |
| Sat | 8/11/1979 | A | Oakland Raiders | 10-41 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 53503 | |
| Sat | 8/18/1979 | H | Denver Broncos | 0-21 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 34133 | |
| Fri | 8/24/1979 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 20-55 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 59941 | |
| Sun | 9/2/1979 | A | Minnesota Vikings | 22-28 | L | Bloomington, MN | Metropolitan Stadium | 46539 | |
| Sun | 9/9/1979 | H | Dallas Cowboys | 13-21 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 56728 | |
| Sun | 9/16/1979 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 24-27 | L | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 44303 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1979 | H | New Orleans Saints | 21-30 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 39727 | |
| Sun | 9/30/1979 | A | San Diego Chargers | 9-31 | L | San Diego, CA | San Diego Stadium | 50893 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1979 | H | Seattle Seahawks | 24-35 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 44592 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1979 | A | New York Giants | 16-32 | L | East Rutherford, NJ | Giants Stadium | 70352 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1979 | H | Atlanta Falcons | 20-15 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 33952 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1979 | H | Chicago Bears | 27-28 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 42773 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1979 | A | Oakland Raiders | 10-23 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 52764 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1979 | A | New Orleans Saints | 20-31 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 65551 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1979 | H | Denver Broncos | 28-38 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 42910 | |
| Sun | 11/25/1979 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 20-26 | L | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 49282 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1979 | A | St. Louis Cardinals | 10-13 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 41593 | |
| Sun | 12/9/1979 | H | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 23-7 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 44506 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1979 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 21-31 | L | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 37211 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| John Ayers | 68 | LOG | 6-5 | 260 | 26 | Texas; West Texas A&M | 16 | 16 |
| Jean Barrett | 77 | LOT | 6-6 | 256 | 28 | Tulsa | 13 | 1 |
| Dwaine Board | 76 | RDE | 6-5 | 248 | 24 | North Carolina A&T State | 16 | 5 |
| John Bristor | 29 | CB | 6-0 | 188 | 24 | California (Pennsylvania); Waynesburg | 1 | 0 |
| Bob Bruer | 82 | TE | 6-5 | 240 | 26 | Minnesota State | 16 | 4 |
| Dan Bunz | 57 | MLB | 6-4 | 225 | 24 | UC Riverside; Long Beach State | 14 | 12 |
| Gordy Ceresino | 58 | MLB-LLB | 6-0 | 224 | 22 | Stanford | 16 | 3 |
| Dwight Clark | 87 | WR | 6-4 | 215 | 22 | Clemson | 16 | 3 |
| Charles Cornelius | 28 | LCB | 5-9 | 178 | 27 | Bethune-Cookman | 16 | 14 |
| Al Cowlings | 79 | DE | 6-5 | 247 | 32 | San Francisco CC; Southern California | 12 | 0 |
| Randy Cross | 51 | ROG | 6-3 | 265 | 25 | UCLA | 16 | 16 |
| Steve DeBerg | 17 | QB | 6-3 | 210 | 25 | Fullerton JC; San Jose State | 16 | 15 |
| Walt Downing | 62 | OG | 6-3 | 270 | 23 | Michigan | 16 | 0 |
| Tony Dungy | 27 | FS | 6-0 | 190 | 24 | Minnesota | 15 | 7 |
| Lenvil Elliott | 35 | RB | 6-0 | 207 | 28 | Truman State | 16 | 0 |
