| 1966 Michigan State Spartans football | |
National Champions Big Ten Champions | |
|---|---|
| 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) |
Seasons | |
| 1966 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #2/2 Michigan State † | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #7/6 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 / Coaches' 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 19th, 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 endzone on the 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
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Spartans points | Opponents | Record |
| 1 | Sept. 17 | North Carolina State | Win | 28 | 10 | 1-0-0 |
| 2 | Sept. 24 | Penn State | Win | 42 | 8 | 2-0-0 |
| 3 | Oct. 1 | @ Illinois | Win | 26 | 10 | 3-0-0 |
| 4 | Oct. 8 | Michigan | Win | 20 | 7 | 4-0-0 |
| 5 | Oct. 15 | @ Ohio State | Win | 11 | 8 | 5-0-0 |
| 6 | Oct. 22 | @ Purdue | Win | 41 | 20 | 6-0-0 |
| 7 | Oct. 29 | @ Northwestern | Win | 22 | 0 | 7-0-0 |
| 8 | Nov. 5 | Iowa | Win | 56 | 7 | 8-0-0 |
| 9 | Nov. 12 | @ Indiana | Win | 37 | 19 | 9-0-0 |
| 10 | Nov. 19 | Notre Dame | Tie | 10 | 10 | 9-0-1 |
Rivalries
- Michigan State defeated Michigan to claim the Paul Bunyan Trophy
- The Spartans tied Notre Dame, and neither team claimed the Megaphone Trophy
- In the game for the Old Brass Spittoon, Michigan State defeated Indiana
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 |
References
- ↑ Mike Celzic. The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 978-0-671-75817-2.
- ↑ Notre Dame's Championship Record
- ↑ Michigan State's Championship Record
- ↑ "Past Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I FBS) National Champions (formerly called Division I-A)". ncaa.org. Archived from the original on May 09, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080509084329/http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/ia_football_past_champs.html. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ↑ College Football Reference
- ↑ 1967 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com
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