The 1947 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. I ...

as an independent during the

1947 college football season The 1947 college football season finished with Notre Dame, Michigan, and Penn State all unbeaten and untied, but the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the first place choice for 107 of the 142 voters in the final AP Poll in early December, and r ...

. The team compiled a 7–2 record and outscored opponents 167 to 101.

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 mo ...

was the first-year head coach, Ralph H. Young was the athletic director, and Robert McCurry was the team captain. The three assistants (

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 ...

Forest Evashevski Forest "Evy" Evashevski (February 19, 1918 – October 30, 2009) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940 and with the Iowa Pre-Flight ...

Kip Taylor LaVerne Harrison "Kip" Taylor (November 25, 1907 – July 17, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Oregon State College, now Oregon State University, from 1949 to 1954, compiling a record of 20–36. He ...

) were all future head coaches. In December 1946, after

Charlie Bachman Charles William Bachman Jr. (December 1, 1892 – December 14, 1985) was an American college football player and head coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played college football. He ser ...

resigned, Michigan State hired Munn as its head football coach. Munn had been the head coach at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

in 1946 and had previously been the line coach at

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 t ...

for seven years. In their first season under Munn, the Spartans achieved their most successful since the 1937 team finished 8–2. The Spartans began the Munn era with a 55–0 loss to in-state rival 1947 Michigan team. The Spartans' only other setback was a narrow 7 to 6 loss to

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,47 ...

. In intersectional play, the Spartans beat

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

(7–0),

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

(21–7), Santa Clara (28–0),

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

(14–6), and

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 ...

(58–19). The Hawaii game was played in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

with Bud Crane scoring four touchdowns for the Spartans. The team's 58 points against Hawaii was its highest total since

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. At the end of the 1947 season, Tommy Devine wrote in the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' that Munn had "restored athletic 'peace' to Michigan State." At the team's post-season banquet, Robert McCurry was selected to serve another year as the team's captain, and end Warren Huey was named the team's most valuable player and recipient of the Governor of Michigan award.

Schedule

Players

From the 1947 team, 32 players and the student manager received varsity letters for their contributions to the team. The players who received varsity letters are: * Don Arnson, Muskegon *

Ed Bagdon Edward Bagdon (April 30, 1926 – October 25, 1990) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Chicago Cardinals and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Michigan State University ...

, guard, Detroit * Ken Balge, end, Detroit * Mark Blackman, Jackson * Jim Blenkhorn, fullback, Saginaw * Carl Cappaert, Clare * Cornelius Carrigan, East Pittsburgh, PA *

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 ...

, halfback, Flint * Bud Crane, Highland Park * Henry Ferris, Utica, NY * Pete Fusi, tackle, Flint * Hal Gasser, Birmingham * John Gilman, Clinton * Russ Gilpin, Detroit * Gene Glick, quarterback, Saginaw * George Guerre, halfback, Flint * Warren Huey, end, Punxsutawney, PA * Bob Krestel, quarterback, Swissvale, PA * Don Mason, guard, Wayne * Bob McCurry, center, Lewistown, PA * Carl Nestor, Chicago * Rex Parsell, Flint * John Poloncak, halfback, Chicago * Barney Roskopp, Mt. Clemens * Steve Sieradzki, halfback, Muskegon * George Smith, Wayne * Horace Smith, Jackson * Ed Sohacki, Detroit * Bill Spiegel, Birmingham * Hal Vogler, tackle, Detroit * Frank Waters, fullback, Wallingford, CT * Jim Zito, tackle, Geneva, OH Frank O. May of Dearborn was the student manager.

Coaching staff

, head coach *

, line *

, backfield *

, ends

Game summaries

Michigan

On September 27, Michigan State opened the season with a non-conference game against Michigan. Playing in Ann Arbor in front of 73,115 spectators, the Wolverines defeated the Spartans, 55–0. The game was the first as head coach of the Spartans for "Biggie" Munn, who had been an assistant coach at Michigan from 1938 to 1945. Michigan dominated the game, outgaining Michigan State 504 yards to 56. Michigan head coach

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and d ...

played second, third, and fourth string players later in the game, using 37 players in all.

Bob Chappuis Robert Richard Chappuis ( ; February 24, 1923 – June 14, 2012) was an American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947. His college years were interrupted by servic ...

ran for three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass for another.

References

External links

Game program: Michigan State at Washington State, October 11, 1947
{{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 ...