1982 Michigan State Spartans football team

American college football season

1982 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–9 (2–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Muddy Waters (3rd season)
MVP	James Neelyne
Captain	Carl Banks, John Leister
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1981 1983 →

1982 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Michigan $	8	–	1	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin	5	–	4	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Indiana	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Minnesota	1	–	8	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1982 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1982 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season under head coach Muddy Waters, the Spartans compiled a 2–9 overall record (2–7 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a tie for eighth place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1]^[2]

Two Spartans were recognized by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) on the 1981 All-Big Ten Conference football team: linebacker Carl Banks (AP-1; UPI-1); and defensive lineman Smiley Creswell (AP-2; UPI-2).^[3]^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 16–23	66,152
September 18	No. 12 Ohio State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10–31	73,483
September 25	at No. 16 Miami (FL)*	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	L 22–25	26,748
October 2	No. 11 Notre Dame*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 3–11	77,119
October 9	at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 17–31	106,113	^[5]
October 16	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 23–24	78,187
October 23	Purdue	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 21–24	66,707
October 30	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	W 22–14	38,571
November 6	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 24–28	53,513
November 13	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	W 26–7	57,146
November 20	Iowa	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 18–24	50,103
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1982 Michigan State Spartans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`34`	Tom Robinson	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`54`	Carl Banks	Jr
S	`32`	Phil Parker	Fr
DE	`93`	Kelly Quinn	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P/K	`2`	Ralf Mojsiejenko	So

Head coach

Muddy Waters

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Miami (FL)

Michigan State at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	14	8	0	22
• Hurricanes	6	9	3	7	25

Date: September 25
Location: Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida

Scoring summary

1	MIA	Baratta 3-yard pass from Richt (kick failed)	Miami (FL) 6-0

2	MIA	Boone 63-yard interception return (pass failed)	Miami (FL) 12-0

2	MSU	Ellis 16-yard run (Mojsiejenko kick)	Miami (FL) 12-7

2	MSU	Grant 15-yard pass from Leister (Mojsiejenko kick)	Michigan St 14-12

2	MIA	Davis 46-yard field goal	Miami (FL) 15-14

3	MSU	Ellis 6-yard run (Tanker pass from Scharlo)	Michigan St 22-15

3	MIA	Davis 47-yard field goal	Michigan St 22-18

4	MIA	Rush 1-yard run (Davis kick)	Miami (FL) 25-22

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	2	9	0	0	11
Spartans	0	0	3	0	3

Date: October 2
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Game attendance: 77,119

Scoring summary

Q1	ND	Leister tackled in end zone	ND 2–0

Q2	ND	Johnston 33 yard field goal	ND 5–0

Q2	ND	Johnston 29 yard field goal	ND 8–0

Q2	ND	Johnston 42 yard field goal	ND 11–0

Q3	MSU	Mojsiejenko 50 yard field goal	ND 11–3

Iowa

Iowa at Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hawkeyes	10	14	0	0	24
Spartans	0	3	0	15	18

Date: November 20
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Game start: 1:02 p.m. EST
Elapsed time: 3:04
Game attendance: 50,103
Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), Breezy and warm, chance of rain, Wind SSE 15 mph (24 km/h)
Referee: John Nealon

Scoring summary

Q1	7:19	IOWA	Nichol 43-yard field goal	IOWA 3–0

Q1	3:59	IOWA	Owen Gill 10-yard run (Nichol kick)	IOWA 10–0

Q2	11:49	IOWA	Owen Gill 5-yard run (Nichol kick)	IOWA 17–0

Q2	6:37	MSU	Mojsiejenko 39-yard field goal	IOWA 17–3

Q2	1:04	IOWA	Owen Gill 11-yard run (Nichol kick)	IOWA 24–3

Q4	7:27	MSU	Ellis 1-yard run (Mojsiejenko kick)	IOWA 24–10

Q4	1:23	MSU	Ellis 2-yard run (Schario run)	IOWA 24–18

References

^ "Michigan State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
^ "2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
^ Joe Mooshil (November 30, 1982). "Carter, Bostic, Lukens Top All-Big Ten Football Team". The Blade, Toledo, Ohio (AP story). p. 26.
^ Barry Minkoff (November 23, 1982). "Michigan dominates All-Big Ten squads". The Bryan Times (UPI story). p. 13.
^ Joe Lapointe (October 10, 1982). "Wolverines devour MSU: Carter catches a flock of U-M records in 31-17 romp". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 5E – via Newspapers.com.

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