Couch: Spartan Stadium turns 100 – revisiting Michigan State's most memorable home football games

Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium turns 100 this season — Oct. 6 to be exact. For a century, it's been home to MAC, MSC and MSU football, the Aggies and Spartans. Chances are if you’re reading this, there are a few memories you cherish from games at Spartan Stadium, games you'll never forget, both thrilling and demoralizing.

Here’s a look back at 25 of the most memorable games at Spartan Stadium, from most recent back to that opening day on Oct. 6, 1923:

Nov. 27, 2021 – MSU 30, Penn State 27

MSU’s win over Penn State to end the 2021 regular season is one of the more feel-good wins in modern times at Spartan Stadium — for players and fans alike. The circumstances made it an important game — an 8-0 start to the season at risk of being ruined by a floundering finish, a humbling 56-7 loss at Ohio State a week earlier. A vibe-changing win in the finale, with a New Year’s Six bowl game on the line, was sorely needed. The Spartans got it, their 10th win, playing well enough to show everyone they were worthy of the season they’d had in September and October.

The atmosphere added to it. Call it the snow globe game, a winter wonderland, whatever. It was festive. MSU’s best players had big games when it was absolutely needed. Payton Thorne played perhaps his best game. Jayden Reed was in form. Kenneth Walker, hobbled and irrelevant against the Buckeyes, ran like himself again, 30 times for 138 yards and a score, and then capped his day by doing snow angels under the lights at Spartan Stadium.

Oct. 30, 2021 – MSU 37, Michigan 33

In recent times, there is no more memorable game or more cherished day for MSU football fans than the Spartans’ 37-33 win over Michigan in 2021. The comeback from down 30-14 in the third quarter, the 197 yards and five touchdowns from Kenneth Walker, three of them as part of that comeback … it was a magical day at Spartan Stadium as MSU improved to 8-0 on Halloween weekend, with Mel Tucker notching his second win in two tries against the Wolverines.

I wrote this to begin my quick takes column that afternoon: “An all-time game, an all-time running back, a grip on a rivalry like never before — even with a win that felt improbable most of the afternoon and uneasy until the final minute. Michigan State’s 37-33 win over Michigan on Saturday at Spartan Stadium will go down as one for the ages. As will Kenneth Walker.”

RELATED: Couch: Where Kenneth Walker III ranks among MSU's top 50 football players all-time

Sept. 12, 2015 – MSU 31, Oregon 28

I wrote this that night: “Rarely, if ever, has MSU infused so much energy and hope into a season on one September night. Spartan Stadium was the epicenter of the American sporting world Saturday night. It’s been a long time since that could be said so definitively.”

It was a heckuva game — not settled until the Spartans’ last fourth-down stop in the final minutes, MSU’s fourth fourth-down stand of the game — and an unbelievable atmosphere. But it was also the moment in time that made this game so significant — the Spartans’ program at the height of its run, against another top-10 program, a year after losing to the Ducks in Oregon, with playoff aspirations and a couple hundred recruits on the sidelines.

Nov. 2, 2013 – MSU 29, Michigan 6

You could watch another 100 years of football at Spartan Stadium and I don’t know that you’d witness a more dominating defensive performance or an opponent so demoralized as what occurred when the Wolverines visited East Lansing in 2013. The minus-48 yards rushing from Michigan, MSU’s seven sacks of Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner, who wanted nothing to do with the game by the end, the Wolverines facing fourth down-and-48 after the Spartans’ most overwhelming defensive stand.

It was, at the time, the signature win of the signature season under Mark Dantonio — moving MSU to 5-0 in the Big Ten on its way to a conference title, the fifth win over Michigan in six years and the afternoon when the gulf between the two programs was clear.

Oct. 22, 2011 – MSU 37, Wisconsin 31

The night the Hail Mary was answered — Kirk Cousin’s heave caught by Keith Nichol just in front of the goal line, a ball that bounced into Nichol’s arms off the helmet of B.J. Cunningham, leaving Nichol to wrestle a couple Wisconsin defenders to the goal line. It took video review to give the Spartans the touchdown and the win, a legendary finish to a dramatic game in which MSU fell behind 14-0, led 31-17 and saw the Badgers tie things up with 1:26 remaining before the dramatic conclusion.

That win, which followed MSU wins over Michigan and Ohio State the two weeks prior, added to the growing buzz and kept the Spartans atop the Big Ten Legends Division on their way to a division title. This at a time when championships were new and the program under Dantonio was still on its initial ascent.

