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1978 Navy Midshipmen football team - Wikipedia

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1978 Navy Midshipmen football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, 23–16 vs. BYU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
Record	9–3
Head coach	George Welsh (6th season)
Captain	Nick Mygas, Phil McConkey
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.			Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Notre Dame		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Temple		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Memphis State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Air Force		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Colgate		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Boston College		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach George Welsh.^[1]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 32–0	28,472	^[2]
September 23	at Connecticut		Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 30–0	6,804	^[3]
September 30	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	W 19–8	24,082	^[4]
October 7	at Air Force		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 37–8	30,482	^[5]
October 14	Duke		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 31–8	21,431	^[6]
October 21	William & Mary	No. 17	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 9–0	20,193	^[7]
October 28	Pittsburgh	No. 18	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 21–11	32,909	^[8]
November 4	vs. No. 15 Notre Dame	No. 11	Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH (rivalry)	L 7–27	63,780	^[9]
November 11	at Syracuse	No. 18	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	L 17–20	26,429	^[10]
November 18	at Florida State		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	L 6–38	45,795	^[11]
December 2	vs. Army		John F. Kennedy Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 28–0	79,026	^[12]
December 22	vs. BYU		San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	W 23–16	52,500	^[13]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy (3–0)	10	13	7	7	37
Air Force (2–2)	0	0	0	8	8

Attendance: 30,482
Navy scored on six of its first seven possessions, gained over 400 yards of total offense and held Air Force to 75 yards through three quarters
Navy's best start since 1960
NAVY: Tata 47 FG
NAVY: McConkey 19 run (Tata kick)
NAVY: Tata 39 FG
NAVY: McConkey 36 pass from Leszczynski (Tata kick)
NAVY: Tata 43 FG
NAVY: Gainer 17 run (Tata kick)
AFA: Fortson 11 run (pass good)
NAVY: Callahan 39 run (Tata kick)

^[15]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023)

Navy accepted bid to Holiday Bowl

External videos
Game broadcast (part 1)
Game broadcast (part 2)
Game broadcast (part 3)
Game broadcast (part 4)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Navy	Passing	Bob Leszczynski	10/20, 188 Yds, INT
Rushing	Kevin Tolbert	5 Rush, 27 Yds
Receiving	Sandy Jones	2 Rec, 51 Yds
Florida St	Passing	Jimmy Jordan	15/27, 280 Yds, 4 TD
Rushing	Greg Ramsey	5 Rush, 51 Yds, TD
Receiving	Sam Platt	6 Rec, 145 Yds, 3 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive	Team	Scoring information	Score
Plays	Yards	TOP	NAVY	FSU
1	0:48	4	35		Navy	43-yard field goal by Bob Tata	3	0
2	4:10	3	60		Florida St	Greg Ramsey 12-yard touchdown run, Dave Cappelen kick good	3	7
2	2:28	6	77		Navy	46-yard field goal by Bob Tata	6	7
3	11:58	4	28		Florida St	38-yard field goal by Dave Cappelen	6	10
3	9:38	3	11		Florida St	Sam Platt 4-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	17
3	6:55	4	56		Florida St	Sam Platt 36-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	24
4	13:50	5	90		Florida St	Sam Platt 51-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	31
4	9:00	7	53		Florida St	Grady King 23-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	38
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.	6	38

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive	Team	Scoring information	Score
Plays	Yards	TOP	ARMY	NAVY
1					Navy	Bob Leszczynski 3-yard touchdown run, Bob Tata kick good	0	7
1					Navy	Steve Callahan 1-yard touchdown run, Bob Tata kick good	0	14
2					Navy	Bob Leszczynski 1-yard touchdown run, Bob Tata kick good	0	21
3					Navy	Steve Callahan 18-yard touchdown reception from Bob Leszczynski, Bob Tata kick good	0	28
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.	0	28

Holiday Bowl (vs BYU)

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023)

1978 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OL		Rick Bott
RB		Steve Callahan
WR		Mike Chapon
RB		Dwayne Dennis
OL		Tom Feldman
RB		Duane Flowers
TE		Curt Gainer
TE		Carl Hendershot
WR		Sandy Jones
FB	33	Larry Klawinski	Jr
RB		Chris Klein
OL		Steve Kremer
QB	15	Bob Leszczynski	Sr
OL		Frank McCallister
WR		Phil McConkey (C)
TE		Matt McLaughlin
QB		Kevin McTavish
RB		Eddie Meyers
TE		Greg Papajohn
QB		Bob Powers
RB	23	Mike Sherlock	So
OL		John Taylor
RB		Kevin Tolbert
RB		Dave Walker

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL		Steve Chambers
DL		John Merrill
LB		Gregg Milo
LB		Nick Mygas (C)
LB		Tom Paulk
DB		Fred Reitzel
DL		Mark Stephens
DL		Charlie Thornton
DB		Bob Wilson
DB		Chuck Zingler

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Lex Lauletta
P		Art Ohanian
K		Bob Tata

Head coach

George Welsh

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

^ "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
^ "Navy torpedoes UVa, Cavaliers yet to score". The Danville Register. September 17, 1978. Retrieved January 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Navy, 30–0". The Tampa Tribune-Times. September 24, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Defense lifts Navy past B.C." The Baltimore Sun. October 1, 1978. p. C1, C15 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Middies remain perfect". The Pensacola News-Journal. October 8, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Unbeaten Navy drops Duke, 31–8". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 15, 1978. Retrieved January 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Navy escapes upset bid, 9–0". The Miami Herald. October 22, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Navy impressive in defeating Pitt, 21–11". The Hartford Courant. October 29, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Notre Dame sinks Navy, 27–7". The Plain Dealer. November 5, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Searing, Robert (November 12, 2021). "SU football fans rush the field at the last game ever played at Archbold Stadium". The Post-Standard. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
^ "FSU rolls but Navy bowls". The Orlando Sentinel Star. November 19, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Leszcznski leads attack as Navy scuttles Army 28–0". The Sacramento Bee. December 3, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Navy rallies to down Cougars, 23 to 16". The Baltimore Sun. December 23, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1978 Navy Midshipmen Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
^ Palm Beach Post. 1978 Oct 08.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Dec 03. Retrieved 2019-Jan-21.