1952 Michigan State Spartans football team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1

The 1952 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State College in the 1952 college football season. The Spartans were led by head coach Clarence Munn, had a perfect undefeated season and were recognized as the National Champions by most major polling organizations including the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll.^[1]

Schedule

September 27at MichiganNo. 1

W 27–1397,239 October 4at Oregon State*No. 1

W 17–1422,595 October 11Texas A&M*No. 2

W 48–649,123 October 18Syracuse*No. 1

Macklin Stadium
East Lansing, MI

W 48–738,254 October 25Penn State*No. 1

Macklin Stadium
East Lansing, MI (Rivalry)

W 34–751,162 November 1at PurdueNo. 1

W 14–749,500 November 8at IndianaNo. 1

W 41–1422,000 November 15Notre Dame*No. 1

Macklin Stadium
East Lansing, MI (Rivalry)

W 21–352,472 November 22Marquette*No. 1

Macklin Stadium
East Lansing, MI

W 62–1335,845

Template:CFB Schedule End

Schedule Source:^[2]

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Paul Dekker	End	3	27	Washington Redskins
Dick Tamburo	Center	4	47	Cleveland Browns
Ed Timmerman	Back	14	160	Washington Redskins
Jim Ellis	Back	25	299	Cleveland Browns

Reference:^[3]

References

^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "National Poll Champions" (PDF). 2012 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 72. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
^ "Football Statistics Summary for 1952". msuspartans.com. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
^ "1953 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2013.

v t e 1952 Michigan State Spartans football—consensus national champions
Leroy Bolden Hank Bullough Paul Dekker Rollie Dotsch Chuck Fairbanks Frank Kush Gary Lowe Earl Morrall Jerry Planutis Dick Tamburo Willie Thrower Doug Weaver Billy Wells Tom Yewcic Bert Zagers Head coach: Clarence Munn Assistant coaches: Duffy Daugherty Dan Devine Earle Edwards Dewey King Steve Sebo

v t e Michigan State Spartans football
Venues	Old College Field (1902–1922) Spartan Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana Michigan Notre Dame Penn State
Culture & lore	Sparty "Victory for MSU" Marching band Zeke the Wonder Dog 1966 "Game of the Century" 2001 Michigan game 2006 Northwestern game 2015 Michigan game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (Coaches) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)