| Keith Fahnhorst | 71 | ROT | 6-6 | 273 | 27 | Minnesota | 16 | 16 |
| Bobby Ferrell | 38 | RB | 6-0 | 219 | 27 | UCLA | 16 | 0 |
| Phil Francis | 48 | RB | 6-1 | 215 | 22 | Stanford | 16 | 0 |
| Tim Gray | 30 | SS | 6-1 | 205 | 27 | Navarro JC; Texas A&M | 16 | 15 |
| Cedrick Hardman | 86 | RDE | 6-4 | 245 | 31 | North Texas | 14 | 11 |
| Willie Harper | 59 | RLB | 6-2 | 210 | 29 | Nebraska | 16 | 16 |
| Dwight Hicks | 22 | FS | 6-1 | 190 | 23 | Michigan | 8 | 4 |
| Scott Hilton | 55 | LLB-MLB | 6-4 | 233 | 25 | Salem | 7 | 6 |
| Paul Hofer | 36 | HB | 6-0 | 195 | 27 | Mississippi | 15 | 7 |
| Mike Hogan | 45 | FB | 6-2 | 215 | 25 | Tennessee-Chattanooga | 2 | 2 |
| Wilbur Jackson | 40 | FB | 6-2 | 219 | 28 | Alabama | 16 | 14 |
| Charles Johnson | 44 | CB | 5-11 | 181 | 23 | Grambling State | 4 | 0 |
| Eric Johnson | 24 | SS | 6-1 | 192 | 27 | Washington State | 8 | 1 |
| Terry LeCount | 80 | WR | 5-10 | 176 | 23 | Florida | 2 | 0 |
| Eddie Lewis | 22 | RCB | 6-0 | 175 | 26 | Kansas | 7 | 2 |
| Ken MacAfee | 81 | TE | 6-4 | 245 | 23 | Notre Dame | 16 | 12 |
| Bob Martin | 54 | LLB | 6-1 | 214 | 26 | Nebraska | 13 | 2 |
| Jeff McIntyre | 52 | LLB | 6-3 | 232 | 25 | Los Angeles Southwest JC; Arizona State | 14 | 3 |
| Dan Melville | 11 | P | 6-0 | 185 | 23 | Grossmont JC; California | 16 | 0 |
| Joe Montana | 16 | QB | 6-2 | 195 | 23 | Notre Dame | 16 | 1 |
| Melvin Morgan | 46 | FS-LCB | 6-0 | 186 | 26 | Gulf Coast JC; Mississippi Valley State | 8 | 5 |
| Dave Morton | 50 | LB | 6-2 | 224 | 24 | Reedley JC; UCLA | 3 | 1 |
| Bob Nelson | 66 | LLB | 6-4 | 230 | 26 | Nebraska | 1 | 1 |
| James Owens | 20 | WR-RB-S | 5-11 | 188 | 24 | UCLA | 16 | 0 |
| Fred Quillan | 56 | C | 6-5 | 266 | 23 | Oregon | 16 | 16 |
| Eason Ramson | 80 | TE | 6-2 | 225 | 23 | Washington State | 2 | 0 |
| Archie Reese | 78 | LDE | 6-3 | 262 | 23 | Clemson | 16 | 16 |
| Tom Seabron | 53 | LB | 6-3 | 215 | 22 | Michigan | 16 | 0 |
| Paul Seal | 85 | TE | 6-4 | 223 | 27 | Michigan | 15 | 3 |
| Mike Shumann | 84 | WR | 6-0 | 174 | 24 | Florida State | 16 | 14 |
| Ron Shumon | 50 | LLB-MLB | 6-1 | 227 | 24 | Wichita State | 8 | 3 |
| O.J. Simpson | 32 | HB | 6-1 | 210 | 32 | San Francisco CC; Southern California | 13 | 8 |
| Ron Singleton | 67 | LOT | 6-7 | 245 | 27 | Grambling State | 16 | 15 |
| Freddie Solomon | 88 | WR | 5-11 | 185 | 26 | Tampa | 15 | 12 |
| Ruben Vaughan | 72 | DT | 6-2 | 255 | 23 | Colorado | 13 | 1 |
| Ted Vincent | 75 | LDT | 6-4 | 262 | 23 | Wichita State | 16 | 15 |
| Jimmy Webb | 74 | RDT | 6-5 | 245 | 27 | Mississippi State | 16 | 15 |
| Ray Wersching | 14 | K | 5-11 | 215 | 29 | Cerritos JC; California | 16 | 0 |
| Gerard Williams | 29 | RCB | 6-1 | 184 | 27 | Langston | 15 | 14 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 2 | 29 | James Owens | WR | UCLA |
| 3 | 82 | Joe Montana | QB | Notre Dame |
| 5 | 111 | Tom Seabron | LB | Michigan |
| 5 | 119 | Jerry Aldridge | RB | Angelo State |
| 6 | 138 | Ruben Vaughan | DT | Colorado |
| 7 | 166 | Phil Francis | RB | Stanford |
| 9 | 221 | Steve Hamilton | DT | Missouri |
| 10 | 249 | Dwight Clark | WR | Clemson |
| 10 | 252 | Howard Ballage | DB | Colorado |
| 11 | 276 | Billy McBride | DB | Tennessee State |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 64 | 97 | 43 | 104 | 308 |
| Opponents Totals | 61 | 149 | 118 | 88 | 416 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 336 | 120 | 200 | 16 | 111/245 45.3% | / % | 95 | 853 | |
| Opponents Totals | 326 | 136 | 160 | 30 | 107/222 48.2% | / % | 119 | 858 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Wersching | 0 | 32 | 35 | 91.4 | 20 | 24 | 83.3 | 0 | 92 |
