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1979 Big Ten Conference football season

1979 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport American football
Number of teams 10
Top draft pick Curtis Greer
Champion Ohio State
Runners-up Purdue
Season MVP Tim Clifford
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#4 Ohio State $ 8 0 0     11 1 0
#10 Purdue 7 1 0     10 2 0
#18 Michigan 6 2 0     8 4 0
#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

The 1979 Big Ten Conference football season was the 84th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team compiled an 11–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, lost to USC in the 1980 Rose Bowl, and was ranked No. 4 in the final AP and UPI polls. Quarterback Art Schlichter led the team with 2,246 yards of total offense, finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and was selected as a first-team All-American by the NEA and The Sporting News. Offensive guard Ken Fritz was a consensus All-American. Earl Bruce, in his first year as head coach, was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year. Doug Donley led the Big Ten with 800 receiving yards, and Vlade Janakievski led the conference with 97 points scored. Defensive lineman Jim Laughlin was selected as the team's most valuable player.

The 1979 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jim Young, finished in second place in the Big Ten, compiled a 10–2 record, defeated Tennessee in the 1979 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, led the conference in both scoring offense (32.5 points per game) and scoring defense (10.5 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP and UPI polls. Quarterback Mark Hermann led the conference with 2,377 passing yards and finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Tight end Dave Young was selected as the team's most valuable player.


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Wikipedia

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