1966 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1966 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1966 Big Ten Conference football season. Michigan State lodged a 9–0–1 record, with a season-concluding tie against Notre Dame which is considered among the greatest games in college football history. The College Football Researchers Association selected Michigan State as national champion, while Helms, NFF, and Poling selected them as co-national champion.[1]^:113 Notre Dame claimed the AP and Coaches selections and earned a consensus title with a majority of selectors.[2]

1966 Michigan State Spartans football
National champion (Football Research) Co-national champion (Helms, NFF, Poling) 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 (13th season)
MVP	George Webster
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (c. 76,000 natural grass)

1966 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Michigan State $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	1
No. 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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 17	NC State*	No. 2	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 28–10	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 released prior to the game

Schedule Source:[3]

Personnel

1966 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 45 Robert Apisa Jr RB 25 Regis Cavender So RB 26 Clinton Jones Sr RB 34 Dwight Lee Jr OT 57 Joe Przybycki Jr QB 16 James Raye Jr WR 84 Gene Washington Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 61 Charles Bailey So DL 55 Pat Gallinagh S   Jess Phillips Jr DE   Jeff Richardson Sr DL 95 Bubba Smith Sr DB 20 James Summers Sr DB 41 Charlie Thornhill Sr LB 90 George Webster Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 42 Dick Kenney Sr	Head coach Duffy Daugherty Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Game summaries

NC State

Penn State

at Illinois

Michigan

Michigan at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Wolverines 0 0 0 7 7 • No. 1 Spartans 7 0 0 13 20 Date: October 8 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan 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

[4]

at Ohio State

Michigan State at Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total • Spartans 0 0 3 8 11 Buckeyes 2 0 0 6 8 Date: October 15 Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 84,282 Game weather: Rain, wind SE 20-35, 69°F

Scoring summary Q1 8:09 OSU Safety, center pass through end zone OSU 2–0 Q3 6:02 MSU Kenny 27-yard field goal MSU 3–2 Q4 14:53 OSU Long 47-yard pass to Anders (kick failed) OSU 8–3 Q4 7:09 MSU Apisa 1-yard run (Kenney pass to Wedemeyer) MSU 11–8

Purdue

Purdue at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 9 Boilermakers 0 0 7 13 20 • No. 2 Spartans 7 14 14 6 41 Date: October 22 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan 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

[5]

at Northwestern

Iowa

at Indiana

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total No.1 Fighting Irish 0 7 0 3 10 No. 2 Spartans 0 10 0 0 10 Date: November 19 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 2 MSU Cavender 4-yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 7-0 2 MSU Kenney 47-yard field goal MSU 10-0 2 ND Gladieux 34-yard pass from O'Brien (Azzaro kick) MSU 10-7 4 ND Azzaro 28-yard field goal Tied 10-10

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.[6] 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.[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. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
2. "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.
3. "Football Statistics Summary for 1966". msuspartans.com. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
4. "No. 1 Spartans Stop Wolverines." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 9. Retrieved 2015-Jan-12.
5. "Spartans Win Easily Over Purdue, 41-20." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
6. Celzic, Mike. The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 978-0-671-75817-2.
7. Jenkins, Dan (November 28, 1966). "An Upside-Down Game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
8. 1967 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com