1979 Michigan State Spartans football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorGeorge Dyer (2nd season)
MVPDanny Bass
CaptainDanny Bass, Mark Brammer
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 10 Purdue 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 18 Michigan 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 19 Indiana 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Iowa 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 5 – 1 4 – 6 – 1
Michigan State 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Illinois 1 – 6 – 1 2 – 8 – 1
Northwestern 0 – 9 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Darryl Rogers, the Spartans compiled a 5–6 overall record (3–5 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1][2]

Three Spartans were selected by either the Associated Press (AP) or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1979 All-Big Ten Conference football teams: tight end Mark Brammer (UPI-1); linebacker Danny Bass (AP-1); and punter Ray Stachowitz (AP-1).[3]

Following the season, Rogers departed East Lansing to assume the same position at Arizona State. Ironically, the man Rogers replaced in Tempe, Frank Kush, was an All-America lineman for the Spartans under Biggie Munn in 1952.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 8IllinoisNo. 10
W 33–1671,125
September 15Oregon*No. 10
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 41–1776,123
September 22Miami (OH)*No. 8
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 24–2178,582
September 29at No. 15 Notre Dame*No. 7
L 3–2759,075
October 6No. 11 MichiganNo. 16
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
L 7–2179,311[4][5]
October 13at WisconsinNo. 19
L 29–3877,083
October 20No. 16 Purduedagger
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
L 7–1479,561
October 27at No. 4 Ohio State
L 0–4287,747
November 3at Northwestern
W 42–720,193
November 10Minnesota
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 31–1775,433
November 17at Iowa
L 23–3356,320
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 91 Mark Brammer Sr
OT 53 Angelo Fields Sr
WR 6 Mark Jones
FB 33 Joe Kolodziej
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 16 Mark Anderson Sr
LB 49 Danny Bass Sr
CB 28 Jim Burroughs So
LB 40 John McCormick Jr
LB 57 Larry Savage Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 8 Morten Andersen So
P 19 Ray Stachowicz Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "Michigan State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  2. ^ "2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  3. ^ "Blue lands four All-Big Ten spots: OSU places six, Purdue five". The Michigan Daily. November 29, 1979. p. 9.
  4. ^ Charlie Vincent (October 7, 1979). "U-M air blitz rips MSU, 21-7: Bo won't open up? Two 2d half TD passes jar Spartans". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1F, 4F – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Geoff Larcom (October 7, 1979). "Michigan chills muffled MSU attack, 21-7: Offense finally clicks; Sparta is conquered". The Michigan Daily. p. 1 – via Bentley Historical Library.


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