1973 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1973 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1973 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Denny Stolz, the Spartans compiled a 5–6 overall record (4–4 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten Conference.

1973 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Denny Stolz (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Andy MacDonald (1st season)
MVP	Ray Nester
Captain	Michael Holt, John Shinsky
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium

1973 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State +	7	–	0	–	1			10	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	0	–	1			10	–	0	–	1
Minnesota	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	0	–	8	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Iowa	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Defensive Bill Simpson was the only Spartan to be selected by either the Associated Press (AP) or the United Press International (UPI) as a first-team player on the 1973 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Simpson received first-team honors from the UPI and second-team honors from the AP. Other Spartans received second-team honors, including defensive tackle John Shinsky, linebackers Ray Nester and Terence McClowry, and defensive back Mark Niesen.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 10–14	27,305
September 22	at Syracuse*	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 14–8	21,821
September 29	No. 17 UCLA*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 21–34	60,850
October 6	at No. 8 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 10–14	59,075
October 13	No. 5 Michigan	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 0–31	78,263
October 20	Illinois	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 3–6	63,303
October 27	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 10–7	55,291
November 3	Wisconsin	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 21–0	54,010
November 10	at No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 0–35	87,600
November 17	Indiana	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 10–9	50,116
November 24	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 15–6	31,119
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1973 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Charlie Baggett So TE Mike Cobb Fr WR 21 Dane Fortney So RB Mike Holt QB Tyrone Willingham	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

Season summary

At Ohio State

See also: 1973 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Michigan State Spartans at Ohio State Buckeyes

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan St	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio St	7	14	7	7	35

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

• Date: November 10
• Game time: 1:30 p.m.
• Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C)
• Game attendance: 87,600
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter OSU – Bruce Elia 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 3:24. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: Second quarter OSU – Bruce Elia 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 9:26. Ohio St 14–0. Drive: OSU – Neal Colzie 43-yard punt return (Blair Conway kick), 2:08. Ohio St 21–0. Third quarter OSU – Bruce Elia 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 8:57. Ohio St 28–0. Drive: Fourth quarter OSU – Pete Johnson 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 13:53. Ohio St 35–0. Drive: Top passers MSU – Tyrone Willingham – 1/2, 6 yards OSU – Cornelius Greene – 3/6, 31 yards, INT Top rushers MSU – Mike Holt – 13 rushes, 52 yards OSU – Archie Griffin – 21 rushes, 131 yards Top receivers MSU – Mike Cobb – 1 reception, 6 yards OSU – Elmer Lippert – 1 reception, 20 yards