1972 Michigan State Spartans football team

American college football season

1972 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Duffy Daugherty (19th season)
Defensive coordinator	Denny Stolz (2nd season)
MVP	Gail Clark
Captain	Billy Joe DuPree, Brad Van Pelt
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons← 1971 1973 →

1972 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Purdue	6	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	2	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 19th season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 5–5–1 overall record (5–2–1 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference.

Five Spartans were selected by either the Associated Press (AP) or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team: tight end Billy Joe Dupree (AP-2, UPI-1); offensive guard Joe DeLamielleure (AP-1, UPI-1); linebacker Gail Clark (AP-1, UPI-1); and defensive backs Bill Simpson (AP-1, UPI-1) and Brad Van Pelt (AP-1, UPI-1).

On November 3, 1972, Duffy Daugherty announced that he would resign as Michigan State's head football coach at the end of the 1972 season. In 19 years as the head coach, he compiled a 109–69–5 record and won two Big Ten championships. Denny Stolz, who had been the Spartans' defensive coordinator for two years, was hired in December 1972 to replace Daugherty.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 16	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 24–0	55,493
September 23	Georgia Tech*	No. 18	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 16–21	77,141
September 30	at No. 1 USC*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 6–51	63,934
October 7	No. 7 Notre Dame*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 0–16	77,828
October 14	at No. 5 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 0–10	103,735
October 21	Wisconsin		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 31–0	62,638
October 28	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	T 6–6	46,852
November 4	Purdue		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 22–12	58,649
November 11	No. 5 Ohio State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 19–12	76,264
November 18	at Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 10–14	33,001
November 25	Northwestern		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 24–14	46,140
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan St	0	0	0	0	0
• Michigan	0	3	0	7	10

Date: October 14
Location: Michigan Stadium
Game attendance: 103,735

Scoring summary

2	MICH	Lantry 22-yard field goal	Michigan 3-0

4	MICH	Chapman 58-yard run (Lantry kick)	Michigan 10-0

On October 14, 1972, Michigan State lost to Michigan, 10–0, in front of a crowd of 103,735 at Michigan Stadium. The game was Michigan's first shutout victory over Michigan State since 1947. Michigan scored on a 22-yard field goal by Mike Lantry in the second quarter and a 58-yard touchdown run by Gil Chapman in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines totaled 334 rushing yards, including 107 by Ed Shuttlesworth, 81 by Chuck Heater, and 64 by Dennis Franklin. The Spartans had a 24-yard touchdown run called back due to a clipping penalty, and their only other scoring threat ended when a hit from Dave Brown forced the Spartans' ball carrier to fumble into the end zone.

References

"Michigan State Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
"2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. p. 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
"Wells named to All-Big Ten team". The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois). November 28, 1972.
"UM, State, Buckeyes Dominate UPI's All Big Ten Team". Ludington Daily News (UPI story). November 28, 1972. p. 5.
"Duffy's Last Season With Mich. State: Only One Winner Since '66 Title". The Des Moines Register. November 4, 1972. p. 17.
"Michigan State Selects Stolz as Grid Coach". News-Herald, Panama City, Florida. December 13, 1972. p. 23.
"Georgia Tech topples MSU". The Pantagraph. September 24, 1972. Retrieved July 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Curt Sylvester (October 15, 1972). "U-M Whips Spartans . . . But It's A Battle, 10–0". Detroit Free Press. p. 1D, 6D.

v t e Michigan State Spartans football
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