Spartan History & Tradition - Michigan State University Athletics (2024)

Six National Championships.

Nine Big Ten Championships.

14 College Football Hall of Famers.

322 NFL Draft picks, including 36 first-rounders.

80 straight years with an NFL Draft selection from 1939-2020.

89 First-Team All-Americans.

The history of Michigan State football is a storied one indeed.

From its humble beginnings as an independent agricultural school to its induction into the Big Ten Conference to playing in the College Football Playoff, football has been played at Michigan State since 1896 for a total of 127 seasons.

Kenneth Walker III was presented the 2021 Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back after leading the Power 5 in rushing with 1,636 yards. Walker also became the first Spartan to win the Walter Camp National Player of the Year.

Sept. 26, 1896: Michigan Agricultural College played its first varsity football game, a 10-0 victory over Lansing High School.

1897: Henry Keep, a mechanical engineering student, was hired as the school’s first football coach. He posted an 8-5-1 record over two seasons.

1908: Under head coach Chester Brewer, the Aggies tied Fielding Yost’s Michigan team 0-0 in the season opener on Oct. 3 in the series’ first-ever game in East Lansing. MAC went on to record the first undefeated season (6-0-2) in school history.

Oct. 29, 1910: The Aggies posted their first-ever win over Notre Dame, 17-0, in East Lansing.

1911: John Macklin began his first season as head coach. Macklin still has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history (.853) with a 29-5 record over five seasons (1911-15).

Nov. 28, 1912: MAC recorded its first win over a Big Ten team with a 35-20 win at Ohio State.

1913: The Aggies went 7-0 for the first perfect season in school history under Coach John Macklin. MAC defeated Michigan for the first time with a 12-7 victory in Ann Arbor on Oct. 18, and followed that effort with a 12-7 win at defending Western Conference Champion Wisconsin the next weekend in Madison. Tackle Gideon Smith, MAC’s first African American player (1913-15), was one of six Aggies to earn All-Western honors. Smith is widely considered the third African American to play college football.

RELATED FEATURES: Gideon Smith: Warrior of His Time | Celebrating the Legacy of Gideon Smith

1915: Halfback Neno Jerry DaPrato and end Blake Miller became the first players in school history to earn first-team All-America accolades. In the spring of 1915, Yellmaster Francis Irving Lankey, a civil engineering major at Michigan Agricultural College, composed the school’s Fight Song, while his friend Arthur L. Sayles, also a MAC student, wrote most of the words.

Oct. 6, 1923: Before 8,000 spectators, MAC defeated Lake Forest, 21-6, in the first game played on the present-day site of Spartan Stadium.

RELATED FEATURE: 100 YEARS OF SPARTAN STADIUM

1925: Michigan Agricultural College was renamed Michigan State College.

1926: The “Spartan” nickname was adopted by George Alderton in the Lansing State Journal.

1929: Jim Crowley, one of Notre Dame’s Four Horsem*n, started his tenure as head coach and transformed the program in national prominence. Crowley produced a 22-8-3 mark in four seasons (1929-32) before coaching at Fordham, where he was the architect of the “Seven Blocks of Granite.”

1933: Charles Bachman, a former teammate of Knute Rockne, began his 13-year term as head coach. Bachman recorded a 70-34-10 (.658) mark from 1933-46 to become the school’s winningest coach at the time of his departure and is still No. 3 on the school’s all-time win list.

1935: The first renovation of the stadium increased the seating capacity from 14,000 to 26,000, and the facility was officially named Macklin Field in honor of former head coach John Macklin.

Feb. 8, 1936: Guard Sid Wagner was Michigan State’s first-ever NFL Draft pick, getting selected in the first round (No. 8 overall) by the Detroit Lions. Wagner was a first-team All-American in 1935.

Jan. 1, 1938: Michigan State College played in its first bowl game, a 6-0 loss to Auburn in the Orange Bowl.

Oct. 24, 1942: On Homecoming, the Spartans defeated Great Lakes, 14-0, against a team loaded with pro and college all-stars.

1943: For the first time since football became a varsity sport in 1896, no games were played due to World War II.

