The 1977 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

players chosen by various organizations for All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams for the 1977 Big Ten Conference football season. Conference co-champions

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

led with eight and six first-team selections, respectively. Ohio State's first-team selections included running back

Ron Springs Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and linebacker

Tom Cousineau Thomas Michael Cousineau (born May 6, 1957) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. ...

. Michigan's first-team selections included quarterback

Rick Leach Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Open) ...

and offensive guard

Mark Donahue Mark Joseph Donahue (born January 28, 1956) is a former American football player. He played college football as an offensive guard for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1975 to 1977. He was a consensus All-American in both 1976 and 1977 ...

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2) * Rod Gerald, Ohio State (UPI-1) *

Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for the ...

, Purdue (AP-2)

Running backs

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Ric Enis, Indiana (AP-1; UPI-1) * Jeff Logan, Ohio State (UPI-1) * Russell Davis, Michigan (UPI-2) *

Harlan Huckleby Harlan Charles Huckleby (born December 30, 1957) is a former professional American football running back and kick returner who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Over the course of his NFL career he acc ...

, Michigan (UPI-2)

Flankers

* Keith Calvin, Indiana (AP-1)

Wide receivers

* Reggie Arnold, Purdue (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...

, Michigan State (UPI-2)

Tight ends

* Jimmy Moore, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Mark Brammer, Michigan State (UPI-2)

Centers

Walt Downing Walt Downing (born June 11, 1956) is a former American football player. He played professional football as an offensive guard for the San Francisco 49ers from 1978 to 1983. He played for Bill Walsh (American football coach), Bill Walsh and was a ...

, Michigan (AP-1) * Al Pitts, Michigan State (UPI-1) * Mark Slater, Minnesota (UPI-2)

Guards

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) * Kevin Pancratz, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) * Mark Lang, Ohio State (UPI-2) * Frank Malec, Northwestern (UPI-2)

Tackles

* Chris Ward, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Mike Kenn Michael Lee Kenn (born February 9, 1956) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as an offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) from 1978 to 1994. He played ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2) * Charles Peal, Indiana (UPI-1) * Tony Ardizzone, Northwestern (UPI-2)

Defensive selections

Front five

Larry Bethea Larry Bethea (July 21, 1956 – April 24, 1987) was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Michigan Panthers, Oakland Invaders and Houston Gamblers of the Unite ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1

ef. tackle EF or ef may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ef (band), a post-rock band from Sweden * ''Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.'', a Japanese adult visual novel series by Minori, or its anime adaptations Businesses and organizations * Eagle Forum, an ...

* Aaron Brown, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1 iddle guard * Kelton Dansler, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1 ef. end * Steve Midboe, Minnesota (AP-1; UPI-1

* Dennis Stejskal, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1 ef. end * John Anderson, Michigan (UPI-1 ef. end * Paul Ross, Ohio State (UPI-2 ef. end * Eddie Beamon, Ohio State (UPI-2

* Byron Cato, Ohio State (UPI-2

* Steve Graves, Michigan (UPI-2 iddle guard

Linebackers

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Tom Rusk, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1) * John Sullivan, Illinois (AP-1) *

Ron Simpkins Ronald Bernard Simpkins (born April 2, 1958) is a former American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan as an inside linebacker from 1976 to 1979. He became Michigan's all-time career tackle leader in 1979 and ...

, Michigan (UPI-1) * Paul Rudzinski, Michigan State (UPI-2)

Defensive backs

Dwight Hicks at Serramonte Center 9-28-08 1

Ray Griffin Raymond Griffin (born June 26, 1956) is a former American football cornerback. He is the younger brother of former two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, and also played college football with the Ohio State Buckeyes and pro football for th ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Mike Guess, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Dwight Hicks Dwight Hicks (born April 5, 1956) is a former professional American football player who played safety for the Toronto Argonauts in 1978, the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1985, and for the Indianapolis Colts in 1986. High school and college ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) * Jim Pickens, Michigan (UPI-1) * Derek Howard, Michigan (UPI-2) * Lawrence Johnson, Wisconsin (UPI-2) * Mark Anderson, Michigan State (UPI-2) * Dave Abrams, Indiana (UPI-2)

Special teams

Placekicker

* Paul Rogind, Minnesota (AP-1) * Hans Nielsen, Michigan State (UPI-1) * Keith Calvin, Indiana (UPI-2)

Punter

Ray Stachowicz Raymond Mark Stachowicz (born March 6, 1959) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL). Stachowicz was drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers out of Michigan State University in the 1981 NFL Draft ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) * John Anderson, Michigan (UPI-2)

Key

AP =

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, selected by a panel of 12 sports writers and broadcasters UPI =

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, selected by the Big Ten coaches Bold = Consensus first-team selection of both the AP and UPI

References

{{All-Big Ten Conference football teams All-Big Ten Conference All-Big Ten Conference football teams