1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game

The 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game is considered one of the greatest and most controversial games in college football history played between Michigan State and Notre Dame. The game has been played in Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium on November 19, 1966. Michigan State entered the competition 9–0 and ranked No. 2, while Notre Dame entered 8–0 and ranked No. 1. Notre Dame elected to not try to find a score on the series. Notre Dame went on to acquire or share the national title in two polls (such as both AP and UPI); Michigan State shared or won in three minor surveys, and Alabama, who finished with the only undefeated and untied album, won 2 small surveys.
Notre Dame, which had won a national championship in 1964 (non consensus), ranked No. 1 both the AP and Coaches’ polls. Defending National Champion Michigan State, who had finished the 1965 season No. 1 at the UPI Coaches’ survey, but had been upset by UCLA in the Rose Bowl the past year, entered the game ranked No. 2 in the polls. The Fighting Irish, whose bid for a national championship two decades earlier had been snuffed out by USC, were hungry, although the Spartans had background and home-field advantage on their side. This was the very first time in 20 years a school football matchup was awarded the »Game of the Century » tag by the national media, and ABC had the nation’s viewers in its clasp, with equal parts Notre Dame lovers and Michigan State fans. This was the tenth time at the 30-year history of this AP poll that the No. 1 team played the No. 2 team. The Spartans had conquered Notre Dame the previous year 12–3 holding Notre Dame to minus-12 yards rushing.
A fortuitous quirk in scheduling brought these 2 teams together late in the season. When the 1966 schedules were drawn up, they were not even supposed to fulfill. Michigan State had only nine games scheduled (although they had been permitted to possess ten) while Notre Dame was originally scheduled to play Iowa that week, as had been the custom since 1945. However, in 1960, the Hawkeyes suddenly dropped the Irish out of their program, from 1964 onward. Michigan State was accessible and agreed to come back to Notre Dame’s schedule in 1965–66.
The game was not shown on TV. Each group has been allotted one nationwide television appearance and two regional television appearances each season. Notre Dame had utilized their national TV slot at the season opening game against Purdue. ABC executives did not even want to demonstrate the match everywhere but the regional area, but pressure from the West Coast and the South (to the tune of 50,000 letters) made ABC atmosphere the game on tape delay. ABC relented and blacked from the Michigan State-Notre Dame game in two states (allegedly North Dakota and South Dakota), so it could theoretically be called a regional broadcast. It would also be the first time a college football game was broadcast to Hawaii and also to U.S. troops in Vietnam. [5] The official attendance was declared at 80,011 (111% capacity) and was the most attended game in Michigan State football history at the time (the current record is 80,401 on Sept. 22, 1990 vs. Notre Dame).
Notre Dame was coached by Ara Parseghian and Michigan State was coached by Duffy Daugherty, both college legends.
Much of the original ABC telecast footage survives. The second half is present in its entirety, as do both scoring forces beginning in the next quarter (Michigan State’s field goal and Notre Dame’s touchdown).

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