The 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level, began in August 1979, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 15, 1979, at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Lehigh Engineers by a final score of 30−7.