Michigan State Spartans football: Difference between revisions

Michigan State Spartans football
Michigan State Spartans football
	2010 Michigan State Spartans football team
First season	1896
Head coach	; 4th season, 33–18 (.647)
Stadium	Spartan Stadium (East Lansing); (capacity: 75,005)
Field surface	Grass
Location	East Lansing, Michigan
All-time record	625–425–44 (.591)
Bowl record	7–13–0 (.350)
Claimed national titles	6 (1951, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1965, 1966)
Conference titles	7 (1953, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1987, 1990, 2010)
Consensus All-Americans	31
Current uniform
	File:Michiganstatejerseys2010v2.png
Colors	Green and White;
Fight song	MSU Fight Song
Mascot	Sparty
Marching band	Spartan Marching Band
Rivals	Michigan Wolverines; Notre Dame Fighting Irish; Penn State Nittany Lions; Indiana Hoosiers
Website	MSUSpartans.com

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Revision as of 04:05, 5 December 2010

The Michigan State Spartans football program competes in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State has won or shared a total of 6 national championships (1951, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1965, and 1966), two Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships (1903 and 1905), and 7 Big Ten championships (1953, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1987, 1990, and 2010). Currently 24 former Spartans are playing in the NFL.^[3]

Today, the team competes in Spartan Stadium, a 75,005 person football stadium in the center of campus, though frequently the stadium holds more than 80,000 spectators. Michigan State hired Mark Dantonio on November 27, 2006 as head coach. MSU's traditional archrival is the University of Michigan, against whom they compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Michigan State is one of three Big Ten teams to have an annual non-conference football game against the University of Notre Dame. The Spartans also share a rivalry with Penn State University, against whom they compete for the Land Grant Trophy, with the game being the final contest for both teams during the Big Ten Conference regular season.

History

1913 Michigan Agricultural College (MSU) vs Michigan

Starting as a club sport in 1885, football gained varsity status in 1896.^[4] Early teams at the then Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) competed in the Michigan Collegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) that was chartered in 1888 and it's currently the oldest of all collegiate leagues in the United States. Previously in 1884, Albion College and MSU (then MAC) had played in the first Intercolligiate Football game held within the State of Michigan. The MIAA's other charter members included Albion, Olivet and Hillsdale Colleges. The Association's first season of competitive football was in 1894 which by then also included Eastern Michigan University (then Michigan Normal School) and Alma College; Kalamazoo College was added in 1896. In those early years the MAC Aggies could only accomplish one outright league football championship (1905) and share another with Albion (1903). The first decade of the 20th Century generally saw the MIAA and MAC being dominated by either Albion or Olivet Colleges. MSU left the league and became an Independent in 1907.

During the 1950s when Detroit was known as the world's leading automobile manufacturer, Michigan State was often referred to as the nation's "football factory."^{[citation needed]} It was then that the Spartans churned out such impressive models as Lynn Chandnois, Dorne Dibble, Don McAulliffe, Tom Yewcic, Sonny Grandelius, Bob Carey, Don Coleman, Earl Morrall and Dean Look. In 1951, the Spartans finished undefeated and untied to claim a share of the national championship with Tennessee. A second consecutive undefeated season led to a consensus national title in 1952. The team was admitted into the Big Ten as a regular member in 1953. They promptly went on to capture the league championship (losing only one game during the season) and beating UCLA in their first Rose Bowl game. After the 1953 season Biggie Munn, the Spartan coach, turned the team over to his protégé Duffy Daugherty. The team won the Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, and 1988.

From the creation of Division I-AA (now called Division I FCS) in 1978 through the 2008 season, Michigan State never played a I-AA/FCS opponent, holding out longer in doing so than all but four other FBS schools.^[5] The Spartans ended their streak by opening the 2009 season against FCS member Montana State.

