Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

Michigan State has been a member of the Big Ten Conference for many years, but that has not always been the case. Like Notre Dame, Michigan State lobbied for years to gain admission into the Big Ten. Also like Notre Dame, MSU's efforts were thwarted by the academic high-brows of the conference. Consequently, through the years Notre Dame and Michigan State forged a rivalry of sorts in football, playing on and off through the early decades of the twentieth century.

In 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew as a member of the Big Ten, having relinquished its athletic program to pursue a purely academic model. MSU believed that it was the perfect fit for the "Big Nine," but their attempts to join were thwarted again. By this time, things were so bleak for MSU's football program that longtime N.D. athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause offered to schedule a long series of games to help the fledgling program out. As it turned out, MSU's football program benefited greatly from this gesture, as well as from the fact that they were granted membership in the Big Ten in 1950.

Despite their newfound membership status, MSU never forgot the kind act by Krause. Despite attempts to get MSU to join other Big Ten schools in refusing to schedule Notre Dame, the Spartans continued to renew the series with the Irish, a series which continues to be played regularly to this day. Little could anyone have known that these dealings in the late 1940s and early 1950s would set the stage for one of the most famous college football games ever played.

Throughout the 1950s the programs of Notre Dame and Michigan State were headed in different directions. Frank Leahy left as N.D.'s head coach after one final undefeated campaign in 1953, his sixth in eleven seasons, and his departure ushered in an era of mediocre football under the Golden Dome. In the first ten post-Leahy years, the Irish went an unremarkable 51-48-0 (.515), one of the worst ten-year stretches in the long history of Irish football.

Meanwhile, State had hired Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty in 1954 to lead its football program. Daugherty took over a program in 1954 that was two years removed from a national championship. He would go on to coach nineteen years at MSU, still a record for longevity at the school. Under Daugherty, the Spartans would win 62% of their games, two Big Ten championships, as well as a share of the national championship in 1965. To underline the varying fortunes of these programs, in 1956, the #2 Spartans delivered a 47-14 shellacking to the unranked Irish at Notre Dame, one of the worst losses in Irish football history.

Things took a turn for the better for the Irish with the hiring of Northwestern coach Ara Parseghian following N.D.'s disastrous 2-7-0 campaign in 1963. Parseghian coached Notre Dame back to national prominence in his very first season in 1964, leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 start, before a season-ending loss at Southern Cal ruined a national championship. Making the most of the talent he had inherited, Parseghian delivered a 7-2-1 encore in his sophomore season.

By 1966 Parseghian and Daugherty had put together two of the most talented teams in the history of college football. Both rosters were filled with All-Americans and future NFL stars. Notre Dame's offense, led by QB Terry Hanratty and HB Nick Eddy, was heralded far and wide that year, and the defense was one of the great units in history. In a ten-game season in 1966, the Irish defense, led by Pete Duranko, Jim Lynch, and Alan Page, gave up a mere 24 points. State's defense was highly touted as well, featuring future NFL player and star of Police Academy movies, Bubba Smith, as well as George Webster.

As the season progressed, everyone could see the titanic match-up between these two schools looming. Entering the November 19 game, both schools had perfect records: #2 MSU 9-0-0; #1 N.D. 8-0-0. The hype surrounding the game was palpable. Five-dollar tickets to the game were scalped for $100 or more each, and that was if one could find a willing seller. NCAA rules restricting the national broadcast of the game were lifted because demand to see the game from coast to coast was so great. The 76,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to one of the hardest-hitting, smash-mouth games of football in history.

The Spartans stormed out to an early 10-0 lead, an amazing accomplishment against a defense that had only allowed 14 points all season. Things took a turn for the worse for the Irish when Hanratty, mistakenly hearing a HB draw play call from Parseghian as a QB draw, suffered a separated shoulder when he was creamed by the Spartan defense as he ran the ball. If the Irish were to come back, backup QB Coley O'Brien would have to do it. Just before the half, O'Brien completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to RB Bob Gladieux, who had replaced Eddy. (Eddy was unable to play because he had reinjured his shoulder after falling down icy steps coming off the team's train.). Early in the fourth quarter, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro tied the game with a field goal, 10-10.

From that point forward, the game would devolve into two defenses trying to outplay each other. In the closing minutes of the game, Daugherty opted to punt the ball to the Irish instead of going for the win. With 90 seconds remaining, Parseghian, his offense in tatters with his two biggest stars out of the game and his backup QB in danger of going into a diabetic coma, decided to run out the remaining time on the clock and play for the tie. Parseghian is still associated with the controversial decision to this day, even though he had played it safe, just as Daugherty had done. His rationale was that the Irish had come from too far back to risk losing the game. Additionally, the Irish had a remaining game the following week (at Southern Cal), and if they played well enough, they could claim the national championship. His decision would prove to be right, as the Irish went on to beat the Trojans 51-0, resulting in the program's eighth national title and first since the Leahy Era.

Forty years have passed and "The Game of the Century" has stood the test of time as one of the great contests in college football history. The fact that the game ended in a tie has lent it an air of fame that it would not enjoy had a winner been determined. Few other contests that the Irish have played measure up to the scope of this game, and all games in the Notre Dame-Michigan State series continue to be played in the long shadow of the 1966 contest.

Few series for Notre Dame date back as far as Michigan State. Since 1897, N.D. and MSU have been regular opponents. Aside from Navy (79), Southern Cal (77), and Purdue (77), no school has played Notre Dame as frequently as Michigan State. This weekend's game will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series, leading MSU 43-25-1, though the Spartans have won seven of the last nine games, dating back to 1997.

In recent years, the schools have played a number of close games against one another. Since 1999, five of the last six games have been decided in the game's final minutes. Last season, the Irish came from 21 points down to send the game into overtime before the Spartans won, 44-41. The Spartans then proceeded to plant an MSU flag at mid-field in Notre Dame Stadium.

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Other notes:

-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on Duffy Daugherty's staff in the 1950s.

-Notre Dame has won two straight games at Spartan Stadium.

-Navy (69), Purdue (50), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (30) has beaten N.D. more than MSU.

-Notre Dame is 17-13-1 in games played at Michigan State. In games played at Spartan Stadium, the Irish are 15-11-1.

-The Irish are 6-0 on the road under Charlie Weis.

-The winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game receives the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan State clubs of Detroit.

-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011 season.

-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:

#11 Michigan defeated #2 Notre Dame on the road, 47-21, moving their record to 852-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7449. This week, #6 Michigan hosts unranked Wisconsin.

#2 Notre Dame lost to #11 Michigan at home, 47-21, dropping their record to 813-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7433. This week, #12 Notre Dame travels to unranked Michigan State.

Michigan's lead expands to 16/10,000ths of a point.

The Irish have a lot to prove after last week's showing. The game is at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.

Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike

copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006