1999 Michigan State Spartans football team

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1999 Michigan State Spartans football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 7
Record10–2 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMorris Watts (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorBill Miller (1st season)
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium (c. 72,027 AstroTurf)
Seasons
← 1998
2000 →
1999 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Wisconsin $   7 1     10 2  
No. 7 Michigan State   6 2     10 2  
No. 5 Michigan %   6 2     10 2  
No. 11 Penn State   5 3     10 3  
No. 18 Minnesota   5 3     8 4  
No. 24 Illinois   4 4     8 4  
No. 25 Purdue   4 4     7 5  
Ohio State   3 5     6 6  
Indiana   3 5     4 7  
Northwestern   1 7     3 8  
Iowa   0 8     1 10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1999 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Spartans played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. This was the last year for head coach Nick Saban, who left the program on December 5 to take the head coaching position at LSU. During the bowl game, the Spartans were coached by interim head coach Bobby Williams, who led the Spartans to a 37–34 victory in the 2000 Florida Citrus Bowl over the Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference, with a last second, game-winning field goal by kicker Paul Edinger.

This Spartan team featured the likes of Plaxico Burress, T. J. Duckett, Julian Peterson, and Renaldo Hill, and goes down as one of the best Spartan teams in the BCS era.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 28:00 p.m.Oregon*ESPNW 27–2072,923
September 111:00 p.m.Eastern Michigan*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 51–772,569
September 181:30 p.m.at No. 24 Notre Dame*NBCW 23–1380,012
September 253:30 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 19W 27–1052,417[1]
October 212:10 p.m.IowadaggerNo. 14
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusW 49–373,629
October 912:00 p.m.No. 3 MichiganNo. 11
ABCW 34–3176,895
October 163:30 p.m.at No. 20 PurdueNo. 5ABCL 28–5268,216
October 2312:10 p.m.at No. 16 WisconsinNo. 11ESPN2L 10–4078,469
November 612:10 p.m.No. 20 Ohio StateNo. 19
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPNW 23–774,639
November 131:00 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 17W 40–030,045
November 203:30 p.m.No. 13 Penn StateNo. 15
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCW 35–2874,231
January 1, 20001:00 p.m.vs. No. 10 Florida*No. 9ABCW 37–3454,866
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
APRVRVRVRV19141151119191715111097
Coaches PollRVRV*RVRV21141171320191714111097
BCSNot released15131211109Not released

Game summaries[edit]

Oregon[edit]

Oregon at Michigan State
1 234Total
Oregon 7 1003 20
Michigan State 7 01010 27

Michigan[edit]

#3 Michigan at #11 Michigan State
1 234Total
Michigan 0 10021 31
Michigan State 7 6147 34

Bill Burke threw for a school-record 400 yards and two touchdowns while Plaxico Burress set a new mark with 255 yards receiving. Burke broke Ed Smith's record of 369 against Indiana in 1979 while Burress surpassed Andre Rison's 252 yards against Georgia in 1989. Michigan State was now 6–0 for the first time since the 1966 national championship season.[2]

Roster[edit]

1999 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 83 Chris Baker So
QB 16 Bill Burke Sr
WR 4 Plaxico Burress Jr
C 51 Brian Grant Jr
FB 00 Ericson Rico So
OT 74 Tupe Peko Jr
OT 76 Greg Randall Sr
WR 86 Gari Scott Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 3 Amp Campbell Sr
LB 8 T. J. Duckett Fr
CB 15 Renaldo Hill Jr
DB 9 Aric Morris Sr
LB 98 Julian Peterson Sr
DT 95 Josh Shaw So
DE 91 Robaire Smith Sr
LB 50 Josh Thornhill So
LB 35 T. J. Turner Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 1 Paul Edinger Sr
P 12 Craig Jarrett So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

2000 NFL Draft[edit]

The following players were selected in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Player Round Pick Position NFL Team
Plaxico Burress 1 8 Wide Receiver Pittsburgh Steelers
Julian Peterson 1 16 Linebacker San Francisco 49ers
Gari Scott 4 99 Wide Receiver Philadelphia Eagles
Greg Randall 4 127 Tackle New England Patriots
Aric Morris 5 135 Strong Safety Tennessee Titans
Paul Edinger 6 174 Kicker Chicago Bears
Robaire Smith 6 197 Defensive Tackle Tennessee Titans

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dye, Dave (September 26, 1999). "Spartans' defense shuts down Illini". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "NCAA Football - Michigan vs. Michigan State". USA Today.