The 1955 Michigan State Spartans football team was an
American football team that represented
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
in the
1955 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season playing in
Big Ten Conference and their second season under head coach
Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 9–1 record (5–1 against Big Ten opponents), won the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 253 to 83.
The team's sole loss was on the road and early in the season against
rival Michigan by a 14–7 score.
[
In the final AP and UPI coaches polls, both released on November 28, 1955, Michigan State was ranked No. 2 behind No. 1 ]Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. In the UPI poll, the Sooners edged the Spartans by a narrow margin of 325 points to 309 points with seven of the coaches ranking Michigan State as the No. 1 team. In the AP poll, the Sooners tallied 3,581 points to 3,204 points for Michigan State. After the polls were finalized, the Spartans defeated No. 4 UCLA in the 1956 Rose Bowl
The 1956 Rose Bowl was the 42nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2. The Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the UCLA Bruins of the Pacific Coast C ...
. Neither the AP nor UPI conducted post-bowl polls in these years. Although most later rankings and analyses continued to recognize Oklahoma as the 1955 national champion, the Boand System The Boand System was a system for determining the college football national championship. It was also known as the Azzi Ratem system (derived from "As I rate 'em"). The system was developed by William F. Boand. The rankings were based on mathemati ...
recognized Michigan State as national champion.Norm Masters
Norman Donald Masters (September 19, 1933 – April 19, 2011) was an American football offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Masters graduated from its St. Mary of Redford High School, and played c ...
, were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1955 All-America college football team. Fullback Jerry Planutis was also selected as a first-teaam All-American by ''Jet
Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to:
Aerospace
* Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines
** Jet airliner
** Jet engine
** Jet fuel
* Jet Airways, an Indian airline
* Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline
* Journey to Enceladus a ...
'' magazine.
Eight Michigan State players were selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP), or International News Service (INS) on the 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team
The 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1955 Big ...
: quarterback Morrall (AP-1, UP-1, INS-1); halfback Walt Kowalczyk (AP-2, UP-2); halfback Clarence Peaks
Clarence Earl Peaks (September 23, 1935 – March 31, 2007) was a professional American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Michigan State ...
(UP-3); fullback Planutis (AP-2, UP-1); end John Lewis (UP-3); tackle Masters (AP-1, UP-2, INS-1); guard Carl "Buck" Nystrom (AP-1, UP-2, INS-1); and center Joe Badaczewski (UP-3).
Schedule
References
Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans football seasons
Rose Bowl champion seasons
Michigan State Spartans football
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