1978 Michigan State Spartans football team
The 1978 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University during the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. Finishing the season on a seven-game winning streak, the Spartans won their fourth Big Ten Conference championship, which they shared with in-state rival Michigan. The Spartans finished number 12 in the final AP Poll.
1978 Michigan State Spartans football | |
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Big Ten co-champion | |
Conference | Big Ten |
Ranking | |
AP | No. 12 |
1978 record | 8–3 (7&–1 Big Ten) |
Head coach | Darryl Rogers (3rd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Bob Padilla (3rd season) |
MVP | Ed Smith |
Home stadium | Spartan Stadium (Capacity: 76,000) |
1978 Big Ten Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 5 Michigan + | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 Michigan State + | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 13 Purdue | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio State | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 0 | – | 6 | – | 2 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 0 | – | 8 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 10 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wide receive Kirk Gibson caught 42 passes for 806 yard during the 1978 season.[1] Gibson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.[2]
Quarterback Ed Smith led the Big Ten in 1978 with 2,226 passing yards, a 139.0 passing efficiency rating, and 2,247 yards of total offense.[3] He was also selected as the most valuable player on the 1978 Michigan State team.[4] He finished his career as Michigan State's and the Big Ten's all-time leader with 5,706 passing yards.[5]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 16 | at Purdue |
| L 14–21 | 60,365 | |
September 23 | Syracuse* |
| W 49–21 | 74,511 | |
September 29 | at No. 3 USC* |
| L 9–30 | 65,319 | |
October 7 | Notre Dame* |
| L 25–29 | 77,087 | |
October 14 | at No. 5 Michigan |
| W 24–15 | 105,132 | |
October 21 | Indiana |
| W 49–14 | 76,013 | |
October 28 | Wisconsin |
| W 55–2 | 70,114 | |
November 4 | at Illinois | No. 18 |
| W 59–19 | 48,077 |
November 11 | Minnesota | No. 17 |
| W 33–9 | 72,122 |
November 18 | at Northwestern | No. 16 |
| W 52–3 | 14,157 |
November 25 | Iowa | No. 14 |
| W 42–7 | 57,007 |
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Roster
- DB #16 Mark Anderson, Jr.
- WR Kirk Gibson, Sr.
- QB Ed Smith
- OG James "Jody" McCulloh
- LB #57 Larry Savage
- Dan Underwood (asst)
- ? Jon-Erik Hexum actor known for fatally shooting himself on accident on the set[6]
References
- "1978 Michigan State Spartans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- Kyle Austin (January 9, 2017). "Kirk Gibson voted into College Football Hall of Fame". Mlive.com.
- "1978 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- Roy Damer (December 25, 1978). "Michigan's Leach wins Tribune Silver Football". Chicago Tribune. p. 5-3.
- "Ticats sign highly-rated passer". Ottawa Journal. February 13, 1979. p. 16.
- Jon-Erik Hexum Papers UA.10.3.127 - Michigan State Universityarchive.lib.msu.edu › uahc › FindingAids