The 2009 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of the

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 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Spartans were coached by Mark Dantonio, who was in his third season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games in Spartan Stadium in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

Previous season

Recruiting class

Schedule

This season saw the Spartans schedule a Division I FCS opponent (Montana State) for the first time since the NCAA split Division I football in 1978. This left Notre Dame,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, USC, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

as the only Division I FBS teams to never have played a lower-division opponent since the split.

Personnel

Regular season

Montana State

Central Michigan

Notre Dame

Wisconsin

Michigan

Michigan came into the game 4–0 (1–0 Big Ten) and ranked #22, looking to reclaim the Paul Bunyan trophy after losing to MSU the previous year. Michigan State dominated the first 55 minutes of regulation, building a 20–6 lead. Michigan rallied with two TDs in the final minutes to send the game to OT, but MSU quickly intercepted a pass and running back Larry Caper rushed 23 yards through multiple tackles for the game-winning score.

Illinois

Northwestern

Iowa

Final Seconds: With 2 seconds remaining in the game, on 4th and Goal from the Michigan State 7 and a half yard line, Iowa QB

Ricky Stanzi Richard Joseph Stanzi (born September 3, 1987) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Iowa. Early years Born ...

snapped the ball and passed the ball to Iowa WR Marvin McNutt into the end zone as the time expired to win the game.

Minnesota

Western Michigan

Purdue

*Source:''
ESPN

Penn State

Alamo Bowl

2010 NFL Draft

Only one Spartan was selected in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. However, wide receiver

Blair White Blair White (born February 20, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Michigan State Spartans, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an u ...

signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

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 ...