1999 Michigan State Spartans football team

1999 Michigan State Spartans football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 37–34 vs. Florida
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nick Saban (5th season; first 11 games) Bobby Williams (bowl game)
Offensive coordinator	Morris Watts (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Miller (1st season)
MVP	Aric Morris
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (c. 72,027 AstroTurf)
Seasons ←  1998 2000  →

1999 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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 was an American football team that represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth and final year under head coach Nick Saban, the Spartans compiled a 10-2 record (6-2 in conference games), outscored opponents by a total of 341 to 211, tied for second place in the Big Ten, and were ranked No. 7 in the final AP and UPI polls. ^[1] The Spartans' two losses came at the hands of Heisman Trophy finalists. In their loss to Purdue, Drew Brees passed for 509 yards, ^[2] and in their loss one week later to Wisconsin, Heisman winner Ron Dayne rushed for 214 yards. ^[3]

Saban announced on November 30 that he was leaving to take the head coaching job at LSU. ^[4] Bobby Williams took over as interim head coach ^[5] and led the Spartans to a 37–34 victory over Florida in the Citrus Bowl, winning on a last second, game-winning field goal by kicker Paul Edinger.

The Spartans averaged 134.6 rushing yards and 200.3 passing yards per game. On defense, they held opponents to 70.6 rushing yards and 203.5 passing yards per game. ^[6] The team's individual leaders included:

• Quarterback Bill Burke completed 152 of 277 passes (54.9%) for 1,957 yards, 17 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a 122.9 quarterback rating. ^[6]
• Wide receiver Plaxico Burress tallied 53 receptions for 957 yards and nine touchdowns. ^[6]
• Running back Lloyd Clemons tallied 854 rushing yards on 171 carries, an average of 5.0 yards per carry. ^[6]
• Placekicker Paul Edinger led the team in scoring with 104 points, converting 39 of 40 extra points and 18 of 22 field goals. ^[6]

Safety Aric Morris was selected as the team's most valuable player. Linebacker Julian Peterson received first-team All-America honors from Football News . Eight Michigan State players received honors on the 1999 All-Big Ten Conference football team: Burress (Coaches-1, Media-1); Peterson (Coaches-2, Media-1); Edinger (Coaches-2, Media-2); Morris (Coaches-2, Media-2); defensive lineman Robaire Smith (Coaches-1, Media-1); defensive back Amp Campbell (Coaches-1, Media-1); punter Craig Jewett (Coaches-1, Media-2); tight end Chris Baker; and offensive guard Shaun Mason (Coaches-2, Media-2).

The Spartans played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	8:00 p.m.	Oregon *		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN	W 27–20	72,923	[7]
September 11	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan *		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 51–7	72,569	[8]
September 18	1:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Notre Dame *		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 23–13	80,012	[9]
September 25	3:30 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 27–10	52,417	[10]
October 2	12:10 p.m.	Iowa	No. 14	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	W 49–3	73,629	[11]
October 9	12:00 p.m.	No. 3 Michigan	No. 11	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry, College GameDay )	ABC	W 34–31	76,895	[12] [13]
October 16	3:30 p.m.	at No. 20 Purdue	No. 5	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ABC	L 28–52	68,216	[2]
October 23	12:10 p.m.	at No. 16 Wisconsin	No. 11	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 10–40	78,469	[3]
November 6	12:10 p.m.	No. 20 Ohio State	No. 19	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN	W 23–7	74,639	[14]
November 13	1:00 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 17	Ryan Field Evanston, IL		W 40–0	30,045	[15]
November 20	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Penn State	No. 15	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 35–28	74,231	[16]
January 1, 2000	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 10 Florida *	No. 9	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 37–34	54,866	[17] [18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1999 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	19	14	11	5	11	19	19	17	15	11	10	9	7
Coaches Poll	RV	RV*	RV	RV	21	14	11	7	13	20	19	17	14	11	10	9	7
BCS	Not released									15	—	13	12	11	10	9	Not released

Game summaries

Oregon

Oregon at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Oregon 7 10 0 3 20 •Michigan State 7 0 10 10 27 Date: September 2 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game attendance: 72,923 TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit

Michigan

#3 Michigan at #11 Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 10 0 21 31 •Michigan State 7 6 14 7 34 Date: October 9 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Game start: 12:00 p.m. Game attendance: 76,895 TV announcers (ABC): Tim Brant & Mike Golic

