1998 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1998 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Nick Saban, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 6–6 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing sixth in the Big Ten. Michigan State team did not play a bowl game following the 1998 regular season. The team played home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

1998 Michigan State Spartans football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record6–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill (4th season)
Offensive schemePro set
Defensive coordinatorChris Cosh (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
  • Garett Gould
  • Sedrick Irvin
  • Jason Strayhorn
  • Amp Campbell
  • Sorie Kanu
  • Courtney Ledyard
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
Seasons
 1997
1999 
1998 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
No. 2 Ohio State %+ 71  111 
No. 6 Wisconsin $+ 71  111 
No. 12 Michigan + 71  103 
No. 24 Purdue 62  94 
No. 17 Penn State 53  93 
Michigan State 44  66 
Minnesota 26  56 
Indiana 26  47 
Illinois 26  38 
Iowa 26  38 
Northwestern 08  39 
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 294:00 p.m.No. 15 Colorado State*No. 23ESPN2L 16–2368,624
September 53:30 p.m.at Oregon*No. 23ABCL 14–4843,634
September 128:00 p.m.No. 10 Notre Dame*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCW 45–2374,267
September 2612:00 p.m.at MichiganABCL 17–29111,238
October 31:00 p.m.Central Michigan*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 38–770,905
October 1012:00 p.m.Indianadagger
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ESPNW 38–31 2OT73,425[1]
October 2412:00 p.m.at MinnesotaESPN PlusL 18–1941,327
October 3112:00 p.m.Northwestern
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN2W 29–567,473
November 73:30 p.m.at No. 1 Ohio StateABCW 28–2493,595
November 1412:00 p.m.Purdue
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusL 24–2569,010
November 211:00 p.m.Illinois
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 41–967,285
November 281:00 p.m.at No. 23 Penn StateABCL 28–5196,358
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP23
Coaches23
BCSNot releasedNot released

Roster

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1998 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 83 Chris Baker Fr
QB 16 Bill Burke Jr
WR 4 Plaxico Burress So
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 99 Dimitrius Underwood Sr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

1999 NFL draft

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The following players were selected in the 1999 NFL draft.

Player Round Pick Position NFL team
Dimitrius Underwood129Defensive EndMinnesota Vikings
Sedrick Irvin4103Running BackDetroit Lions

References

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  1. Dye, Dave (October 11, 1998). "MSU outlasts IU in two". The Detroit News. p. 1C. Retrieved October 8, 2022 via Newspapers.com.