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

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 26,575

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

Running backs

Wide receivers

DB

Tight ends

Offensive linemen G/T G/T G G T T C

Defensive linemen DT DE DT DE DE DT Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams K/P Injured List 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