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1952 Michigan State Spartans football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1952
team	Michigan State Spartans
sport	football
image	1952 Michigan State Spartans football team.png
image_size	285
conference	Independent
record	9–0
CoachRank	1
APRank	1
head_coach	Biggie Munn
hc_year	6th
mvp	Dick Tamburo
captain	Donald McAuliffe
stadium	Macklin Stadium
champion	Consensus national champion

The 1952 Michigan State Spartans football team was an American football team that represented Michigan State College as an independent during the 1952 college football season. In their sixth year under head coach Biggie Munn, the Spartans recorded a perfect 9–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 312 to 84, and were recognized as the 1952 national champion. The season was part of a 28-game winning streak that began in October 1950 and continued until October 1953.

In the final AP Poll released on December 1, 1952, Michigan State was ranked No. 1 with 2,683 points, more than 400 points ahead of No. 2 Georgia Tech. The Spartans also finished with the No. 1 ranking in the final UPI coaches poll.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-JBYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HfgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1918%2C4453330 |work=Bend Bulletin |location=Oregon

Four Michigan State players were recognized on the 1952 All-America college football team: back Don McAuliffe (first-team honors from the United Press, All-America Board, and Collier's); center Dick Tamburo (first-team honors from the Associated Press, Central Press Association, and International News Service); guard Frank Kush (first-team honors from the Associated Press); and end Ed Luke (second-team honors from the Associated Press).

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Tom Yewcic with 941 passing yards, halfback Billy Wells with 585 rushing yards, end Ellis Duckett with 323 receiving yards, and halfbacks Don McAuliffe and Leroy Bolden with 54 points each.

Schedule

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Personnel

Roster

Howard Adams, guard
Wayne Benson, fullback
Alex Bleahu, tackle
Doug Bobo, end
Leroy Bolden, halfback
Leo Boyd, halfback
Bob Breniff, guard
Hank Bullough, guard
Rex Corless, halfback
Don Cutler, tackle
Paul Dekker, end
Don Dohoney, end
Rollie Dotsch, guard/tackle
Ellis Duckett, end
Jim Ellis, safety
Chuck Fairbanks
Larry Fowler, tackle
Al Fracassa, quarterback
Chuck Frank, tackle
Don Kauth, end
Joe Klein, tackle
Frank Kush, guard
Gene Lekenta, fullback
Ed Luke, end
Don McAuliffe, halfback
Jack Morgan, tackle
Morley Murphy, tackle
Jim Neal, center
Dick Panin, fullback
Vince Pisano, halfback
Bill Quinlin, end
Don Schiesswohl, guard
Gordon Serr, guard
Evan Slonac, fullback
Dick Tamburo, center
Willie Thrower, quarterback
Ed Timmerman, fullback
Ray Vogt, halfback
Doug Weaver, center
Billy Wells, halfback
John Wilson, halfback
Johnny Wilson, quarterback
Tom Yewcic, quarterback
Bert Zagers, halfback

Coaching staff

Head coach: Biggie Munn
Assistant coaches: Duffy Daugherty, Dan Devine, Earle Edwards, Dewey King, Steve Sebo

1953 NFL draft

References

"2016 Football Media Guide". Michigan State University.
"1952 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
(December 2, 1952). "Michigan State Wins Final AP Poll, Beating Out Georgia Tech: Spartans Take Emblem Of U.S. Championship, The O'Donnell Trophy". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
(December 2, 1952). "Michigan State tops press poll; jackets second". Eugene Register-Guard.
(August 2018). "2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records". National Collegiate Athletic Association.
(2005). "ESPN College Football Encyclopedia". ESPN Books.
"1952 Michigan State Spartans Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
George S. Alderton. (September 28, 1952). "State Racks Up 16th Win in Row". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (October 5, 1952). "Gene Lekenta's Last-Play Field Goal Earns 'S' 17 to 14 Hair-Raiser Over Oregon State". Lansing State Journal.
(October 12, 1952). "Spartans Spin Texans, 48 to 6". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (October 19, 1952). "Spartans –All 61– Win 19th Straight". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (October 26, 1952). "Spartan '11' Entertains Grads, 34 to 7". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (November 2, 1952). "Michigan State Stops Purcue, 14-7". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (November 9, 1952). "State Wins Rough Tilt From Indiana: MSC Adds Hoosiers to Victim List". Lansing State Journal.
George Alderton. (November 16, 1952). "MSC Defense Shines In 21 to 3 Decision". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (November 23, 1952). "State Ends Second Undefeated Season: Slaughters Marquette For No. 24". Lansing State Journal.
George S. Alderton. (September 26, 1952). "Spartans in Strange Role as Game Favorite". Lansing State Journal.
"1953 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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