Head coach

On November 27, 2006, Mark Dantonio was hired from the University of Cincinnati to become Michigan State's new head coach. Dantonio served as an assistant coach at Michigan State from 1995-2000. Dantonio was Ohio State's defensive coordinator during their 2002 national championship season.^[6] He was also an assistant at Kansas and Youngstown State University.

Coaching history

Coach	Years	Seasons	Record	Pct.	Conf. Record	Pct.	Conf. Titles	Bowl Games	National Titles	Conference
[No Coach]	1896	1	1–2–1	.375	0	0	0	0	0	MIAA
Henry Keep	1897–1898	2	8–5–1	.607	0	0	0	0	0	MIAA
Charles Bemies	1899–1900	2	3–7–1	.318	0	0	0	0	0	MIAA
George Denham	1901–1902	2	7–9–1	.441	0	0	0	0	0	MIAA
Chester Brewer	1903–1910, 1917, 1919	10	58–23–7	.699	0	0	0	0	0	Left MIAA in 1907
John Macklin	1911–1915	4	29–5–0	.853	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Frank Sommers	1916	1	4–2–1	.643	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
George Gauthier	1918	1	4–3–0	.571	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
George Clark	1920	1	4–6	.400	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Albert Barron	1921–1922	2	6–10–2	.389	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Ralph Young	1923–1927	5	18–22–1	.451	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Harry G. Kipke	1928	1	3–4–1	.438	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Jim Crowley	1929–1932	4	22–8–3	.712	0	0	0	0	0	Independent
Charlie Bachman	1933–1942, 1944–1946	13	70–34–10	.658	0	0	0	1	0	Independent
Clarence Munn	1947–1953	6	54–9–2	.846	5–1	.833	1	0	2	Joined Big Ten in 1949
Duffy Daugherty	1954–1972	19	109–69–5	.609	72–50–3	.588	2	3	4	Big Ten
Denny Stolz	1973–1975	3	19–13–1	.591	14–9–1	.604	0	0	0	Big Ten
Darryl Rogers	1976–1979	4	24–18–2	.568	19–12–1	.609	1	0	0	Big Ten
Muddy Waters	1980–1982	3	10–23–0	.303	0	0	0	0	0	Big Ten
George Perles	1983–1994	12	68–67–4	.504	53–42–2	.557	2	7	0	Big Ten
Nick Saban	1995–1999	5	35–24–1	.592	23–16–1	.589	0	3	0	Big Ten
Bobby Williams	2000–2002	3	15–17	.469	6–15	.286	0	2	0	Big Ten
Morris Watts	2002	1	1–2	.333	0	0	0	0	0	Big Ten
John L. Smith	2003–2006	4	22–26	.458	12–20	.375	0	1	0	Big Ten
Mark Dantonio	2007–present	4	33–18	.647	20–12	.625	1	3	0	Big Ten
Totals	1896–present	113	625–425–44	.589	0–0–0	0	7	20	6

Stadiums

Until the 1920s, Michigan State's football team played on Old College Field just northwest of the current stadium. In the early 1920s school officials decided to construct a new stadium to replace Old College Field. College Field, the future Spartan Stadium was ready in the fall of 1923 with a capacity of 14,000. Over the years the stadium grew. In 1935 the seating capacity was increased to 26,000 and the facility was dedicated as Macklin Field. By 1957, upper decks were added to the east and west ends, boosting the capacity to 76,000. That same season Michigan State dropped the name Macklin Stadium in favor of Spartan Stadium.^[7]

After the addition of luxury boxes and club seating in 2004-05 the capacity of the stadium grew from 72,027 to 75,005, making it the Big Ten's fifth largest stadium.^{[citation needed]} Spartan Stadium is so loud that Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960) uses a recording of the crowd noise during the 1959 Michigan State-Notre Dame game.^{[citation needed]} For the 2007 football season the student section had around 13,000 members.^{[citation needed]}

Corner Blitz

The Corner Blitz was the name of a section of students at Michigan State University football home games at Spartan Stadium. The Corner Blitz was only a section of the student seats, which as a whole included sections immediately to the east of the Corner Blitz as well as the southernmost sections on the east upper deck. Although Corner Blitz season tickets cost more than regular student season tickets, advantages included receiving a Corner Blitz t-shirt and priority entrance to the game. It was originally formed in 2000 as Bobby's World (named after former Michigan State football coach Bobby Williams). Following Williams' firing in 2002, the section's name was changed to Corner Blitz.

