1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1979 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Joe Salem, the Golden Gophers compiled a 4–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 271 to 264.^[1]

Quarterback Mark Carlson received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Free safety Keith Edwards was awarded the Defensive MVP Award. Split End Elmer Bailey was named All-Big Ten first team. Defensive lineman Alan Blanshan and offensive lineman Bill Humphries were named Academic All-Big Ten.^[2]

Total attendance for the season was 241,942, which averaged to 40,323. The season high for attendance was against Purdue.^[3]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 24–10	33,435	[4]
September 15	No. 15 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 17–21	43,515	[5]
September 22	at No. 1 USC*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–48	61,966	[6]
September 29	Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 38–8	33,998	[7]
October 6	No. 12 Purdue	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 31–14	47,281	[8]
October 13	at No. 11 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 21–31	104,677	[9]
October 20	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 24–7	60,050	[10]
October 27	Illinois	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	T 17–17	46,449	[11]
November 3	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 24–42	35,591	[12]
November 10	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 17–31	75,433	[13]
November 17	Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 37–42	37,827	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[15]