1947: Clarence “Biggie” Munn took over the head coaching duties and in just seven seasons (1947-53) transformed Michigan State into one of the winningest and most respected programs in the nation, producing a remarkable record of 54-9-2 (.846). During his tenure, the Spartans won back-to-back National Championships in 1951 and 1952, rattled off a school-record 28-game winning streak, and won the 1953 Big Ten Co-Championship in the school’s inaugural season in the conference. He capped off his illustrious career with a 28-20 victory over fifth-ranked UCLA in the 1954 Rose Bowl. Over his final four seasons, Munn compiled a 35-2 record (.946), including four consecutive Top 10 finishes in the final Associated Press and United Press International Polls from 1950-53. He was named National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association in 1952 after leading Michigan State to a perfect 9-0 record and the consensus National Championship. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959.

1948: Macklin Field increased its seating capacity from 26,000 to 51,000. On Dec. 12, Michigan State was accepted into the Big Ten Conference.

1950: MSC began a school-record 28-game winning streak, which is still tied for the 15th-longest in NCAA Division I history, with a 33-14 victory over William & Mary on Homecoming. The Spartans wouldn’t lose again until Oct. 24, 1953, to Purdue, although MSC did claim a share of the Big Ten title that season.

1951: The Spartans claimed their first national title in school history with a perfect 9-0 record, including wins over No. 17 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 11 Notre Dame. Considered the finest lineman ever to play for Michigan State, Don Coleman finished his stellar career becoming the first Black player at Michigan State to earn consensus first-team All-America honors. His No. 78 was later retired and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

1952: Michigan State repeated as national champions with another 9-0 season and Munn was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year. The Spartans finished No. 1 in both the AP and UPI polls, in addition to nine other selectors as recognized by the NCAA. All-American Tom Yewcic and Willie Thrower teamed up at quarterback to lead the Spartans to their second straight National Championship. Thrower, a three-year letterwinner for the Spartans from 1950-52, was the first Black quarterback to play in the Big Ten and in the NFL (1953).

1953: In MSC’s first season playing in the Big Ten Conference, the Spartans went 5-1 in league play to claim a share of the championship and earn a berth to the Rose Bowl. Coaching in his final game, Munn went out on top as the third-ranked Spartans beat No. 5 UCLA, 28-20, in the Rose Bowl. MSU closed the season with a 9-1 overall record and No. 3 national ranking.

1954: Hugh “Duffy” Daugherty became head coach of the Spartans, taking over for Munn, who replaced Ralph Young as athletic director. Daugherty went on to become the winningest coach in school history with a 109-69-5 (.609) record in 19 seasons (1954-72), including four national championships (1955, 1957, 1965, 1966), two Big Ten titles (1965, 1966) and 29 first-team All-Americans. Seven of his teams ranked among the nation’s Top 20, including six Top 10 finishes. He was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

RELATED FEATURE: Biggie, Duffy and the Golden Age of Spartan Football

1955: On July 1, Michigan State College was renamed Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science. In the fall, Daugherty led Michigan State back to the Rose Bowl in his second season and the Spartans edged No. 4 UCLA, 17-14, in the “Granddaddy of Them All” on a Dave Kaiser 41-yard field goal with just seven seconds left in the game. Michigan State finished the season ranked No. 2 in the AP and UPI polls with a 9-1 mark and the Spartans were crowned national champions by Boand. Daugherty was named the national coach of the year by the AFCA and FWAA.

1957: The Spartans were selected national champions by Dunkel and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the AP and UPI polls with an 8-1 record. First-team All-America halfback Walt Kowalczyk placed third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, tied for the highest ever by a Spartan. As Michigan State’s program continued to stake its place among the nation’s elite, the stadium finished its expansion and was officially renamed Spartan Stadium. After 9,000 new seats upped the capacity of the stadium to 60,000 in 1956, the upper decks were added to the east and west stands in 1957, bringing the capacity to 76,000. | Feature on 1957 National Championship Team

1963: First-team All-American halfback Sherman Lewis equaled the best finish for a Spartan in the Heisman Trophy voting, coming in third place.

