1966 Michigan State Spartans football team

1966 Michigan State Spartans football
National champion Big Ten champion
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1966 record	9–0–1 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Duffy Daugherty
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (c. 76,000 natural grass)

1966 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#2 Michigan State $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	1
#7 Purdue	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Michigan	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Ohio State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Indiana	1	–	5	–	1			1	–	8	–	1
Iowa	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1966 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1966 college football season.

Regular season

The 1966 Michigan State Spartans football vs. Notre Dame football game ("The Game of the Century") remains one of the greatest, and most controversial, games in college football history.^[1] 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 to score on its final series, thus the game ended in a 10–10 tie with both schools receiving national champion selections.^[2][3] Notre Dame claimed the AP and Coaches selections and earned a consensus title with a majority of selectors, while Michigan State was selected as the Football Research poll national champion and the Helms Foundation co–champion.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 17	NC State*	No. 2	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 28–0	55,418
September 24	Penn State*	No. 1	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Rivalry)	W 42–8	65,763
October 1	at Illinois	No. 1	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	W 26–10	57,747
October 8	Michigan	No. 1	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	W 20–7	78,833
October 15	at Ohio State	No. 1	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 11–8	84,282
October 22	No. 9 Purdue	No. 2	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 41–20	78,004
October 29	at Northwestern	No. 2	Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL	W 22–0	44,304
November 5	Iowa	No. 2	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 56–7	68,711
November 12	at Indiana	No. 2	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN (Rivalry)	W 37–19	30,096
November 19	No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 2	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Rivalry)	T 10–10	80,011
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

Schedule Source:^[5]

Game summaries

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 0 0 7 7 • Michigan St 7 0 0 13 20 Date: October 8 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Game attendance: 78,833

Scoring summary Q1 MSU Raye 5 yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 7–0 Q4 MSU Apisa 7 yard run (kick failed) MSU 13–0 Q4 MSU Washington 25 yard pass from Raye (Kenney kick) MSU 20–0 Q4 MICH Detwiler 15 yard pass from Vidmer (Sygar kick) MSU 20–7

^[6]

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 0 0 7 13 20 • Michigan St 7 14 14 6 41 Date: October 22 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Game attendance: 70,014

Scoring summary Q1 MSU Lee 3 yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 7–0 Q2 MSU Raye 16 yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 14–0 Q2 MSU Apisa 6 yard pass from Raye (Kenney kick) MSU 21–0 Q3 MSU Apisa 2 yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 28–0 Q3 PUR Griese 6 yard run (Griese kick) MSU 28–7 Q3 MSU Apisa 10 yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 35–7 Q4 PUR Hurst 2 yard run (kick failed) MSU 35–13 Q4 MSU Cavender 2 yard run (pass failed) MSU 41–13 Q4 PUR Griese 2 yard run (Griese kick) MSU 41–20

^[7]

Team members in the NFL

• In the 1967 NFL Draft, four of the top eight picks in the draft were players from Michigan State.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Franchise
Bubba Smith	Defensive End	1	1	Baltimore Colts
Clinton Jones	Running Back	1	2	Minnesota Vikings
George Webster	Linebacker	1	5	Houston Oilers
Gene Washington	Wide Receiver	1	8	Minnesota Vikings
Jeff Richardson	Defensive End	6	146	New York Jets
James Summers	Defensive Back	9	217	Denver Broncos
Charlie Thornhill	Defensive Back	9	232	Boston Patriots
Dick Kenney	Kicker	14	358	Philadelphia Eagles

^[8]

References

1. Mike Celzic. The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 978-0-671-75817-2.
2. Notre Dame's Championship Record
3. Michigan State's Championship Record
4. "Past Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I FBS) National Champions (formerly called Division I-A)". ncaa.org. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
5. "Football Statistics Summary for 1966". msuspartans.com. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
6. "No. 1 Spartans Stop Wolverines." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 9. Retrieved 2015-Jan-12.
7. "Spartans Win Easily Over Purdue, 41-20." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
8. 1967 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com