1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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]

1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1979 record4–6–1 (3–5–1 Big Ten)
Head coachJoe Salem (1st season)
Offensive coordinatorMike Shanahan (1st season)
MVPMark Carlson
Captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW 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

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]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 8Ohio*W 24–1033,435
September 15No. 15 Ohio State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
L 17–2143,515
September 22at No. 1 USC*L 14–4861,966
September 29Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 38–833,998
October 6No. 12 Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 31–1447,281
October 13at No. 11 MichiganL 21–31104,677
October 20at IowaW 24–760,050
October 27Illinois
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
T 17–1746,449
November 3at Indiana
L 24–4235,591
November 10at Michigan State
L 17–3175,131
November 17Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
L 37–4237,274
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense 52 Schwen, Darell OG 6-4 229 Sr. Great Falls, Mont. 15 Simmons, Terry WR 6-2 192 Sr 31 Stroup, Bob FB 6-0 217 Fr. Fargo, N.D. 27 Thomas, Virgil WR 6-0 198 Fr. Detroit, Mich. 48 Thompson, Jeff FB 6-2 212 Sr. Bloomington, Minn. 75 Thomton, Terry OT 6-2 249 Fr. Fridley, Minn. 53 Tobin, Steve OC 6-5 258 Sr
Pos.#NameClass
WR 86 Jeff Anhorn Sr
WR 20 Elmer Bailey Sr
RB 41 Marion Barber Jr. Jr
QB 12 Mark Carlson Sr
G 67 Tom Fitzpatrick Sr
QB 7 Mark Tonn Sr
Defense 70 Cunningham, Steve DE 6-6 245 Sr 98 Davis, Anthony DE 6-1 222 Fr. Detroit, Mich. 25 Davis, Howard CB 5-11 173 Fr. Detroit, Mich. 91 Denney, Jeff DT 6-2 226 Fr 56 Johnson, Jack LB 6-2 227 Sr. Minnetonka, Minn. 94 Kellen, Kevin DT 6-6 255 Fr. Grand Rapids, Minn. 92 Kuduk, John DT 6-2 226 Sr. Minneapolis, Minn. 35 Laliberte, Mark LB 6-2 221 Fr
Pos.#NameClass
LB 89 Jim Fahnhorst So
LB 59 Don Meyer Sr
DE 96 Jeff Schuh Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Team players in the NFL

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL club
Elmer BaileyWide receiver4100Miami Dolphins
Greg MurthaTackle6161Philadelphia Eagles
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References

  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
  3. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160
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