1979 Wisconsin
4–7 (3–5 Big Ten), coached by Dave McClain. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 19 Michigan State 38–29Oct 13
Michigan State was ranked No. 19, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8 | at 6Purdue | L 20–41 | 27% |
| Sep 15 | vs Air Force | W 38–0 | 72% |
| Sep 22 | vs 20UCLA | L 12–37 | 39% |
| Sep 29 | at San Diego State | L 17–24 | 34% |
| Oct 6 | vs Indiana | L 0–3 | 47% |
| Oct 13 | vs 19Michigan State | W 38–29 | 34% |
| Oct 20 | at 6Ohio State | L 0–59 | 17% |
| Oct 27 | vs Iowa | L 13–24 | 58% |
| Nov 3 | at 10Michigan | L 0–54 | 11% |
| Nov 10 | vs Northwestern | W 28–3 | 78% |
| Nov 17 | at Minnesota | W 42–37 | 34% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Minnesota 42–37; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The tied 113th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 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 1979.
- Record
- 4–7
- Conference
- 3–5 tied for 7th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 208–311
- Coach
- Dave McClain
- Elo
- 1440 −27 this season
- SP+ rating
- -4.5 No. 88 of 135; offense No. 57, defense No. 114
- SRS
- 0.3 No. 65 of 140 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Defensive coordinator
- Jim Hilles
- Captains
- Dennis Christenson, Ray Snell and Tom Stauss
- Most valuable player
- Tom Stauss
- Offense
- Triple option
- Defense
- 3–4
Drafted in 1980
The 1980 draft| Rd 1 | Ray Snell OG | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Rd 3 | Ray Sydnor TE | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Rd 6 | Tom Schremp DE | New York Jets |
All-Big Ten
1 first team, 1 second teamFirst team
Ray SnellOTAP-1; UPI-1
Second team
- Dave AhrensDLUPI-2
From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1979 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 8–0 | 11–1 | 4 |
| Purdue | 7–1 | 10–2 | 10 |
| Michigan | 6–2 | 8–4 | 18 |
| Indiana | 5–3 | 8–4 | 19 |
| Iowa | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Minnesota | 3–5–1 | 4–6–1 | |
| Michigan State | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Wisconsin | 3–5 | 4–7 | |
 Illinois | 1–6–1 | 2–8–1 | |
| Northwestern | 0–9 | 1–10 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.