Young made two notable changes for 1980. He first changed the facemasks, switching from the traditional gray to black which nicely highlighted his old gold shell, one-inch black center stripe and black Purdue "P" on each side and then he hired Mark Herrmann and Bart Burrell's Carmel High School coach, Dick Dullaghan as his QB coach and continued the Boilermakers' great run of winning seasons going 9-3 with their only conference loss to Michigan. The record included a heart-stopping 28-25 victory over Missouri in the Liberty Bowl. Herrmann was named MVP for the bowl game, the third consecutive year he had won that post-season honor. Herrmann finished his senior season as an All American and All Big Ten selection by throwing for an incredible 3213 yards and twenty-three TD's. His career totals were mind-blowing and included 9946 yards and seventy-one touchdown passes. TE Dave Young was on the receiving end of twenty-seven of those TD passes, Burrell fourteen. Young played briefly with the Giants and Colts while Herrmann had an eleven-year NFL career, mostly as a back-up with the Broncos, Colts, Chargers, and Rams. FB Mike Augustyniak had a solid season and moved on to the Jets for three years. Tailback Jimmy Smith had returned to school and led rushers with 657 yards with steady Wally Jones in reserve. Jumbo-sized tackle Tom Jelesky led the line and eventually played two seasons with the Eagles. The defense with LB's James Looney and frosh Brock Spack (current Purdue Defensive Coordinator) and All Big Ten DB Bill Kay held its own, finishing middle-of-the-pack in the conference.