1978 Michigan State Spartans football team
| 1978 Michigan State Spartans football | |
|---|---|
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) |
| MVP | Ed Smith |
| Home stadium |
Spartan Stadium (Capacity: 76,000) |
| 1978 Big Ten 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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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.
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 | Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN | L 14–21 | 60,365 | |||||
| September 23 | Syracuse* | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | W 49–21 | 74,511 | |||||
| September 29 | at No. 3 USC* | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | L 9–30 | 65,319 | |||||
| October 7 | Notre Dame* | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy) | L 25–29 | 77,087 | |||||
| October 14 | at No. 5 Michigan | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy) | W 24–15 | 105,132 | |||||
| October 21 | Indiana | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | W 49–14 | 76,013 | |||||
| October 28 | Wisconsin | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | W 55–2 | 70,114 | |||||
| November 4 | at Illinois | No. 18 | Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL | W 59–19 | 48,077 | ||||
| November 11 | Minnesota | No. 17 | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | W 33–9 | 72,122 | ||||
| November 18 | at Northwestern | No. 16 | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | W 52–3 | 14,157 | ||||
| November 25 | Iowa | No. 14 | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | W 42–7 | 57,007 | ||||
*Non-conference game.  | |||||||||
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.