| Paul Hofer | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Freddie Solomon | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Ken MacAfee | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Mike Shumann | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Lenvil Elliott | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| O.J. Simpson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Wilbur Jackson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Bob Bruer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Phil Francis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| James Owens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 36 | 32 | 36 | 88.9 | 20 | 24 | 83.3 | 0 | 308 |
| Opponents Totals | 54 | 46 | 54 | 85.2 | 14 | 17 | 82.4 | 2 | 416 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Wersching | 20 | 24 | 83.3 | 2 | 47 | 2/2 | 6/7 | 7/8 | 5/7 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 20 | 24 | 83.3 | 2 | 47 | 2/2 | 6/7 | 7/8 | 5/7 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 14 | 17 | 82.4 | 2/ | 6/ | 2/ | 3/ | 1/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hofer | 123 | 615 | 5.0 | 47 | 7 |
| O.J. Simpson | 120 | 460 | 3.8 | 22 | 3 |
| Wilbur Jackson | 114 | 375 | 3.3 | 16 | 2 |
| Lenvil Elliott | 33 | 135 | 4.1 | 12 | 3 |
| Phil Francis | 31 | 118 | 3.8 | 16 | 1 |
| Freddie Solomon | 6 | 85 | 14.2 | 56t | 1 |
| James Owens | 7 | 33 | 4.7 | 11 | 0 |
| Bobby Ferrell | 8 | 33 | 4.1 | 8 | 0 |
| Mike Hogan | 9 | 31 | 3.4 | 6 | 0 |
| Joe Montana | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 13 | 0 |
| Mike Shumann | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Steve DeBerg | 17 | 10 | 0.6 | 8 | 0 |
| Dan Melville | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Bruer | 5 | -4 | -0.8 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 480 | 1932 | 4.0 | 56t | 17 |
| Opponents Totals | 544 | 2213 | 4.1 | 38 | 24 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve DeBerg | 578 | 347 | 347 | 210 | 3652 | 6.3 | 10.5 | 50 | 17 | 2.9 | 21 | 3.6 | 17 | 119 | 3533 | 73.1 |
| Joe Montana | 23 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 96 | 4.2 | 7.4 | 18 | 1 | 4.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 81.1 |
| Freddie Solomon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 116.7 |
| Team Totals | 602 | 361 | 361 | 220 | 3760 | 6.2 | 10.4 | 50 | 18 | 3.0 | 21 | 3.5 | 17 | 119 | 3641 | 73.5 |
| Opponents Totals | 441 | 262 | 262 | 164 | 3407 | 7.7 | 13.0 | 85 | 25 | 5.7 | 15 | 3.4 | 29 | 227 | 3180 | 88.5 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hofer | 58 | 662 | 11.4 | 44 | 2 |
| Freddie Solomon | 57 | 807 | 14.2 | 44t | 7 |
| Wilbur Jackson | 53 | 422 | 8.0 | 34 | 0 |
| Mike Shumann | 39 | 452 | 11.6 | 39 | 4 |
| Phil Francis | 32 | 198 | 6.2 | 19 | 0 |
| Bob Bruer | 26 | 254 | 9.8 | 19 | 1 |
| Ken MacAfee | 24 | 266 | 11.1 | 50 | 4 |
| Lenvil Elliott | 23 | 197 | 8.6 | 30 | 0 |
| Dwight Clark | 18 | 232 | 12.9 | 30 | 0 |
| James Owens | 10 | 121 | 12.1 | 17 | 0 |
| Mike Hogan | 9 | 65 | 7.2 | 27 | 0 |
| O.J. Simpson | 7 | 46 | 6.6 | 14 | 0 |
| Paul Seal | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 14 | 0 |
| Bobby Ferrell | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 361 | 3760 | 10.4 | 50 | 18 |
| Opponents Totals | 262 | 3407 | 13.0 | 85 | 25 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight Hicks | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 29 | 0 |
| Gerard Williams | 4 | 38 | 9.5 | 22 | 0 |
| Charles Cornelius | 3 | 54 | 18.0 | 54 | 0 |
| Tim Gray | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Dan Bunz | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Melvin Morgan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 15 | 171 | 11.4 | 54 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 365 | 17.4 | 91t | 2 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Melville | 71 | 2626 | 37.0 | 53 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 262 | 2164 | 30.1 |
