The 1968 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the

1968 Big Ten Conference football season The 1968 Big Ten Conference football season was the 73rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. The 1968 Ohio State Buckeyes footbal ...

. In their 15th season under head coach

Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...

, the Spartans compiled a 5–5 overall record (2–5 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in seventh place in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Three Spartans were selected for the

1968 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1968 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1968 Big Ten Conference football season. Offensive selections Quarterbacks * Dennis Brow ...

s. Defensive back Al Brenner was selected as a first-team player by both 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. ne ...

(AP) and the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

(UPI). Tackle Charles Bailey received first-team honors from the AP, and linebacker Rich Saul received second-team honors from both the AP and UPI.

Schedule

Personnel

* DT No. 61 Charles Bailey, Sr.

Game summaries

Michigan

On October 12, 1968, Michigan State lost to Michigan by a 28 to 14 score. The game was the 61st meeting in the

Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans. The teams first played in 1898 and have met 114 times. The game has ...

. The Spartans had won three consecutive games from 1965 to 1967, and the Wolverines came into the 1968 game as an unranked underdog facing an undefeated Spartans team that had routed

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

39-0 the prior week and was ranked #12 in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. Michigan quarterback

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...

completed 9 of 15 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

Jim Mandich James Michael Mandich (July 30, 1948 – April 26, 2011), also known as "Mad Dog", was an American football player. Mandich played college football for the University of Michigan from 1967 to 1969 and was recognized as a consensus first-team t ...

caught four passes for 125 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown reception, and John Gabler also caught a touchdown pass.

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...

carried the ball 19 times for 152 yards and a touchdown. Fullback

Garvie Craw Garvie Craw (January 25, 1948 – July 27, 2007) was an American football player. Craw played college football for the University of Michigan from 1967 to 1969. In October 1969, he scored four touchdowns in a 57-0 victory over Illinois. In M ...

also ran 25 yards for a touchdown and caught a pass from Brown for a two-point conversion. Tim Killian also kicked two extra points for Michigan. Michigan gained 420 yards in the game, 243 rushing and 177 passing. Michigan State gained 356 yards, 295 rushing and 61 passing. After defeating Michigan State, the Wolverines were ranked No. 17 in the weekly AP Poll. It was the first time since early in the 1966 season that Michigan had been ranked.

References

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 ...

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