1965: Duffy Daugherty earned national coach of the year honors from the FWAA for the second time in his career as the Spartans went 10-0 in the regular season to win the Big Ten title, UPI national championship and NFF MacArthur Bowl. MSU finished No. 2 in the AP Poll after getting upset by No. 4 UCLA in the Rose Bowl, 14-12. A school-record eight Spartans (FB Robert Apisa, LB Ronald Goovert, HB Clinton Jones, QB Stephen Juday, G Harold Lucas, DE Charles “Bubba” Smith, WR Gene Washington and LB George Webster) were named first-team All-Americans. The defense led the NCAA in rushing defense and scoring defense and still holds school records for total defense (173.2 ypg.), rushing defense (47.3 ypg.) and scoring defense (5.6 ppg.).

1966: The Spartans won their second consecutive Big Ten and national championship with another undefeated campaign, going 9-0-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play. Due to Big Ten rules, the Spartans could not play in the Rose Bowl two years in a row.

The season ended with the one of the greatest games in college football history, the “Game of the Century,” as the second-ranked Spartans tied No. 1 Notre Dame, 10-10, on Nov. 19 before more than 80,000 fans in Spartan Stadium and 33 million viewers on television. MSU finished No. 2 in the AP and UPI polls but claimed a share of the national championship as the National Football Foundation awarded both the Spartans and Irish the MacArthur Bowl. Fullback Robert Apisa, halfback Clinton Jones, defensive end Charles “Bubba” Smith, receiver Gene Washington and linebacker George Webster all repeated as first-team All-Americans. In addition to the All-America honors, Jimmy Raye became the first African American quarterback from the South to win a National Championship.

Although the 1966 Michigan State University football team won a National Championship and Big Ten Championship, its most important legacy was its role in the integration of college football. By 1966, the Spartan roster included 20 Black players, a number unprecedented at a time when many major college football programs remained segregated. Michigan State University head coach Duffy Daugherty traveled the South and recruited players who were denied an opportunity to play in their home states.

In its celebration of college football’s 150th anniversary in 2019, the 1966 Spartans were listed as the co-No. 1 team of the 1960s – along with Notre Dame – by The Athletic.

RELATED FEATURES: Family Ties to Golden Anniversary of “The Game of the Century” Remain Spartan Strong | “Game of the Century” Revisited: Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3

March 14, 1967: In the first common NFL Draft, four Spartans were selected in the first eight picks: No. 1 Bubba Smith (Colts), No. 2 Clinton Jones (Vikings), No. 5 George Webster (Oilers) and No. 8 Gene Washington (Vikings). Michigan State is one of four schools, along with Florida, Michigan and USC, to have had at least one player chosen in every modern-era NFL Draft.

1969: The grass playing surface was replaced with Tartan Turf, the first artificial playing surface at Spartan Stadium.

Oct. 30, 1971: Eric Allen set a school, Big Ten and NCAA record with 350 yards rushing on 29 carries in a 43-10 victory at Purdue. That mark still stands as the highest single-game rushing total in MSU history and remains third in the Big Ten record book.

1972: Duffy Daugherty won his 109th and final game as head coach of the Spartans in a 24-14 victory over Northwestern at Spartan Stadium on Nov. 25. First-team All-American defensive back Brad Van Pelt became the first Spartan to win the Maxwell Award, given annually to college football’s player of the year. Van Pelt was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Nov. 9, 1974: Levi Jackson’s 88-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left in the game gave Michigan State a 16-13 victory over No. 1 Ohio State in Spartan Stadium. The game was ranked among the Top 10 games of the 1970s (No. 7) by The Athletic in celebration of college football’s 150th anniversary in 2019.

1978: Led by All-American wide receiver and future College Football Hall of Famer Kirk Gibson and quarterback Ed Smith, Michigan State won its fourth Big Ten title in school history with a record-breaking offense, averaging 37.8 points and 481.2 yards per game. Darryl Rogers was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the media. The Spartans beat No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor on Oct. 14, 24-15, and finished 7-1 in the league standings, but NCAA probation prohibited MSU from playing in the Rose Bowl.

