| 1980 Elon Fightin' Christians football | |
|---|---|
NAIA Division I national champion SAC co-champion | |
NAIA Division I Championship Game, W 17–10 vs. Northeastern State | |
| Conference | South Atlantic Conference |
| Record | 13–1 (6–1 SAC) |
| Head coach |
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Elon +^ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Mars Hill +^ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carson–Newman | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lenoir–Rhyne | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newberry | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner–Webb | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catawba | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1980 Elon Fightin' Christians football team was an American football team that represented Elon University of Elon, North Carolina, as a member of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) during the 1980 NAIA Division I football season. In their fourth year under head coach Jerry Tolley, the Christians compiled a 13–1 record (6–1 against SAC opponents) and tied for the SAC championship.[1]
The team lost the second game of the season at Mars Hill, but then won the remaining 12 games of the season.[1] The team advanced to the NAIA Division I playoffs, defeating Concord (17–14) in the quarterfinals,[2] East Texas State (14–6) in the semifinals,[3] and Northeastern State (17–10) in the national championship game.[4]
Running back Bobby Hedrick rushed for 1,394 yards in the regular season[5] – 1,793 yards with three post-season games included. He set Elon's all-time rushing record with 5,603 rushing yards in four years.[6] He was also a first-team pick on the 1980 Little All-America college football team.
Tight end Joey Hackett went on to play in the NFL.[7] John Bangley was the quarterback.[8]
Concord was invoked but never defined (see the help page).East was invoked but never defined (see the help page).North was invoked but never defined (see the help page).