1984 Michigan State Spartans football team

1984 Michigan State Spartans football
Cherry Bowl, L 6–10 vs. Army
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1984 record	6–6 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	George Perles (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Saban (2nd season)
Captain	Jim Morrissey
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (Capacity: 76,000)
Seasons ← 1983 1985 →

1984 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 13 Ohio State $	7	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Purdue	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
No. 16 Iowa	5	–	3	–	1			8	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Michigan State	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Michigan	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Indiana	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1984 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second season under head coach George Perles, the Spartans compiled a 6–6 overall record (5–4 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1][2]

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: linebacker Jim Morrissey (AP-2; UPI-1); defensive back Phil Parker (UPI-1); running back Carl Butler (UPI-2); center Mark Napolitan (AP-2); defensive lineman Kelly Quinn (AP-2; UPI-2); and placekicker and punter Ralf Mojsienenko (AP-2; UPI-2).^[3][4]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 8	at Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 24-21
September 15	Notre Dame*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)	L 20-24
September 22	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7-40
September 29	Purdue	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10-13
October 6	at No. 13 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	W 19-7
October 13	Indiana	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Old Brass Spittoon)	W 13-6
October 20	No. 8 Ohio State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 20-23
October 27	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	W 20-13
November 3	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 27-10
November 10	at No. 18 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 17-16
November 17	Wisconsin	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10-20
December 22	vs. Army*	Silverdome Pontiac, MI (Cherry Bowl)	L 6-10
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel[]

1984 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 11 Mark Ingram So C 60 Pat Shurmur Fr RB 34 Lorenzo White Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 41 Shane Bullough So S 32 Phil Parker Jr DE 93 Kelly Quinn Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P/K 2 Ralf Mojsiejenko Sr P 23 Greg Montgomery Fr	Head coach George Perles Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary[]

Notre Dame[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 0 3 7 14 24 Spartans 17 0 3 0 20 Date: September 15 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan Game attendance: 76,919

Scoring summary Q1 MSU Butler 15 yard run (kick failed) MSU 6–0 Q1 MSU Butler 23 yard run (Ingram pass from Yarema) MSU 14–0 Q1 MSU Mojsiejenko 24 yard field goal MSU 17–0 Q2 ND Carney 42 yard field goal MSU 17–3 Q3 ND Pinkett 40 yard pass from Beuerlein (Carney kick) MSU 17–10 Q3 MSU Mojsiejenko 43 yard field goal MSU 20–10 Q4 ND Jackson 8 yard pass from Beuerlein (Carney kick) MSU 20–17 Q4 ND Pinkett 5 yard run (Carney kick) ND 24–20

^[5]

at Michigan[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Spartans 7 6 3 3 19 Wolverines 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 6 Location: Michigan Stadium Game attendance: 105,612

Scoring summary Q1 MSU Butler 1 yard run (Mojsiejenko kick) MSU 7–0 Q2 MSU Morse 87 yard punt return (kick failed) MSU 13–0 Q2 MICH Garrett 1 yard run (Bergeron kick) MSU 13–7 Q3 MSU Mojsiejenko 49 yard field goal MSU 16–7 Q4 MSU Mojsiejenko 30 yard field goal MSU 19–7

^[6]

Ohio State[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Buckeyes 3 6 7 7 23 Spartans 0 0 6 14 20 Date: October 20 Location: Spartan Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 2:45 Game attendance: 75,133 Game weather: Cloudy; 55 °F (13 °C); wind 12–17 mph (19–27 km/h) S Referee: John Nealon

Scoring summary Q1 2:14 OHST Spangler 36 yard field goal OHST 3–0 Q2 2:23 OHST Spangler 42 yard field goal OHST 6–0 Q2 0:10 OHST Spangler 30 yard field goal OHST 9–0 Q3 14:13 OHST Byars 1 yard run (Spangler kick) OHST 16–0 Q3 9:03 MSU Morse 2 yard pass from Yarema (kick failed) OHST 16–6 Q4 11:40 MSU Ingram 75 yard pass from Yarema (pass failed) OHST 16–12 Q4 4:44 OHST Tomczak 1 yard run (Spangler kick) OHST 23–12 Q4 4:32 MSU Jackson 93 yard kickoff return (Rolle pass from Yarema) OHST 23–20

at Iowa[]

Michigan State at #18 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Spartans 7 7 3 0 17 Hawkeyes 3 0 0 13 16 Date: November 10 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:10 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 65,887 Game weather: ~42 °F (6 °C), cloudy, possible rain and snow, Wind N 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) Referee: Otho Kortz

Scoring summary Q1 7:29 IOWA Nichol 24-yard field goal IOWA 3–0 Q1 1:55 MSU L. White 2-yard run (Mojsiejenko kick) MSU 7–3 Q2 5:20 MSU Rolle 7-yard pass from Yarema (Mojsiejenko kick) MSU 14–3 Q3 2:23 MSU Mojsiejenko 24-yard field goal MSU 17–3 Q4 9:18 IOWA O. Gill 2-yard run (Nichol kick) MSU 17-10 Q4 0:44 IOWA Hayes 3-yard pass from Long (Long run failed) MSU 17–16

^[7]

vs. Army (Cherry Bowl)[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cadets 0 7 0 3 10 Spartans 0 0 0 6 6 Date: December 22 Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan Game attendance: 70,336 Game weather: Indoors

Scoring summary 2 6:31 ARMY Clarence Jones 4-yard run (Stopa kick) ARMY 7–0 4 8:40 ARMY Craig Stopa 38-yard field goal ARMY 10–0 4 4:19 MSU Bob Wasczenski 36-yard pass from Yarema (pass failed) ARMY 10–6

^[8]

References[]