1985 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1985 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1985 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season under head coach George Perles, the Spartans compiled a 7–5 overall record (5–3 against Big Ten opponents), finished in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten Conference, and lost to Georgia Tech in the 1985 Hall of Fame Classic.^[1][2]

1985 Michigan State Spartans football
Hall of Fame Classic, L 14–17 vs. Georgia Tech
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	George Perles (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Saban (3rd season)
MVP	Lorenzo White
Captains	Anthony Bell John Wojciechowski
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Iowa $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 2 Michigan	6	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
No. 14 Ohio State	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	1	–	7	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Six Spartans were recognized by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) on the 1984 All-Big Ten Conference football team: running back Lorenzo White (AP-1; UPI-1); offensive guard John Wojciechowski (AP-1); offensive tackle Steve Bogdalek (AP-2); linebacker Shane Bullough (AP-2); defensive back Phil Parker (UPI-1); and punter Greg Montgomery (AP-1).^[3][4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	12:08 p.m.	Arizona State*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 12–3	62,797	[5]
September 21	7:46 p.m.	at Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10–27	59,075	[6]
September 28	1:00 p.m.	Western Michigan*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 7–3	63,829	[7]
October 5	2:42 p.m.	at No. 1 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	CBS	L 31–35	66,044	[8]
October 12	2:42 p.m.	No. 3 Michigan	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	CBS	L 0–31	78,235	[9]
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Illinois	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		L 17–30	76,438	[10]
October 26	12:38 p.m.	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	TBS	W 28–24	67,660	[11]
November 2	12:08 p.m.	Minnesota	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	TBS	W 31–26	63,578	[12]
November 9	1:00 p.m.	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)		W 35–16	24,764	[13]
November 16	1:00 p.m.	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 32–0	55,439	[14]
November 23	2:05 p.m.	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 41–7	56,854	[15]
December 31	8:00 p.m.	vs. Georgia Tech*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	TBS	L 14–17	45,000	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Arizona State

See also: 1985 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

At Notre Dame

See also: 1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry

Western Michigan

See also: 1985 Western Michigan Broncos football team

At Iowa

Michigan State at #1 Iowa

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	10	14	7	31
• No. 1 Hawkeyes	7	6	15	7	35

• Date: October 5
• Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
• Game start: 1:40 p.m. CDT
• Elapsed time: 3:50
• Game attendance: 66,044
• Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C), Cloudy, Wind NW 20-25 mph (40 km/h)
• Referee: Tom Quinn
• TV announcers (CBS Sports): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian

Scoring summary

1	10:23	IOWA	Robert Smith 60-yard pass from Chuck Long (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 7-0
2	13:12	IOWA	Mike Flagg 17-yard pass from Chuck Long (kick failed)	IOWA 13-0
2	11:34	MSU	Chris Caudell 32-yard field goal	IOWA 13-3
2	9:15	MSU	Andre Rison 50-yard pass from Bobby McAllister (Caudell kick)	IOWA 13-10
3	12:30	MSU	Lorenzo White 23-yard run (Caudell kick)	MSU 17-13
3	7:01	MSU	Lorenzo White 1-yard run (Caudell kick)	MSU 24-13
3	6:16	IOWA	Robert Smith 4-yard pass from Chuck Long (Flagg pass from Long for two-point conversion)	MSU 24-21
3	3:21	IOWA	Mike Flagg 12-yard pass from Chuck Long (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 28-24
4	4:06	MSU	Craig Johnson 25-yard run (Caudell kick)	MSU 31-28
4	0:27	IOWA	Chuck Long 2-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 35-31

See also: 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

• Lorenzo White 39 Rush, 229 Yds, 2 TD^[17]

Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 3 Wolverines	14	3	0	14	31
Spartans	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: October 12
• Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI

See also: 1985 Michigan Wolverines football team

On October 12, 1985, Michigan State lost to Michigan, 31–0, in front of a crowd of 78,235 at Spartan Stadium. The victory was regarded at the time as revenge for the Spartans' 19–7 upset of the Wolverines in 1984. Michigan struck early after Michigan State quarterback Bobby McAllister fumbled the snap on the second play of the game, Andy Moeller recovered the ball on the Spartans' 16-yard line, and Jim Harbaugh threw a touchdown pass to tight end Eric Kattus. Less than two minutes after Michigan's first score, Dieter Heren blocked a Greg Montgomery punt, and Ed Hood recovered the ball in the end zone for Michigan's second touchdown. Harbaugh completed 13 of 23 passes, threw two touchdown passes to Kattus and gave up three interceptions. Jamie Morris rushed for 84 yards on 19 carries. Mike Gillette also kicked a field goal. On defense, Michigan held Lorenzo White (who set a Big Ten record with 2,066 yards in 1985) to a season-low 47 yards on 18 carries. The Wolverines' defense also sacked Bobby McAllister three times, intercepted him once, and held him to 83 passing yards.^[18]

Illinois

See also: 1985 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

At Purdue

See also: 1985 Purdue Boilermakers football team

• Lorenzo White 53 Rush, 244 Yds

Minnesota

See also: 1985 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

At Indiana

• Lorenzo White 25 Rush, 286 Yds, 2 TD (played just over a half)

Northwestern

See also: 1985 Northwestern Wildcats football team

At Wisconsin

• Lorenzo White 42 Rush, 223 Yds (set single season Big Ten rushing record)

^[19]

Hall of Fame Classic

Michigan State vs. Georgia Tech

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	7	7	0	14
• Yellow Jackets	0	0	7	10	17

• Date: December 31
• Location: Legion Field, Birmingham, AL
• TV announcers: Bob Neal, Tim Foley and Paul Hornung

Main article: 1985 Hall of Fame Classic

See also: 1985 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

^[20]

Personnel

1985 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 8 Bobby McAllister Fr WR 11 Mark Ingram Jr RB 21 Bobby Morse Jr WR 1 Andre Rison Fr C 60 Pat Shurmur So RB 34 Lorenzo White So QB 14 Dave Yarema	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 41 Shane Bullough Jr S 32 Phil Parker Sr DE 93 Kelly Quinn Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Chris Caudell Jr P 23 Greg Montgomery So	Head coach George Perles Coordinators/assistant coaches Nick Saban (defensive coordinator) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt