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.
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 2 8:00 p.m. Oregon * ESPN W 27–2072,923 September 11 1:00 p.m. Eastern Michigan * Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI W 51–772,569 September 18 1:30 p.m. at No. 24 Notre Dame * NBC W 23–1380,012 September 25 3:30 p.m. at Illinois No. 19 W 27–1052,417 [ 1] October 2 12:10 p.m. Iowa No. 14 Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI ESPN Plus W 49–373,629 October 9 12:00 p.m. No. 3 Michigan No. 11 ABC W 34–3176,895 October 16 3:30 p.m. at No. 20 Purdue No. 5 ABC L 28–5268,216 October 23 12:10 p.m. at No. 16 Wisconsin No. 11 ESPN2 L 10–4078,469 November 6 12:10 p.m. No. 20 Ohio State No. 19 Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI ESPN W 23–774,639 November 13 1:00 p.m. at Northwestern No. 17 W 40–030,045 November 20 3:30 p.m. No. 13 Penn State No. 15 Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry ) ABC W 35–2874,231 January 1, 2000 1:00 p.m. vs. No. 10 Florida * No. 9 ABC W 37–3454,866 [ 2] *Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking 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
Oregon at Michigan State
1
2 3 4 Total
Oregon
7
10 0 3
20
• Michigan State
7
0 10 10
27
#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 goalMSU 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. [ 3]
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
