CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Indiana

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Lee Corso.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1978, game by game: lost at No. 13 LSU 17–24; won vs. No. 15 Washington 14–7; lost vs. No. 12 Nebraska 17–69; lost at Wisconsin 7–34; won vs. Northwestern 38–10; lost at Michigan State 14–49; won vs. Illinois 31–10; lost at Minnesota 31–32; won vs. Iowa 34–14; lost vs. No. 19 Ohio State 18–21; lost at No. 18 Purdue 7–20+28−52Lost 17–24 at No. 13 LSU-7No. 13 LSUWon 14–7 vs. No. 15 Washington+7No. 15 WashingtonLost 17–69 vs. No. 12 Nebraska-52No. 12 NebraskaLost 7–34 at Wisconsin-27WisconsinWon 38–10 vs. Northwestern+28NorthwesternLost 14–49 at Michigan State-35Michigan StateWon 31–10 vs. Illinois+21IllinoisLost 31–32 at Minnesota-1MinnesotaWon 34–14 vs. Iowa+20IowaLost 18–21 vs. No. 19 Ohio State-3No. 19 Ohio StateLost 7–20 at No. 18 Purdue-13No. 18 Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16at13LSUL 17–⁠2434%
Sep 23vs15WashingtonW 14–⁠739%
Sep 30vs12NebraskaL 17–⁠6937%
Oct 7atWisconsinL 7–⁠3440%
Oct 14vsNorthwesternW 38–⁠1077%
Oct 21atMichigan StateL 14–⁠4929%
Oct 28vsIllinoisW 31–⁠1066%
Nov 4atMinnesotaL 31–⁠3241%
Nov 11vsIowaW 34–⁠1471%
Nov 18vs19Ohio StateL 18–⁠2132%
Nov 25at18PurdueL 7–⁠2027%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Purdue 20–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 60th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
228–⁠290
Coach
Lee Corso
Elo
1452 −37 this season
SP+ rating
-3.4 No. 84 of 133; offense No. 56, defense No. 107
SRS
2.0 No. 62 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dave Abrams, Scott Arnett, Mark Heidel and Joe Norman
Most valuable player
Joe Norman

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 2Joe Norman LBSeattle Seahawks

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Mike HarkraderRB
  • Mark HeidelCAP-1; UPI-1
  • Joe NormanLBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dave AbramsDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠25
Michigan State7–⁠18–⁠312
Purdue6–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠113
Ohio State6–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠45–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠25–⁠4–⁠2
Indiana3–⁠54–⁠7
Iowa2–⁠62–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠6–⁠21–⁠8–⁠2
Northwestern0–⁠8–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.