After the winless disaster of '78,
Venturi altered the helmet, maintaining the white shell and the purple
one-inch center stripe, but altering the school logo on each side of the
headgear. The "NU" of so many seasons was replaced by a purple script-style
"N" that was trimmed in white with a purple border while the purple mask was
again used for contrast. Beating Wyoming in the opener may have given a
false impression but that was quickly rectified as the Wildcats dropped the
remainder of the schedule and did so in horrific fashion, yielding
scores that looked like pinball machine numbers. They were competitive only
against Ohio State and Purdue. WR Todd Sheets was a good receiver with
forty-three catches but the offense produced only 115 points. LB Chuck Kern
exceeded his '78 tackle record with a new high of 227.
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