Sept. 18, 2010 – MSU 34, Notre Dame 31 (OT)

The game forever known by the name given to its final play, “Little Giants” — a fake field goal in overtime, a touchdown pass from holder Aaron Bates to tight end Charlie Gantt that gave the Spartans the win. It was an especially gutsy call by Mark Dantonio, given that MSU was trailing at the time. “That’s the last thing anyone was expecting,” Bates, MSU’s punter, said that night.

Nobody knew then that the Spartans were on their way to bigger things that season and in the years that followed. Beating Notre Dame, on its own, was no small deal in September of 2010. That night is also remembered for what happened after the game, when Dantonio suffered a heart attack.

Nov. 1, 2008 — MSU 25, Wisconsin 24

MSU’s come-from-behind win against the Badgers a week after winning at Michigan in 2008 produced some outstanding vibes around MSU’s program. This was also the first punch in a short-lived epic rivalry with Wisconsin, killed later by the Big Ten’s move to East and West divisions. And the beginning of a Mark Dantonio-era trend — not losing the week after playing the Wolverines.

MSU trailed Wisconsin by 11 points with 8:13 remaining, before three Brian Hoyer- and Blair White-led scoring drives, including one to set up the game-winning 44-yard field goal by Brett Swenson with 12 seconds left, boosting the Spartans to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play.

Nov. 3, 2007 — Michigan 28, MSU 24

One of the most consequential games in MSU history, even in heartbreak. MSU led 24-14 midway through the fourth quarter, only to watch Chad Henne connect with Mario Manningham twice in the final minutes. “This hurts the most because I felt like we had it,” MSU’s Javon Ringer said afterward.

The quote that’ll forever be remembered came from the other team’s running back, Mike Hart: “Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you're playing basketball, let them get the lead," Hart said, chuckling and mocking the Spartans in the postgame press conference. “And then you come back.” Those comments stirred Mark Dantonio and rallied the Spartans, who took control of the rivalry for most of the next decade.

Nov. 3, 2001 – MSU 26, Michigan 24

With the help of perhaps the longest second in world history, quarterback Jeff Smoker floated a pass into the arms of T.J. Duckett in the end zone on the game’s final play, and the Spartans — and stadium clock operator Bob Stehlin — took revenge on clocks that had failed them over the years, mostly in men’s basketball in the NCAA tournament.

This game was a mess until the end. Smoker was sacked 11 times and fumbled a snap in the middle of the fourth quarter that led to a Michigan touchdown and gave the Wolverines the lead. MSU missed two field goals. The Wolverines did their part, too, keeping the Spartans’ final drive alive with two fourth-down penalties. But no one remembers much of that. What they remember is Smoker being tackled at the 2-yard line as the seconds ticked away, seemingly too quickly to get off another play. But when Smoker spiked the ball after the next snap, one second somehow remained.

Sept. 23, 2000 – MSU 27, Notre Dame 21

This game is remembered for Jeff Smoker’s fourth-and-10 pass to Herb Haygood, which turned into a 68-yard touchdown to give the Spartans the lead (and win) with less than two minutes to play. The season would unravel a bit from there and, by this point, was clearly going to be a challenge offensively. But there were high hopes for Smoker, the true freshman quarterback, who’d had a rough fourth quarter that day until his final pass gave MSU its fourth straight win over Notre Dame.

Nov. 20, 1999 – MSU 35, Penn State 28

It’s hard to forget freshman T.J. Duckett dragging Penn State defenders into the end zone, a punishing 11-yard touchdown run with 2:30 remaining giving the Spartans the win. It was Duckett’s fourth touchdown of the day in a break-out 22-carry, 159-yard performance and MSU's ninth win — their most in a regular season since 1966 — which clinched a New Year’s Day bowl game.

No one knew what was ahead for the program that evening — that it was Nick Saban’s last game, that, after the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, tough times were ahead. At that moment, after that win, hope and excitement around the program was higher than it had been in more than a decade.

Oct. 9, 1999 – MSU 34, Michigan 31

This was the pinnacle of the Nick Saban era at MSU — a win over No. 3-ranked Michigan that served notice of the sort of team and talent Saban had assembled in East Lansing. This was the game Plaxico Burress became a bona fide star, with 10 catches for 255 yards, when MSU’s NFL-studded defense held the Wolverines to six yards rushing, when Tom Brady nearly completed his first great comeback, when the Spartans got to 6-0 in a season for the first time since 1966.

This is among the games that can be argued as the most memorable at Spartan Stadium of all-time. It turned out MSU’s program wasn’t quite mature enough to handle the success. The Spartans will tell you they enjoyed this one as much as their fans, lost a little focus and spent the next two weeks getting hammered by Wisconsin and Purdue. But on Oct. 9 and again later that season, MSU — for the first time in a dozen years — looked like a national heavyweight.

