| 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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