1951 Michigan State Spartans football team

1951 Michigan State Spartans football
Helms national champion
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1951 record	9–0
Head coach	Biggie Munn
Home stadium	Macklin Stadium

The 1951 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State College in the 1951 college football season. The Spartans played their home games at Macklin Stadium (now known as Spartan Stadium) in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by Clarence "Biggie" Munn.

The Spartans went undefeated and were elected the National Champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation; however, the rest of the polls voted for the Tennessee Volunteers, who lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Maryland Terrapins, but postseason games were not considered by the major polls at that time.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 22	Oregon State	No. 2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 6–0	33,373
September 29	at Michigan	No. 2	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	W 25–0	97,239
October 6	at Ohio State	No. 1	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 24–20	82,640
October 13	Marquette	No. 1	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 20–14	39,251
October 20	at Penn State	No. 3	New Beaver Field • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	W 32–21	30,674
October 27	Pittsburgh	No. 2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 53–26	42,163
November 10	No. 11 Notre Dame	No. 2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Rivalry)	W 35–0	51,296
November 17	at Indiana	No. 1	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN (Rivalry)	W 30–26	20,000
November 24	Colorado	No. 2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 45–7	29,987
Homecoming. ^#Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Schedule Source:^[2]

References

↑ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "National Poll Champions" (PDF). 2012 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 72. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
↑ "Football Statistics Summary for 1951". msuspartans.com. Retrieved July 26, 2013.

Michigan State Spartans football

Venues	Old College Field (1902–1922) Spartan Stadium (1923–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana (Old Brass Spittoon) Michigan (Paul Bunyan Trophy) Notre Dame (Megaphone Trophy) Penn State (Land Grant Trophy)

Culture & lore	Sparty "Victory for MSU" Marching band Zeke the Wonder Dog Winged football helmet 1966 "Game of the Century" Clockgate 2006 Northwestern game

People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

College football national champions (poll era)

1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP, DS) / Pittsburgh (BS, HS) 1937: Pittsburgh (AP, BS, DS, HS) / California 1938: TCU (AP) / Tennessee (BS, HS) / Notre Dame (DS) 1939: Texas A&M (AP, BS, HS) / USC (DS) 1940: Minnesota (AP, BS, DS, HS) / Stanford 1941: Minnesota (AP, BS) / Alabama (HS) 1942: Ohio State (AP, BS) / Georgia (HS) 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army (AP, BS, HS) / Ohio State 1945: Army 1946: Notre Dame (AP) / Army (BS, HS) 1947: Notre Dame (AP) / Michigan (AP [post-bowl], BS, HS) 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame

1950s	1950: Oklahoma 1951: Tennessee (AP, Coaches) / Michigan State / Maryland / Georgia Tech (BS) / Illinois (BS) 1952: Michigan State (AP, Coaches, BS) / Georgia Tech (INS) 1953: Maryland (AP, Coaches, INS) / Notre Dame (BS) 1954: Ohio State (AP, BS, INS) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, BS, FWAA, INS) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches, BS, FN) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse

1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, FN, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) / Iowa BS) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, FN, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (FN, NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FN, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FN, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas

1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FN, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FN, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP, FN) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches, FN) 1979: Alabama

1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FN, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FN, FWAA, UPI/NFF)

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