Corner Blitz was affiliated with the Izzone, as it was also sponsored by the Michigan State Student Alumni Foundation.

Following John L. Smith's firing in 2006, the Corner Blitz was united with the normal student section under the new coach, Mark Dantonio. The entire student section now receives a special t-shirt.

Records, championships, and notable games

All-time record

At the completion of the 2009 season, Michigan State's all-time win/loss/tie record is 625–425–44.

National championships

Michigan State claims a total of six national championships, three of which are consensus national championships after being declared the national champion by the AP and Coaches' Poll in 1952, the Coaches' Poll in 1965, and the National Football Foundation in 1966.^[8]

Year	Coach	Selector	Record	Bowl
1951	Clarence Munn	Helms	9–0
1952	Clarence Munn	AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, Helms, National Championship Foundation, United Press	9–0
1955	Duffy Daugherty	Boand	9–1	Won Rose
1957	Duffy Daugherty	Billingsley, National Championship Foundation	8–1
1965	Duffy Daugherty	Coaches' Poll, Football Writers Association, Helms, United Press	10–1	Lost Rose
1966	Duffy Daugherty	Helms, National Football Foundation, College Football Researchers Association	9–0–1	+
National Championships			6

+ until 1971-72 season Big Ten schools were forbidden from participating in the Rose Bowl in 2 consecutive years.

Big Ten Conference championships

1953, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1987, 1990, and 2010

Bowl games

Date	Bowl	W/L	Opponent	PF	PA
January 1, 1938	Orange	L	Auburn	0	6
January 1, 1954	Rose	W	UCLA	28	20
January 2, 1956	Rose	W	UCLA	17	14
January 1, 1966	Rose	L	UCLA	12	14
December 22, 1984	Cherry	L	Army	6	10
December 31, 1985	Hall of Fame Classic	L	Georgia Tech	14	17
January 1, 1988	Rose	W	USC	20	17
January 1, 1989	Gator	L	Georgia	27	34
December 25, 1989	Aloha	W	Hawaii	33	13
December 31, 1990	John Hancock	W	USC	17	16
December 28, 1993	Liberty	L	Louisville	7	18
December 29, 1995	Independence	L	LSU	26	45
December 31, 1996	Sun	L	Stanford	0	38
December 25, 1997	Aloha	L	Washington	23	51
January 1, 2000	Citrus	W	Florida	37	34
December 31, 2001	Silicon Valley Classic	W	Fresno State	44	35
December 29, 2003	Alamo	L	Nebraska	3	17
December 28, 2007	Champs Sports	L	Boston College	21	24
January 1, 2009	Capital One	L	Georgia	12	24
January 2, 2010	Alamo	L	Texas Tech	31	41
January 1, 2011	Capital One^[9]		TBD
Total	21 Bowl Games	7-13		378	488

^[10]

Trophy games

Land Grant Trophy vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

The Land Grant Trophy is named so because both Penn State University and Michigan State University are the nation's oldest land-grant universities, both founded in 1855 (Michigan State on February 12 and Penn State on February 22).^{[citation needed]} Since Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993, the Nittany Lions and Spartans have played each other for the trophy in the last week of conference play. This streak will be broken by the 2011 season, after which MSU and PSU will be in opposite conference divisions, and not scheduled to play each other every year. The trophy, designed by former Michigan State coach George Perles, features pictures of Penn State's Old Main and Michigan State's Beaumont Tower. Current series: Penn State leads the trophy series 13–5 and the all-time series 14–13–1.

