1947 Michigan State Spartans football team
{{short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 1947
| team = Michigan State Spartans
| sport = football
| image = 1947 Michigan State Spartans football team.png
| image_size = 285
| conference = Independent
| record = 7–2
| head_coach = Biggie Munn
| hc_year = 1st
| mvp = Warren B. Huey
| captain = Robert B. McCurry
| stadium = Macklin Field
}}
{{1947 Midwestern college football independents records}}
The 1947 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State College as an independent during the 1947 college football season. The team compiled a 7–2 record and outscored opponents 167 to 101.{{cite news|title=2016 Football Media Guide|publisher=Michigan State University|pages=146, 154|access-date=June 16, 2017|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/msu-media-guide-history-145-19.pdf|archive-date=January 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117203046/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/msu-media-guide-history-145-19.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=1947 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=SR/College Football|access-date=June 16, 2017|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/michigan-state/1947-schedule.html}} Biggie Munn 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, Forest Evashevski, Kip Taylor) were all future head coaches.
In December 1946, after Charlie Bachman resigned, Michigan State hired Munn as its head football coach. Munn had been the head coach at Syracuse in 1946 and had previously been the line coach at Michigan for seven years.{{cite news|title=Spartans Choose Munn as New Football Coach|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=December 15, 1946|pages=4–1|author=Marshall Dann|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20702727/spartans_choose_munn_as_new_football/|via=Newspapers.com}} 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 Michigan. The Spartans' only other setback was a narrow 7 to 6 loss to Bear Bryant's Kentucky Wildcats. In intersectional play, the Spartans beat Mississippi State (7–0), Washington State (21–7), Santa Clara (28–0), Temple (14–6), and Hawaii (58–19). The Hawaii game was played in Honolulu with Bud Crane scoring four touchdowns for the Spartans.{{cite news|title=Michigan State Wins in Hawaii|newspaper=Sunday Times, Cumberland, Maryland|date=November 30, 1947|page=31|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2799223/michigan_state_wins_in_hawaii/}} The team's 58 points against Hawaii was its highest total since 1932.
Michigan State was ranked at No. 38 (out of 500 college football teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1947.{{cite news|title=Michigan National Champion in Final Litkenhous Ratings|newspaper=Times|author=Dr. E. E. Litkenhous|date=December 18, 1947|page=47|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123152970/michigan-national-champion-in-final/|via=Newspapers.com}}
At the end of the 1947 season, Tommy Devine wrote in the Detroit Free Press that Munn had "restored athletic 'peace' to Michigan State."{{cite news|title=Great Grid Season Gets Munn off Spot|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=December 1, 1947|page=24|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20707403/great_grid_season_gets_munn_off_spot/|via=Newspapers.com}} At the team's post-season banquet, Robert McCurry was selected to serve another year as the team's captain, and end Warren B. Huey was named the team's most valuable player and recipient of the Governor of Michigan award.{{cite news|title=Munn Points at 1948 As 'S' Gridders Dine|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=December 9, 1947|author=George S. Alderton|page=20|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20707739/munn_points_at_1948_as_s_gridders_dine/|via=Newspapers.com}}
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| attend = y
| source = y
|September 27|at|Michigan|Michigan Stadium|Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)|L 0-55|72,015|
|October 4||Mississippi State|Macklin Field|East Lansing, MI|W 7-0|22,562|{{cite news|title=MSC Takes Only Chance|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Marshall Dann|date=October 5, 1947|page=Sports 1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691716/msc_takes_only_chance/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 11|at|Washington State|Rogers Field|Pullman, WA|W 21-7|18,000|{{cite news|title=Little Guerre Shines as Spartans Win, 21-7|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 12, 1947|page=Sports 1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691833/little_guerre_shines_as_spartans_win/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 18||Iowa State
|October 25||Kentucky|Macklin Field|East Lansing, MI|L 6-7|26,997|{{cite news|title=MSC Loses Star, Game|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Marshall Dann|date=October 25, 1947|page=Sports 1, 2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691695/msc_loses_star_game/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 1||Marquette|Macklin Field|East Lansing, MI|W 13-7|23,856|{{cite news|title=Power Pays for Spartans|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=W. W. Edgar|date=November 2, 1947|page=Sports 1, 3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691773/power_pays_for_spartans/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 8||Santa Clara|Macklin Field|East Lansing, MI|W 28-0|21,867|{{cite news|title=Spartans Roll Over Santa Clara, 28-0|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=W. W. Edgar|date=November 9, 1947|page=C3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691802/spartans_roll_over_santa_clara_280/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 15|at|Temple|Temple Stadium|Philadelphia, PA|W 14-6|5,000|{{cite news|title=Spartans Rack Up No. 6, a 14-6 Decision Over Temple|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=November 16, 1947|author=George S. Alderton|page=28|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691868/spartans_rack_up_no_6_a_146_decision/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 29|at|Hawaii|Honolulu Stadium|Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii|W 58-19|15,000|{{cite news|title=Michigan State, Despite Heat, Overpowers Hawaii 58 to 19|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|author=George S. Alderton|date=November 30, 1947|page=30|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20691877/michigan_state_despite_heat/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
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, guard, Detroit
- Ken Balge, end, Detroit
- Mark Blackman, Jackson
- Jim Blenkhorn, fullback, Saginaw
- Carl Cappaert, Clare
- Cornelius Carrigan, East Pittsburgh, PA
- Lynn Chandnois, 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
- Biggie Munn, head coach
- Duffy Daugherty, line
- Forest Evashevski, backfield
- Kip Taylor, ends
Game summaries
=Michigan=
{{AFB game box start
| Title = Week 1: Michigan State at Michigan
| Visitor = Mich. St.
| Host = Michigan
| V1 = 0| V2 =0| V3 =0| V4 =0
| H1 = 14| H2 =14| H3 =20| H4 =7
| Date = September 27
| Location = Ann Arbor, Michigan
| StartTime =
| ElapsedTime =
| Attendance = 73,115
| Weather =
| Referee = Mike Layden
}}
{{AFB game box end}}
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 played second, third, and fourth string players later in the game, using 37 players in all. Bob Chappuis ran for three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass for another.{{cite news|title=Wolverines Rout Spartans By 55-0: Chappuis Scores Three Times as Michigan Displays Its Running, Passing Skill|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 1947}}{{cite news|title=Under-Manned State Footballers Lashed By Michigan, 55 to 0|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|author=George S. Alderton|date=September 28, 1947|pages=1, 10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20701765/undermanned_state_footballers_lashed/|via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://content.libraries.wsu.edu/digital/collection/wsu_fb/id/2072 Game program: Michigan State at Washington State, October 11, 1947]
{{Michigan State Spartans football navbox}}