RELATED: Couch: For the 1999 Michigan State and Michigan football teams, a memory stirs

Oct. 10, 1998 – MSU 38, Indiana 31 (OT)

A win over Indiana in the middle of a disappointing 6-6 season usually wouldn’t register as a highlight. But holy smokes, this one was wild, highlighted by perhaps the best run by Sedrick Irvin in his three seasons at MSU — a spinning, swerving and determined 25-yard dash to the end zone in overtime to give the Spartans the win in their first ever overtime game, two years after its inception in college football.

MSU had blown this game after leading 16-3 at halftime, trailing 24-16 in the fourth quarter, which set up the memorable finish. Bill Burke threw a touchdown pass to Gari Scott, followed by Burke’s 2-point conversion to tie the game. After both teams scored in OT, MSU linebacker Lemar Marshall’s hit on an Indiana receiver in the end zone kept the game tied. One play later, Irvin ended it.

MORE: Couch: Ranking the top 10 Michigan State football true freshmen all-time

Sept. 12, 1998 – MSU 45, Notre Dame 23

For a season that went nowhere — 6-6 and no bowl game — 1998 sure had a lot of memorable games. The aforementioned overtime win against Indiana, the win at No. 1 Ohio State in November and this puppy in primetime against the Irish — just the second night game in MSU history — after losses against Colorado State and at Oregon left the Spartans 0-2 to start the season.

This was the night that Amp Campbell walked out of the Spartan Stadium tunnel with a brace around his broken neck — suffered a week earlier at Oregon. And the night the world was introduced to Julian Peterson, whose interception return for a touchdown made it 42-3 at halftime. It will go down as perhaps the most cathartic night in Spartan Stadium history.

Nov. 29, 1997 – MSU 49, Penn State 14

The Lansing State Journal headline read “(Sedrick) Irvin, (Marc) Renaud might still be running.” MSU’s tailback duo rushed for a combined 441 yards — an NCAA record for a teammates in a single game — with both going over 200 yards. The dominance with which MSU won was stunning, considering Penn State was 9-1 entering the game.

The Spartans took out a few seasons of frustration against the Nittany Lions and won their seventh game, grabbing a spot in the Aloha Bowl, while showing signs of what the program would become later in the Nick Saban era. This was the final home game for beloved seniors like Ike Reese, Renaud, Flozell Adams and Ray Hill and felt like a turning point.

Nov. 4, 1995 – MSU 28, Michigan 24

The 11-play, 88-yard game-winning drive remains one of the unforgettable drives in MSU football lore — made possible by two drive-saving catches by Derrick Mason and capped by Tony Banks’ pass to Nigea Carter for the winning score. MSU’s defense held up as Michigan tried to counter in the final 1:24. It was the first joyous win of Nick Saban’s tenure. Saban even hugged Carter after the game. “That was the only and last time that I think he hugged anyone,” Carter said 20 years later.

There was surely plenty of hugging in the stands during this frigid late afternoon game, the second half played under the lights. “Without that game, other than my NFL career, I don’t know if I’m ever remembered in East Lansing,” Banks, who completed 26 of 34 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns that day, said years later.

RELATED: Couch: MSU's 1995 win over U-M a euphoric false start

Sept. 9, 1995 – Nebraska 50, MSU 10

Not all memories are great ones. But this game was unforgettable — a little for the beginning of the Nick Saban era, but mostly for the opponent. That 1995 Nebraska team might be the best to ever step foot in Spartan Stadium. Quarterback Tom Frazier and running back Lawrence Phillips were the main event on offense for a Huskers’ rushing attack that was relentless all the way down to third-string tailback Ahman Green — you know, the eventual NFL All-Pro Ahman Green. Nebraska rushed for 552 yards and the Huskers’ defense, packed with future pros, held MSU to 45 on the ground.

There was no shame in being blown out by Nebraska that year — the Huskers averaged outscoring their opponents 56.8 to 14.5. MSU did show some teeth in its passing game, with Tony Banks, Muhsin Muhammad and Derrick Mason proving they belonged on the field with Nebraska, in a game that probably should have been more like 36-17.

Sept. 14, 1991 – Central Michigan 20, MSU 3

This is the last loss to make this list. Promise. Central Michigan beat the Spartans again a year later and then once more in 2009, but the 1991 loss was the stunner, the first sign that MSU’s program was heading in the wrong direction under George Perles after some great years. Parity didn’t exist in college football the same way it does now. Mid-American Conference programs didn’t beat the Spartans back then — and hadn’t since 1919 before 1991.

On the day Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Cookie were married in Lansing, three miles east, MSU’s football team sucked the joy out of Ingham County. Here was Jack Ebling’s lede the next morning in the Lansing State Journal: “Those predicting a mismatch were right. With one exception. The winner.”

