1979 Michigan State Spartans football team

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.

  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.