1999 Michigan State Spartans football team

1999 Michigan State Spartans football
Florida Citrus Bowl Champions
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 37–34 vs. Florida
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
1999 record	10–2 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nick Saban (Regular season) Bobby Williams (Bowl Game)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Miller
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (c. 72,027 natural grass)
Seasons

1999 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#4/4 Wisconsin †		7	–	1					10	–	2
#5/5 Michigan ‡		6	–	2					10	–	2
#7/7 Michigan State		6	–	2					10	–	2
#11/11 Penn State		0*	–	3					0*	–	3
#18/17 Minnesota		5	–	3					8	–	4
#24/25 Illinois		4	–	4					8	–	4
#25/NR 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 champion ‡ – BCS at-large representative *All wins for Penn State (10-3, 5-3) vacated due to scandal. Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

The 1999 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1999-2000 college 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 Louisiana State. 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, and Renaldo Hill, and goes down as one the best Spartan teams in the BCS era.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2*	8:00 PM	Oregon		Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN	W 27–20	72,923
September 11*	1:00 PM	Eastern Michigan		Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI		W 51–7	72,569
September 18*	1:30 PM	at #24 Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)	NBC	W 23–13	80,012
September 25	3:30 PM	at Illinois	#19	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL		W 27–10	52,417
October 2†	12:10 PM	Iowa	#14	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN+	W 49–3	73,629
October 9	12:00 PM	#3 Michigan	#11	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	ABC	W 34–31	76,895
October 16	3:30 PM	at #20 Purdue	#5	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ABC	L 28–52	68,216
October 23	12:10 PM	at #4 Wisconsin	#11	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 10–40	78,469
November 6	12:10 PM	#20 Ohio State	#19	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN	W 23–7	74,639
November 13	1:00 PM	at Northwestern	#17	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL		W 40–0	30,045
November 20	3:30 PM	#13 Penn State	#15	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Land Grant Trophy)	ABC	W 35–28	74,231
January 1	1:00 PM	vs. #10 Florida	#9	Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 37–34	54,866
*Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Game notes

Michigan

#3 Michigan at #11 Michigan State

by Quarter 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 attendance: 76,895 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 Tied 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.

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

External links

1999 Results