1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record4–6–1 (3–5–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Shanahan (1st season)
MVPMark Carlson
Captains
Home stadiumMemorial 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 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Joe Salem, the Golden Gophers compiled a 4–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 271 to 264.[1]

Quarterback Mark Carlson received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Free safety Keith Edwards was awarded the Defensive MVP Award. Split End Elmer Bailey was named All-Big Ten first team. Defensive lineman Alan Blanshan and offensive lineman Bill Humphries were named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]

Total attendance for the season was 241,942, which averaged to 40,323. The season high for attendance was against Purdue.[3]

  1. ^ "1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link]