1951 Michigan State Spartans football team - Mashpedia, the Real-Time Encyclopedia

Helms National Champions

Conference

Independent

Ranking

Coaches

1951 record

9–0

Head coach

Home stadium

Seasons

The 1951 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1951 college football season. The Spartans played their home games at Macklin Stadium (now known as Spartan Stadium) in East Lansing, Michigan. The Spartans 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 post season games did not count back then.

Schedule [edit]

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 22	Oregon State*	#2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 6-0	33,373
September 29	at Michigan	#2	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 25-0	97,239
October 6	at Ohio State	#1	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 24-20	82,640
October 13	Marquette*	#1	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 20-14	39,251
October 20	at Penn State*	#3	Beaver Field • University Park, PA	W 32-21	30,674
October 27	Pittsburgh*	#2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 53-26	42,163
November 10	#11 Notre Dame*	#2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 35-0	51,296
November 17	at Indiana	#1	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	W 30-26	20,000
November 24	Colorado*	#2	Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI	W 45-7	29,987
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

v t e Michigan State Spartans football

Venues	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 "Michigan State University Fight Song" Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band Zeke the Wonder Dog Winged football helmet "Game of the Century"

People	Head coaches

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

National championship seasons in bold