1975 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1975 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University during the 1975 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by Denny Stolz in his third and final season as head coach, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 4–4, placing in a three-way tie for third in the Big Ten.

1975 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–4 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Denny Stolz (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Andy MacDonald (3rd season)
MVP	Levi Jackson
Captain	Charlie Baggett, Gregory Schaum
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Michigan	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	2
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	No. 3 Ohio State	No. 11	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 0–21	80,383
September 20	No. 19 Miami (OH)*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 14–13	61,444
September 27	NC State*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 37–15	59,111	[1]
October 4	at No. 8 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 10–3	59,075
October 11	No. 8 Michigan	No. 15	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 6–16	79,776	[2][3]
October 18	at Minnesota	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 38–15	39,202
October 25	Illinois	No. 16	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 19–21	66,223
November 1	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 10–20	57,104
November 8	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	W 14–6	31,930
November 15	Northwestern		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 47–14	54,432
November 22	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 27–23	42,300
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Roster

1975 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Charlie Baggett Sr TE Mike Cobb Jr RB Jim Earley So WR 21 Dane Fortney Sr WR Kirk Gibson Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Denny Stolz Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Notre Dame

Michigan State at #8 Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan State 0 0 3 7 10 Notre Dame 0 0 0 3 3 Date: October 4 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075

Scoring summary 3 MSU Nielsen 37 yard field goal MSU 3-0 4 ND Reeve 35 yard field goal Tied 3-3 4 3:50 MSU Levi Jackson 4 yard run (Nielsen kick) MSU 10-3

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References

1. "Spartans overwhelm NC State". Lansing State Journal. September 28, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Marcia Merker (October 12, 1975). "Michigan humbles Spartans, 16-6: Runners power Blue in second half surge". The Michigan Daily. pp. 1, 8 – via Bentley Historical Library.
3. Charlie Vincent (October 12, 1975). "U-M Rolls in 4th Quarter To Turn Back MSU, 16-6". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 7C – via Newspapers.com.
4. 2011 Michigan State football media guide.
5. "Spartan Veer Upsets Irish, 10-3." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Oct 5.