1977 Michigan State Spartans football team

1977 Michigan State Spartans football
1977 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–3–1 (6–1–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Darryl Rogers (2nd season);
Defensive coordinator	Bob Padilla (2nd season)
MVP	Larry Bethea
Captain	Larry Bethea, Al Pitts, Paul Rudzinski
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
	Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 9 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Indiana	4	–	3	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1977 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by second-year head coach Darryl Rogers, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 7–3–1 with a mark of 6–1–1 in conference play, placing third in the Big Ten.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	Purdue	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 19–14	53,014
September 17	Washington State*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 21–23	50,263
September 24	Wyoming*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 34–16	56,214	^[1]
October 1	at No. 14 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 6–16	59,075
October 8	No. 3 Michigan	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 14–24	78,183
October 15	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	T 13–13	36,892	^[2]
October 22	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 9–7	79,203
October 29	Illinois	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 49–20	70,589
November 5	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 29–10	30,600
November 11	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 44–3	61,238
November 19	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 22–16	43,700
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Michigan	0	10	14	0	24
Michigan St	0	7	0	7	14

Date: October 8
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Game attendance: 78,183

On October 8, 1977, Michigan State lost to Michigan, 24–14, at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State took a 7-0 lead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ed Smith to Kirk Gibson. Michigan responded with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Rick Leach to White and a 50-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead at halftime. Michigan extended its lead to 24–7 in the third quarter on touchdown runs by Russell Davis and Ed Leach. Harlan Huckleby rushed for 146 yards, and Russell Davis added 96 yards. Ralph Clayton caught three passes for 99 yards. Michigan completed four of 10 passes in the game and threw only one pass in the second half.^[3]

Roster

1977 Michigan State Spartans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`91`	Mark Brammer	So
RB		Jim Earley	Sr
WR	`23`	Kirk Gibson	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`16`	Mark Anderson	So
DT	`88`	Larry Bethea	Sr
LB	`49`	Dan Bass	So
LB	`37`	Paul Rudzinski	Sr
LB	`57`	Larry Savage	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`3`	Tom Birney	Sr

Head coach

Darryl Rogers

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ Fred Stabley Jr. (September 25, 1977). "Spartans pass 'gut check,' 34-16". Lansing State Journal. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Stultz, Max (October 16, 1977). "I.U. Fumbles, Tumbles To 13-13 Tie With MSU". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. p. 1, section 2. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Charlie Vincent (October 9, 1977). "U-M Struggles, 24-14". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 4E.

This college football 1970s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Fred Stabley Jr. (September 25, 1977). "Spartans pass 'gut check,' 34-16". Lansing State Journal. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Stultz, Max (October 16, 1977). "I.U. Fumbles, Tumbles To 13-13 Tie With MSU". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. p. 1, section 2. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

[3] Charlie Vincent (October 9, 1977). "U-M Struggles, 24-14". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 4E.

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v t e Michigan State Spartans football
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