Sept. 19, 1981: All-American and future NFL Hall of Famer Morten Andersen kicked a Big Ten record 63-yard field goal at Ohio State.

Dec. 3, 1982: George Perles was hired as Michigan State’s 19th football coach. Perles led MSU to two Big Ten Championships (1987, 1990), three Top-25 finishes and seven bowl games in his 12 seasons from 1983-94, including a victory in the 1988 Rose Bowl over USC. Fifty players were drafted in the Perles era, including nine first-rounders.

1985: First-team All-American Lorenzo White set a school and then-Big Ten record with 2,066 rushing yards and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. At the time, his 1,908 rushing yards during the regular season was the fourth-best single-season total in the history of college football and the highest ever by a sophom*ore.

1987: Michigan State won its fifth Big Ten Championship with a 7-0-1 league record and finished No. 8 in the national polls after defeating USC in the Rose Bowl. For the second time in his career, Lorenzo White placed fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting and was named the Big Ten MVP and a first-team All-American. George Perles was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the league’s coaches. The Spartans clinched the Big Ten title on Nov. 14 at Spartan Stadium with a 27-3 victory over Indiana as White rushed a school-record 56 times for 292 yards in the victory.

RELATED FEATURES: Feature on 1987 Big Ten Championship Team | Lorenzo White: College Football Hall of Famer

1989: One of the most decorated Spartan football players of all time, Percy Snow became first player in college football history to win both the Butkus Award (top linebacker) and the Lombardi Award (top lineman) in the same year (1989). He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

1990: The Spartans closed the regular season on a five-game winning streak to claim a share of the Big Ten title with a 6-2 conference record. MSU upset top-ranked Michigan, 28-27, in Ann Arbor on Oct. 13 in one of the biggest wins in school history. Playing in its fourth consecutive bowl game, Michigan State defeated USC in the John Hanco*ck Bowl to finish the year ranked No. 14 (UPI) and No. 16 (AP) in the national polls at 8-3-1.

Dec. 3, 1994: The Nick Saban era began at Michigan State. In five seasons at MSU, Saban recorded a 34-24-1 record and led MSU to four bowl games. The Spartans went 9-2 during the regular season in 1999 before Saban left to coach LSU.

1999: Michigan State tied a school record with 10 victories and finished in the top 10 of the national polls at No. 7 for the first time since 1987. MSU beat five top-25 teams, including No. 24 Notre Dame, No. 3 Michigan, No. 20 Ohio State, No. 13 Penn State and No. 10 Florida in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day to cap the 10-2 season. Bobby Williams took over as head coach following Saban’s departure to LSU and led the Spartans past the Gators in the Citrus Bowl as Paul Edinger hit a 39-yard field goal as time expired.

Oct. 21, 2006: Down 38-3 in the third quarter, Michigan State rallied from 35 points down to defeat Northwestern, 41-38, in the biggest comeback in the history of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

Nov. 27, 2006: Mark Dantonio was hired as MSU’s 24th head football coach and went on to become the winningest coach in school history with 114 victories in 13 seasons from 2007-19. He finished his career in East Lansing with a record of 114-57 and was 132-74 overall in 16 seasons. During his time at the helm of the Spartan program, Dantonio won a school-record three Big Ten Championships and six bowl games, including the 2014 Rose Bowl and 2015 Cotton Bowl. He led MSU to the College Football Playoff in 2015 after winning his third Big Ten title. After a storied 13 seasons, Dantonio announced his retirement on Feb. 4, 2020.

Nov. 27, 2010: Four years to the day after he was hired, Mark Dantonio led Michigan State to its first Big Ten Championship in 20 years with a 28-22 win at Penn State in the regular-season finale. The Spartans won a then-school record 11 games in 2010 as Dantonio was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year by CBSSports.com, Scout.com and Rivals.com. | Feature on 2010 Big Ten Championship Team

2011: Thanks to its 33-30 triple-overtime victory over Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl, Michigan State (11-3) finished No. 10 in the final USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the final Associated Press Poll. Michigan State’s 11 wins in 2011 tied a then-school record. MSU won the Big Ten Legends Division title outright with a 7-1 conference record, but came up just short of its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1988, falling to Wisconsin, 42-39, in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.

