1984 Michigan State Spartans football team

American college football season

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

1984 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	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	Attendance
September 8	at Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 24–21	35,825
September 15	Notre Dame*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 20–24	76,919
September 22	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7–40	75,762
September 29	Purdue	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10–13	64,819
October 6	at No. 13 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 19–7	105,612
October 13	Indiana	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 13–6	63,890
October 20	No. 8 Ohio State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 20–23	75,133
October 27	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	W 20–13	47,427
November 3	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 27–10	63,619
November 10	at No. 18 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 17–16	65,887
November 17	Wisconsin	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10–20	61,702
December 22	vs. Army*	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI (Cherry Bowl)	L 6–10	70,332
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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

Game summaries

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

^ "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.
^ "Byars Unanimous All-Big Ten Choice". The Blade (Toledo). November 28, 1984. p. 36.
^ "1984 All-Big Ten Football team". UPI.com. November 19, 1984.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1984 Sept 16.
^ Tommy George (October 7, 1984). "MSU springs an upset, 19–7: Wolverines lose QB, too". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1F, 7F – via Newspapers.com.
^ "OHIO ST. GRABS BIG TEN LEAD". The New York Times. November 11, 1984. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
^ "ARMY WINS, 10-6, IN ITS BOWL DEBUT". The New York Times. December 23, 1984. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

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