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
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–6–1 (3–5–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Joe Salem (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Shanahan (1st season)
MVP	Mark Carlson
Captains	DT Alan Blanshan TE Glenn Bourquin QB Mark Carlson
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 8	Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 24–10	33,435
September 15	No. 15 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 17–21	43,515
September 22	at No. 1 USC*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–48	61,966
September 29	Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 38–8	33,998
October 6	No. 12 Purdue	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 31–14	47,281
October 13	at No. 11 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 21–31	104,677
October 20	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 24–7	60,050
October 27	Illinois	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	T 17–17	46,449
November 3	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 24–42	35,591
November 10	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 17–31	75,131
November 17	Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 37–42	37,274
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class 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 G 52 Darell Schwen Sr WR 15 Terry Simmons Sr FB 31 Bob Stroup Fr WR 27 Virgil Thomas Fr FB 48 Jeff Thompson Sr OT 75 Terry Thomton Fr C 53 Steve Tobin Sr QB 7 Mark Tonn Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 70 Steve Cunningham Sr DE 98 Anthony Davis Fr CB 25 Howard Davis Fr DT 91 Jeff Denney Fr LB 89 Jim Fahnhorst So LB 56 Jack Johnson Sr DT 94 Kevin Kellen Fr DT 92 John Kuduk Sr LB 35 Mark Laliberte Fr LB 59 Don Meyer Sr DE 96 Jeff Schuh Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Salem Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Elmer Bailey	Wide receiver	4	100	Miami Dolphins
Greg Murtha	Tackle	6	161	Philadelphia Eagles

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^{[permanent dead link]}
3. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160^{[permanent dead link]}