The 1948 Michigan State Spartans football team represented

Michigan State College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

as an independent the

1948 college football season The 1948 college football season finished with two unbeaten and untied teams: Michigan and Clemson. Michigan was the first-place choice for the majority of the voters (192 of 333) in the AP Poll, but did not play in the postseason because of a no ...

. In their second season under head coach

Clarence Munn Clarence Lester "Biggie" Munn (September 11, 1908 – March 18, 1975) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was the head football coach at Albright College (1935–1936), Syracuse University (1946), and mos ...

, the Spartans compiled a 6–2–2 record and were ranked No. 14 in the final AP Poll. The Spartans were also ranked at No. 3 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System ratings for 1948. Two Spartans received second-team honors on the 1948 College Football All-America Team. Guard Don Mason received second-team honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, and end Warren Huey received second-team honors from the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. The 1948 Spartans sustained their two losses in annual rivalry games against Notre Dame (26–7) and national champion

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(13–7). In intersectional play, the Spartans beat

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

(68–21),

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

(61–7),

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

(46–21), and

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

(40–0), and tied with

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

(14–14) and Santa Clara (21–21).

Schedule

Game summaries

Michigan

Michigan State opened it 1948 season with a 13–7 loss to Michigan in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

. The game was also the first to be played at Michigan State's new

Macklin Stadium Spartan Stadium (formerly College Field, Macklin Field, and Macklin Stadium), opened in 1923 in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the Michigan State University Spartans. After the ...

. Early in the opening quarter, fullback Don Peterson threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dick Rifenburg. Peterson kicked the extra point, and Michigan's 7–0 lead held through halftime. Michigan State tied the game in the third quarter on a disputed play in which a pass from

Lynn Chandnois Lynn Chandnois (February 24, 1925 – April 19, 2011) was an American football player who earned All-American honors for the Michigan State Spartans in 1949, won the NFL Player of the Year award for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1952, and played twic ...

was caught by both Hank Minarik and Wally Teninga. The official ruled that possession went to the offensive player as a touchdown. Peterson scored the winning touchdown for Michigan on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter, but failed to convert the extra point attempt. Late in the fourth quarter, Michigan State drove the ball to Michigan's two-yard line. With time running out, Teninga intercepted a Michigan State pass. Michigan's offense was held to 106 rushing yards and 117 passing yards in the game.1949 Michiganensian, p. 104. A sluggish offensive performance and a narrow margin of victory over a team the Wolverines had beaten 55–0 in 1947 led some in the media to question Oosterbaan's selection as Michigan's new coach. ''The New York Times'' opined that Michigan's performance "lacked most of the precision which it had last year under H. O. Crisler."

H. G. Salsinger Harry George Salsinger (April 10, 1885 – November 27, 1958) was an American sportswriter who served as sports editor of ''The Detroit News'' for 49 years. Biography Salsinger was born in Springfield, Ohio. In 1907, he started writing for ' ...

of ''The Detroit News'' wrote:

"Michigan's first game under Oosterbaan . . . was not impressive. They lacked the spark that distinguished them through the 1947 season. The offense was dull and poorly directed . . . . The critics who had judged Oosterbaan's football coaching skills on his record as a basketball coach considered their appraisal justified. The future looked dark for Michigan and Oosterbaan."

Opinions of Oosterbaan changed as Michigan shut out ranked opponents in each of the next three games.

References

{{Michigan State Spartans football navbox

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Michigan State Spartans football seasons

Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims a ...