The 1999 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A 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 LSU. 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, Julian Peterson, and Renaldo Hill, and goes down as one of the best Spartan teams in the BCS era.
Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Opponent |
Rank |
Site |
TV |
Result |
Attendance |
Source |
| September 2 |
8:00 p.m. |
Oregon*
|
|
|
ESPN |
W 27–20 |
72,923 |
|
| September 11 |
1:00 p.m. |
Eastern Michigan*
|
|
- Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
|
|
W 51–7 |
72,569 |
|
| September 18 |
1:30 p.m. |
at No. 24 Notre Dame*
|
|
|
NBC |
W 23–13 |
80,012 |
|
| September 25 |
3:30 p.m. |
at Illinois
|
No. 19 |
|
|
W 27–10 |
52,417 |
|
| October 2 |
12:10 p.m. |
Iowa
|
No. 14 |
- Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
|
ESPN Plus |
W 49–3 |
73,629 |
|
| October 9 |
12:00 p.m. |
No. 3 Michigan
|
No. 11 |
|
ABC |
W 34–31 |
76,895 |
|
| October 16 |
3:30 p.m. |
at No. 20 Purdue
|
No. 5 |
|
ABC |
L 28–52 |
68,216 |
|
| October 23 |
12:10 p.m. |
at No. 16 Wisconsin
|
No. 11 |
|
ESPN2 |
L 10–40 |
78,469 |
|
| November 6 |
12:10 p.m. |
No. 20 Ohio State
|
No. 19 |
- Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
|
ESPN |
W 23–7 |
74,639 |
|
| November 13 |
1:00 p.m. |
at Northwestern
|
No. 17 |
|
|
W 40–0 |
30,045 |
|
| November 20 |
3:30 p.m. |
No. 13 Penn State
|
No. 15 |
- Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
|
ABC |
W 35–28 |
74,231 |
|
| January 1, 2000 |
1:00 p.m. |
vs. No. 10 Florida*
|
No. 9 |
|
ABC |
W 37–34 |
54,866 |
|
- *Non-conference game
-
Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Eastern time
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
|
| 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.
Roster
| 1999 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
|
| Players
|
Coaches
|
|
Offense
|
Defense
|
Special teams
|
- Head coach
- Coordinators/assistant coaches
- Legend
-
(C) Team captain
-
(S) Suspended
-
(I) Ineligible
-
 Injured
-
 Redshirt
|
2000 NFL Draft
The following players were selected in the 2000 NFL Draft.