Nov. 14, 1987 – MSU 27, Indiana 3

The Spartans clinched a Big Ten title and ended a 22-year Rose Bowl drought against a rare Indiana team that was also playing for a trip to Pasadena. This was domination from the opening kickoff, best explained in the disparity in rushing yards: 331-33. Senior MSU tailback Lorenzo White carried the ball 56 times for 292 yards and then summed it up: “This game was everything,” he said that evening.

Oct. 10, 1987 – MSU 17, Michigan 11

This game was the tell that the Spartans were ready to do something serious in 1987. They had beaten USC in the opener (more below) but then lost resoundingly to Notre Dame and Florida State — how’s that for a non-conference schedule? — before winning at Iowa in their Big Ten opener.

MSU hadn’t beaten Michigan at Spartan Stadium since 1969 before this matchup. The Spartans intercepted the Wolverines seven times — four of the picks by safety John Miller — and Lorenzo White rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns as MSU began its run to the Rose Bowl.

Sept. 7, 1987 – MSU 27, USC 13

This was the first night game at Spartan Stadium — on actual Labor Day, no less — back when they used to bring in temporary lights from the behind the upper decks, back when the students didn’t return until late September. MSU made it a party without them — including Lee Greenwood performing at halftime. The Spartans’ defense made sure everyone stayed in a celebratory mood, turning USC over five times in what turned out to be a more comfortable win than the rematch four months later in the Rose Bowl.

Nov. 9, 1974 – MSU 16, Ohio State 13

Levi Jackson’s 88-yard game-winning touchdown run is one of the iconic plays in MSU football history. It was MSU’s second touchdown in the game’s final six minutes. But the Spartans’ upset win over the unbeaten Buckeyes in 1974 was dramatic well after that — including for a while after the game.

Because Ohio State believed it had scored on the game’s final play, from the 1-yard line, to win. The confusion arose when the line judge signaled touchdown, while the back judge and field judge signaled that time had run out. It took a while to sort out, with the Big Ten commissioner needing to confer with officials in their locker room. Much of the crowd reportedly waited in Spartan Stadium for a while after to learn the final result.

Nov. 19, 1966 – MSU 10, Notre Dame 10

This is the most famous game in MSU football history, considered the “Game of the Century” in these parts, despite ending in an unsatisfying draw between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 MSU. The consensus locally was that since Notre Dame chose to play conservatively late and settle for the tie, the Spartans were the true winners. Hometown sportswriting in the 1960s was anything but impartial.

RELATED: Couch: Why 1966 MSU-Notre Dame game stands test of time

The Spartans held a 10-0 lead in the second quarter but didn’t score again. A Notre Dame field goal accounted for the only three points in the second half. A frustrating stalemate. This was a tough ticket and fans came from everywhere. According to the next day’s Lansing State Journal, one sign outside Spartan Stadium read: “Florida Minister Needs One Ticket. Will Exchange One Orange Bowl Ticket. Temperature Today in Florida — 70 degrees.”

Nov. 14, 1953 – MSU 14, Michigan 6

MSU had seldom played Michigan at home before 1953 and had never beaten the Wolverines at Spartan Stadium, then called Macklin Field Stadium, before this meeting. This was MSU’s debut season in the Big Ten and all the Spartans needed to be co-champs was to beat their unwelcoming in-state rival. The society pages of the Lansing State Journal made it clear this game was the place to be. The 52,324 fans made up the second-largest crowd ever at MSU for what was a nationally televised game on NBC.

MSU doubled Michigan’s yardage on the ground and jumped out to a 14-0 lead and was never really threatened thereafter, the Spartans’ fifth straight win over the Wolverines on their way to a 9-1 season, including a Rose Bowl win over UCLA to cap their inaugural Big Ten campaign.

Oct. 6, 1923 – MSU 21, Lake Forest 6

In front of 8,000 fans, MSU, then the MAC Aggies, used a “passing attack that completely bewildered the Lake Forest eleven,” per the Lansing State Journal’s Oct. 8, 1923 edition. The opening of a new stadium did not make the front page.

Also on Page 12 of that edition, the Detroit Tigers beat St. Louis 7-6 to finish second in the American League, with Ty Cobb going 1-for-5, and “Lansing High’s Big Reds Bury Sturgis Hopes 59-0”. On Page 1, a whole lot of death: “Driving lesson fatal to (Lansing) man” who plunged into the Grand River; “Priest (in Chicago) slain during mass”; “Blame poison rum in death” of Shiawassee farmer; and so on and so forth. Nine stories about death on the front page. No football. Other than a story headlined: “Three gridders die from injuries.”

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU football: Spartan Stadium's most memorable games over 100 years