Megaphone Trophy vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Megaphone Trophy is awarded each year to the winner of the football game between the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University. The rivalry includes games such as the Game of the Century, arguably the greatest college football game ever played. Notre Dame currently leads the all-time series 45–28–1.

Old Brass Spittoon vs. Indiana Hoosiers

The Old Brass Spittoon is presented to the winner of the Indiana-Michigan State football game. First presented in 1950, it was Michigan State's idea to start up the trophy^{[citation needed]} and Indiana quickly accepted. Michigan State currently leads the all-time series 40–12–1. Though Indiana and MSU will be in opposite divisions in the Big Ten conference starting with the 2011 season, this rivalry game is to be scheduled every year.

Paul Bunyan Trophy vs. Michigan Wolverines

The Paul Bunyan-Governor of Michigan Trophy is a college rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the annual American football game between the Michigan State University Spartans and the University of Michigan Wolverines. The winner retains possession of the trophy until the next year's game. Michigan State currently trails the trophy series (which only dates back to 1953) 34–22–2, and the overall series 67–31–5.

Game of the Century

The 1966 Michigan State vs. Notre Dame football game ("The Game of the Century") remains one of the greatest, and most controversial, games in college football history.^[11] The game was played in Michigan State's Spartan Stadium on November 19, 1966. Michigan State entered the contest 9–0 and ranked #2, while Notre Dame entered the contest 8–0 and ranked #1. Notre Dame elected not to try for the end zone on the final series, thus the game ended in a 10–10 tie with both schools recording national championships.^[12]^[13]

Biggest comeback in NCAA history

The 2006 edition of the Michigan State Spartans / Northwestern Wildcats football game featured the biggest comeback in NCAA history. The Michigan State Spartans, after falling behind to the Wildcats 38–3 with 9:54 remaining in the 3rd quarter, rallied to score 38 unanswered points to defeat the Wildcats, 41–38.

Awards

Players

Maxwell Award

Brad Van Pelt^[14] - 1972

Fred Biletnikoff Award

Charles Rogers^[15] - 2002

Dick Butkus Award

Percy Snow - 1989

Lombardi Award

Percy Snow^[16] - 1989

Outland Trophy

Ed Bagdon - 1949

Chicago Tribune Silver Football

Eric Allen - 1971

Larry Bethea - 1977

Lorenzo White - 1987

Coach

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award

Duffy Daugherty - 1965

College Football Hall of Famers

Pro Football Hall of Famers

Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Abe Eliowitz

Michigan State's All-Time Team

Chosen in 2001 by Athlon Sports [1]

Offense
WR Gene Washington 1964–66
WR Andre Rison 1985–88
TE Billy Joe DuPree 1970–72
E Robert Carey 1949–51
OL Sidney Wagner 1933–35
OL Don Coleman 1949–51
OL Dan Currie 1955–57
OL Ed Budde 1960–62
OL Tony Mandarich 1985–88
OL Flozell Adams 1994–97
QB Earl Morrall 1953–55
QB Steve Juday 1963–65
RB John Pingel 1936–38
RB Sonny Grandelius 1948–50
RB Lorenzo White 1984–87
K Morten Andersen 1978–81

Defense
DL Blake Miller 1912–15
DL Ed Bagdon 1946–49
DL Bubba Smith 1964–66
DL Larry Bethea 1974–77
LB Dan Bass 1976–79
LB Carl Banks 1980–83
LB Percy Snow 1986–89
LB Julian Peterson 1998–99
DB Lynn Chandnois 1946–49
DB George Saimes 1960–62
DB George Webster 1964–66
DB Brad Van Pelt 1970–72
P Greg Montgomery 1985–87

Notable players

Current NFL players

Other famous players

Template:CFB Schedule End

Future Schedules (2012)