2013: Michigan State had a record-setting season in 2013, winning a school-record 13 games, defeating No. 5 Stanford in the 100th Rose Bowl Game, beating No. 2 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game for the school’s eighth Big Ten title, and finishing No. 3 in both national polls, the highest ranking for the Spartans since 1966. Michigan State (13-1) became just the third team in Big Ten history to win 13 games in a season. Mark Dantonio earned 2013 Big Ten Coach of the Year honors from both the media and coaches, as the Spartans finished their conference schedule with a perfect 8-0 record for the first time in school history. The Spartans were the first Big Ten team to win all eight of their conference games by double-digit points since the league went to an eight-game schedule in 1971. | Rose Bowl Feature | Big Ten Championship Game Feature

Jan. 1, 2015: Michigan State’s 20-point comeback win in the 2015 Cotton Bowl over No. 4 Baylor was the biggest in Spartan postseason history and second-largest in Cotton Bowl history. Trailing 41-21 entering the fourth quarter, MSU rallied to win 42-41, completing an 11-2 season to finish No. 5 in the national polls. The Spartans tied a Big Ten record with their fourth consecutive bowl victory (2012 Outback, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings, 2014 Rose, 2015 Cotton). | Cotton Bowl Feature | Dantonio Reflects on Dramatic Cotton Bowl Comeback

2015:Michigan State reached the College Football Playoff after winning its third Big Ten title in six years with a 16-13 win over undefeated and fourth-ranked Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Spartans finished with the second-most wins in school history (12-2 record) and closed the season ranked No. 6 in the final polls, marking its third straight Top 10 finish – a program first since 1955-57 (No. 2 in 1955; No. 9 in 1956; No. 3 in 1957). MSU defeated nine bowl teams, including four wins over AP Top 25 teams (No. 7 Oregon on Sept. 12, No. 12 Michigan on Oct. 17, No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 21, No. 4 Iowa on Dec. 5). It marked the first time in school history the Spartans beat three AP Top-10 teams (No. 7 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Iowa) in the same season. | Feature: “The Drive” Propels Spartans to Big Ten Championship, College Football Playoff

2017: MSU’s seven-game win improvement, capped by a 42-17 win over No. 18 Washington State in the Holiday Bowl, established the biggest single-season turnaround in school history. The Spartans won 10 games for the sixth time under Mark Dantonio and finished No. 15 in the final AP Poll. The win over WSU marked the 100th victory for Dantonio at Michigan State.

Sept. 21, 2019:Mark Dantonio won his 110th game as head coach at Michigan State, surpassing Duffy Daugherty to become the winningest coach in Michigan State history. The Spartans defeated Northwestern, 31-10, at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. | Feature: 110: Dantonio's Moment in History

Dec. 27, 2019:Mark Dantonio won his 114th and final game as head coach of the Spartans in a 27-21 victory over Wake Forest in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Dantonio, who retired on Feb. 4, 2020, as the winningest coach in program history, also owns school records for the most bowl wins (six) and Big Ten Championships (three).

2020 Season: Michigan State played just seven games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fewest in a single season since 1944. MSU opened preseason camp on Aug. 7 and held four practices before the Big Ten season was postponed on Aug. 11; on Sept. 16, the Big Ten announced the season would restart and the Oct. 24 start date was the latest season and home opener in school history.

2021:Going from two wins in 2020 to 11 wins in 2021, MSU completed the biggest turnaround in school history (previous: seven-game improvement from 2016 to 2017) and closed the season ranked No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 9 in The Associated Press Poll. The Spartans finished with an 11-2 record following a New Year's Six bowl victory against ACC Champion and 12th-ranked Pitt in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Running back Kenneth Walker III, a unanimous first-team All-American, became the first Spartan to win the Walter Camp National Player of the Year and the Doak Walker Award after leading the Big Ten and ranking No. 2 in the FBS with 1,636 rushing yards.

Nov. 25, 2023: Michigan State hires Jonathan Smith as the 26th head football coach in school history.