1961 Michigan State Spartans football team

1961 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 8
Record	7–2 (5–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Duffy Daugherty (8th season)
MVP	George Saimes
Captain	Ed Ryan
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1960 1962 →

1961 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Minnesota	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan State	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Purdue	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Michigan	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1961 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. In their eighth season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 7–2 overall record (5–2 against Big Ten opponents), finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference, and were ranked #8 in the final AP Poll.^[1]^[2]

Two Spartans were selected as first-team players on the 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Halfback George Saimes received first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI), and tackle Dave Behrman received first-team honors from the AP. Halfback Sherman Lewis received second-team all-conference honors from the AP.^[3]^[4] Dave Behrman also received first-team recognition from the AP and Football Writers Association of America on the 1961 College Football All-America Team.^[5]^[6]^[7]

The 1961 Spartans won all three of their annual rivalry games. In the annual Indiana–Michigan State football rivalry game, the Spartans defeated the Hoosiers by a 35 to 0 score. In the Notre Dame rivalry game, the Spartans defeated the Fighting Irish by a 17 to 7 score. And, in the annual Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game, the Spartans defeated the Wolverines by a 28 to 0 score.^[8] In non-conference play, the Spartans also defeated Stanford, 31-3.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 30	at Wisconsin	No. 10	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 20–0	50,584
October 7	Stanford*	No. 6	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 31–3	61,367
October 14	at No. 6 Michigan	No. 5	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 28–0	103,198	^[9]
October 21	No. 6 Notre Dame*	No. 1	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 17–7	76,132
October 28	Indiana	No. 1	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 35–0	55,361
November 4	at Minnesota	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 0–13	59,941
November 11	at Purdue	No. 6	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 6–7	45,638
November 18	Northwestern	No. 9	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 21–13	51,403
November 25	Illinois	No. 8	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 34–7	38,344
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^ "2016 Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. pp. 146, 155. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "1961 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
^ "Stephens Unanimous Choice on Big Ten". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 28, 1961.
^ "Saimes and MacRae Selected on All-Big Ten Football Team". The Holland, Michigan, Evening Sentinel. November 29, 1961. p. 16.
^ "Big Line Tops Classy AP All-America Team". AP.
^ "Miami's Bill Miller Chosen As All-American". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. December 8, 1961. p. 36.
^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
^ "Michigan State Yearly Results (1960-1964)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
^ Lyall Smith (October 15, 1961). "It's Michigan State: C-R-U-N-C-H, 28-0: Spartan Defense Ruins U-M". Detroit Free Press. pp. D1, D3 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Michigan State Spartans football
Venues	Old College Field (1902–1922) Spartan Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana Michigan Notre Dame Penn State
Culture & lore	Sparty "Victory for MSU" Marching band Zeke the Wonder Dog 1966 "Game of the Century" 2001 Michigan game 2006 Northwestern game 2015 Michigan 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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This page was last edited on 12 December 2023, at 08:21