1977 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1977 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1977 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Cal Stoll, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–5 record but were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 180 to 171.[1]

1977 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Hall of Fame Classic, L 7–17 vs. Maryland
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1977 record	7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Cal Stoll (6th season)
MVP	Steve Midboe
Captain	Steve Midboe
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1977 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Indiana	4	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Steve Midboe received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Kicker Paul Rogind and defensive tackle Steve Midboe were named All-Big Ten first team. Defensive tackle Mark Merrill, center Mark Slater and defensive back Bobby Weber were named All-Big Ten second team. Offensive lineman Dennis Fitzpatrick, offensive lineman Bryson Hollimon, defensive lineman Stan Sytsma and corner back Bob Weber were named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]

Total attendance for the season was 247,118, which averaged to 35,302. The season high for attendance was against rival Michigan.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 10	Western Michigan*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 10–7	29,619
September 17	at No. 6 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 7–38	87,799
September 24	No. 18 UCLA*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 27–13	41,076
October 1	Washington*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 19–17	31,895
October 8	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	L 6–18	57,460
October 15	Northwestern		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 13–7	39,021
October 22	No. 1 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	W 16–0	44,165
October 29	at Indiana	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 22–34	30,399
November 5	Michigan State		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 10–29	30,600
November 12	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 21–0	37,689
November 19	Wisconsin		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 13–7	30,742
December 22	vs. Maryland		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	L 7–17	47,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1977 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 86 Jeff Anhorn So WR Roger Artis QB Wendell Avery WR 20 Elmer Bailey So RB Marion Barber Fr TE Glenn Bourquin So RB Steven Breault WR Elwin Burditte C Chris Engel TE Jim Fahnhorst T Dennis Fitzpatrick G Thomas Fitzpatrick G Bryson Hollimon FB Kent Kitzmann T Jeff Morrow T Greg Murtha WR Dana Noel Fr G Darrell Schwen C Mark Slater Sr T Martin Stein FB Jeff Thompson FB Garry White Fr TE Ken Wypyszynski	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT Alan Blanshan S Keith Brown LB Edward Burns CB Ray Dilulo S Keith Edwards CB Kenneth Foxworth NG Doug Friberg CB John Huffman LB 84 Michael Hunt Sr S Craig Kirtland NG John Kuduk CB Thomas Luckemeyer DE 88 Mark Merrill Sr LB Donald Meyer DT Steve Midboe DT James Ronan S Brian Snyder LB 97 Steve Stewart Sr CB Bobby Weber DE Desirray Williamson Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Paul Rogind So P J. Terrence Simmons	Head coach Cal Stoll Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 • Minnesota 10 3 0 3 16 Date: October 22 Location: Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis, MN Game attendance: 44,165

Scoring summary 1 4:28 MINN Rogind 41-yard field goal MINN 3-0 1 8:35 MINN Barber 3-yard run (Rogind kick) MINN 10-0 2 MINN Rogind 37-yard field goal MINN 13-0 4 MINN Rogind 32-yard field goal MINN 16-0

[4]

References

1. "1977 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
2. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182
3. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160
4. "No. 1 Michigan Shut Out by Gophers." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Oct 23.