| Team Totals | 72 | 2626 | 36.5 | 53 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 262 | 2164 | 30.1 |
| Opponents Totals | 74 | 2817 | 38.1 | 63 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 314 | 2383 | 32.2 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freddie Solomon | 23 | 2 | 142 | 6.2 | 14 | 0 |
| Dwight Hicks | 13 | 3 | 120 | 9.2 | 33 | 0 |
| Tony Dungy | 8 | 3 | 52 | 6.5 | 11 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 44 | 8 | 314 | 7.1 | 33 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 37 | 7 | 262 | 7.1 | 44 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Owens | 41 | 1002 | 24.4 | 85t | 1 | |
| Lenvil Elliott | 9 | 170 | 18.9 | 33 | 0 | |
| Paul Hofer | 8 | 124 | 15.5 | 23 | 0 | |
| Phil Francis | 7 | 103 | 14.7 | 23 | 0 | |
| Bobby Ferrell | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Dwight Hicks | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Bob Bruer | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Jean Barrett | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 75 | 1538 | 20.5 | 85t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 68 | 1367 | 20.1 | 70 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Dwaine Board | 6.0 | |
| Cedrick Hardman | 4.5 | |
| Archie Reese | 4.5 | |
| Jimmy Webb | 3.5 | |
| Ted Vincent | 2.5 | |
| Willie Harper | 2.0 | |
| Dan Bunz | 1.0 | |
| Gordy Ceresino | 1.0 | |
| Scott Hilton | 1.0 | |
| Ron Shumon | 1.0 | |
| Al Cowlings | 1.0 | |
| Jeff McIntyre | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 29.0 | 227.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 17.0 | 119.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Bruer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Bunz | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Dwight Clark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Cornelius | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Randy Cross | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve DeBerg | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -17 | 0 | |
| Tony Dungy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lenvil Elliott | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Phil Francis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tim Gray | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| Willie Harper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 0 |
| Dwight Hicks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Paul Hofer | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wilbur Jackson | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ken Mac Afee | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Melville | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | |
| Joe Montana | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| James Owens | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fred Quillan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -34 | 0 | |
| Tom Seabron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Shumon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| O.J. Simpson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Freddie Solomon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gerard Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 73 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 37 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 36 | 54 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 33 | 19 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 1 |
| In Memoriam |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2024 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: July 15, 2024 |