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(Top) 1 Schedule 2 Roster 3 Team players in the NFL 4 References

1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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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 QBMark 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.4Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No.10Purdue	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No.18Michigan	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No.19Indiana	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

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]

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[edit]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 8	Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 24–10	33,435
September 15	No. 15Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 17–21	43,515
September 22	at No. 1USC*	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. 12Purdue	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 31–14	47,281
October 13	at No. 11Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 21–31	104,677
October 20	atIowa	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	atIndiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 24–42	35,591
November 10	atMichigan 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[edit]

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

Mike Shanahan (Offensive coordinator)

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Team players in the NFL[edit]

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

References[edit]

^ "1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.

^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182^{[permanent dead link]}

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

v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Venues	Athletic Park (1892–1898) University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898) Northrop Field (1899–1923) Memorial Stadium (1924–1981) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008) Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Michigan: Little Brown Jug Nebraska Wisconsin
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher Marching band Spirit squad "Minnesota Rouser" "Minnesota March" "Go Gopher Victory" "Minnesota Fight" "Our Minnesota" "Hail! Minnesota" "Battle Hymn of the Republic" Minnesota shift T formation Smith of Minnesota
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees Annual awards
Seasons	1882 1883 1884–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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