Scoring summary 1 6:55 MSU T.J. Duckett 1 yard run (Paul Edinger kick) MSU 7–0 2 14:55 MICH Hayden Epstein 56 yard field goal MSU 7–3 2 5:28 MSU Paul Edinger 39 yard field goal MSU 10–3 2 3:39 MICH Marcus Knight 81 yard pass from Drew Henson (Jeff Del Verne kick) Tied 10–10 2 1:17 MSU Paul Edinger 43 yard field goal MSU 13–10 3 6:15 MSU Gari Scott 19 yard pass from Bill Burke (Paul Edinger kick) MSU 20–10 3 3:02 MSU Plaxico Burress 15 yard pass from Bill Burke (Paul Edinger kick) MSU 27–10 4 14:23 MICH Anthony Thomas 2 yard run (Jeff Del Verne kick) MSU 27–17 4 12:19 MSU Dawan Moss 14 yard run (Paul Edinger kick) MSU 34–17 4 8:11 MICH David Terrell 19 yard pass from Tom Brady (Jeff Del Verne kick) MSU 34–24 4 2:47 MICH Aaron Shea 8 yard pass from Tom Brady (Jeff Del Verne kick) MSU 34–31

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. ^[19] Michigan quarterbacks Tom Brady and Drew Henson combined for 396 passing yards, but the Michigan State defense held the Wolverines to six rushing yards for the game.

Roster

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 Nick Saban (Regular season) Bobby Williams (bowl game) Coordinators/assistant coaches Morris Watts – Offensive coordinator Bobby Williams – Running backs coach Pat Ruel – Offensive Line coach Bill Miller – Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan – Linebackers coach Mark Dantonio – Defensive back coach Bob Casullo – Assistant Brad Lawing – Assistant Reggie Mitchell – Assistant Josh McDaniels – Graduate assistant Brian Daboll – Graduate assistant Fred Farrier – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

2000 NFL draft

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

1. "1999 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
2. Tom Kubat (October 17, 1999). "Brees, Daniels haunt MSU: Purdue QB throws for 509 yards, receiver catches 21 passes for 301 yards". Journal and Courier. pp. B1, B2 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Tom Mulhern (October 24, 1999). "Rush to judgment: Badgers look good; Dayne, defense dominate Spartans". Wisconsin State Journal. pp. 1D, 9D – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Goodbye Here, Hello There". Lansing State Journal. December 1, 1999. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
5. Tim Martin (December 1, 1999). "So long, Saban: Veteran MSU assistant to lead team to bowl". Lansing State Journal. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
6. "1999 Michigan State Spartans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
7. Larry Lage (September 3, 1999). "Happy returns: Big plays by Campbell, Scott help Michigan State overcome Oregon". Lansing State Journal. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
8. Larry Lage (September 12, 1999). "Take That, MAC: Michigan State manhandles Eastern Michigan". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
9. "No Irish QB dilemma". South Bend Tribune. September 19, 1999. pp. C1, C6 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Dye, Dave (September 26, 1999). "Spartans' defense shuts down Illini". Detroit Free Press . p. 1E. Retrieved October 6, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
11. Larry Lage (October 3, 1999). "Perfect Showdown: MSU moves to 5-0 in dominant fashion". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1D, 2D – via Newspapers.com.
12. Gary Ahern (October 10, 1999). "State of perfection: MSU 6-0 and rising after win over U-M". The Lansing State Journal. pp. 1A, 8A – via Newspapers.com.
13. Larry Lage (October 10, 1999). "State Champs: Record-setting passing day propels Spartans past Michigan". Lansing State Journal. p. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
14. Larry Lage (November 7, 1999). "Buckeye Bashing: Spartans back on track after defense dismantles Ohio State, 23-7". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1D, 2D – via Newspapers.com.
15. Bill Jauss (November 14, 1999). "Spartans answer Saban's request". Chicago Tribune. p. 8 (section 3) – via Newspapers.com.
16. Larry Lage (November 21, 1999). "MSU Rides T.J. Train: Duckett's 4 touchdowns spark 35-28 win, probable New Year's Day bowl bid". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
17. Chris Harry (January 2, 2000). "UFrustration: Last-second field goal gives Michigan State win". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. C1, C10 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Michigan State KO's Florida on final play". The Flint Journal. January 2, 2000. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
19. "NCAA Football - Michigan vs. Michigan State". USA Today .