1978 Michigan State Spartans football team

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1978 Michigan State Spartans football
Big Ten co-champion
ConferenceBig Ten
Ranking
APNo. 12
1978 record8–3 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinator (1st season)
MVPEd Smith
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
(Capacity: 76,000)
Seasons
← 1977
1979 →
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
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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 receiver 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[]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 16at Purdue
L 14–2160,365
September 23Syracuse*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 49–2174,511
September 29at No. 3 USC*
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
L 9–3065,319
October 7Notre Dame*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)
L 25–2977,087
October 14at No. 5 Michigan
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)
W 24–15105,132
October 21Indiana
W 49–1476,013
October 28Wisconsin
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 55–270,114
November 4at IllinoisNo. 18
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 59–1948,077
November 11MinnesotaNo. 17
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 33–972,122
November 18at NorthwesternNo. 16
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 52–314,157
November 25IowaNo. 14
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 42–757,007
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1978 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB Ed Smith Jr
WR 23 Kirk Gibson Sr
OG James "Jody" McCulloh
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 16 Mark Anderson Jr
LB 57 Larry Savage
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Dan Underwood
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
  • Jon-Erik Hexum actor known for accidentally fatally shooting himself on the set of Cover Up.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ "1978 Michigan State Spartans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  2. ^ Kyle Austin (January 9, 2017). "Kirk Gibson voted into College Football Hall of Fame". Mlive.com.
  3. ^ "1978 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  4. ^ Roy Damer (December 25, 1978). "Michigan's Leach wins Tribune Silver Football". Chicago Tribune. p. 5-3.
  5. ^ "Ticats sign highly-rated passer". Ottawa Journal. February 13, 1979. p. 16.
  6. ^ Jon-Erik Hexum Papers UA.10.3.127 - Michigan State Universityarchive.lib.msu.edu › uahc › FindingAids
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