1989 Michigan State Spartans football team

1989 Michigan State Spartans football
Aloha Bowl champion
Aloha Bowl, W 33–13 vs. Hawaii
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 16
Record8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMorris Watts (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorNorm Parker (2nd season)
MVPPercy Snow
Captains
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
1989 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Michigan $ 8 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 10 Illinois 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 16 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 24 Ohio State 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Indiana 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Iowa 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Purdue 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Wisconsin 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Spartans played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by George Perles. The team finished the season 8–4 overall and 6–2 in conference play. The Spartans were invited to the 1989 Aloha Bowl where they defeated Hawaii, 33–13. The Spartans were ranked No. 16 in the final AP Poll and Coaches Poll.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 161:05 p.m.Miami (OH)*
W 49–066,474[1]
September 232:30 p.m.at No. 1 Notre Dame*
CBSL 13–2159,075[2]
September 303:30 p.m.No. 2 Miami (FL)*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ABCL 20–2676,217[3]
October 72:05 p.m.at IowaNo. 24
W 17–1467,700[4]
October 143:30 p.m.No. 5 MichiganNo. 21
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCL 7–1076,913[5]
October 2112:30 p.m.Illinois
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPNL 10–1476,216[6]
October 282:01 p.m.at Purdue
W 28–2141,402[7]
November 412:30 p.m.at Indiana
ESPNW 51–2051,567[8]
November 111:00 p.m.Minnesota
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 21–773,259[9]
November 181:05 p.m.Northwestern
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 76–1464,817[10]
November 252:05 p.m.at WisconsinNo. 25
W 31–329,776[11]
December 253:30 p.m.vs. No. 25 Hawaii*No. 22
ABCW 33–1350,000[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Rankings

Further information: 1989 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP—————2421—————2522222216
Coaches——————19 т—————————16 т

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

At Notre Dame

Michigan State Spartans (1–0) at #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Michigan St 0 6 7013
Notre Dame 7 7 0721

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

Game information

Miami (FL)

#2 Miami (FL) at Michigan State
Team 1 234Total
• Hurricanes 3 7106 26
Spartans 3 737 20
Scoring summary
17:56MIAHuerta 32-yard field goalMIA 3–0
13:59MSULangeloh 46-yard field goalTied 3–3
25:32MSUEnos 19-yard run (Langeloh kick)MSU 10–3
22:14MIACarroll 5-yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)Tied 10–10
311:52MIAJohnson 38-yard run (Huerta kick)MIA 17–10
36:42MIAHuerta 27-yard field goalMIA 20–10
32:48MSULangeloh 27-yard field goalMIA 20–13
4MSUHarlon Barnett 35-yard interception returnTied 20–20
45:04MIAHuerta 27-yard field goalMIA 23–20
40:54MIAHuerta 52-yard field goalMIA 26–20
See also: 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team

[13]

At Iowa

Michigan

See also: Paul Bunyan Trophy
#5 Michigan Wolverines (3–1) at #21 Michigan State Spartans (2–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Michigan 7 3 0010
Michigan St 0 0 077

at Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan

  • Date: October 14, 1989
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny, 82 °F (28 °C)
  • Game attendance: 76,913
  • Referee: Ron Winter
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Team Category Player Statistics
Michigan Passing Elvis Grbac 8/15, 76 Yds, INT
Rushing Tony Boles 22 Rush, 100 Yds
Receiving Greg McMurtry 2 Rec, 33 Yds
Michigan St Passing Dan Enos 21/31, 214 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Rushing Blake Ezor 27 Rush, 69 Yds
Receiving Courtney Hawkins 8 Rec, 89 Yds, TD

Illinois

At Purdue

Michigan State Spartans (2–4) at Purdue Boilermakers (1–5)
Quarter 1 2 Total
Michigan St 0 28 28
Purdue 0 21 21

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

  • Date: October 24, 1989
  • Game attendance: 41,402
  • [14]

Courtney Hawkins set single game school receiving yardage record[15]

Team Category Player Statistics
Michigan St Passing
Rushing
Receiving Courtney Hawkins 7 Rec, 193 Yds, TD
Purdue Passing Eric Hunter 18/26, 253 Yds, 3 TD, INT
Rushing
Receiving

At Indiana

Minnesota

Northwestern

At Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan St 7 3 7 14 31
Wisconsin 0 3 0 0 3
  • MSU: Ezor 3 run (Langeloh kick)
  • MSU: Langeloh 23 FG
  • WIS: Thompson 36 FG
  • MSU: Ezor 1 run (Langeloh kick)
  • MSU: Enos 7 run (Langeloh kick)
  • MSU: Ezor 56 run (Langeloh kick)
  • Attendance: 29,776
  • Rushing: MSU Ezor 30-187; WIS Hunt 7-19
  • Passing: MSU Enos 7-14-64; WIS Wilson 18-27-202
  • Receiving: MSU Hawkins 2-23; WIS Miller 7-67

[16]

Aloha Bowl (vs. Hawaii)

Personnel

1989 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR James Bradley
RB Tico Duckett
QB 4 Dan Enos Jr
RB 26 Blake Ezor Sr
QB John Gieselman
RB Ty Hallock
WR Courtney Hawkins
RB Hyland Hickson
OL Jim Johnson
OL Matt Keller
OL Bob Kula
TE Carlos Marino
RB Steve Montgomery
OT 77 Eric Moten Jr
OL Jeff Pearson
TE Kurt Prins
RB Rob Roy
RB Scott Selzer
WR Brian Smolinski
QB Randy Vanderbush
OL Roosevelt Wagner
TE 29 Duane Young Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 36 Harlon Barnett Sr
LB Tony Briningstool
LB Chuck Bullough
DL Travis Davis
DB Ventson Donelson
LB Dixon Edwards
DB Alan Haller
DB 9 Mike Iaquaniello Jr
LB 51 Carlos Jenkins Jr
DL Bill Johnson
LB Brian Jones
DB Todd Murray
DL Tim Ridinger
LB 48 Percy Snow Sr
DE 91 Jim Szymanski Sr
DE 66 Matt Vanderbeek Sr
DL Chris Willertz
DL Bobby Wilson
DB Freddie Wilson
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P Josh Butland
K John Langeloh
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

1990 NFL draft

The following players were selected in the 1990 NFL draft.[17]

Player Round Pick Position NFL team
Percy Snow 1 13 Linebacker Kansas City Chiefs
Travis Davis 4 85 Nose tackle Phoenix Cardinals
Harlon Barnett 4 101 Defensive back Cleveland Browns
Bob Kula 7 175 Tackle Seattle Seahawks
Jim Szymanski 10 259 Defensive end Denver Broncos
Ventson Donelson 12 309 Defensive back New England Patriots

References

  1. ^ "Nasty Spartans; MSU mugs Miami of Ohio in rainy season opener, 49–0". The Muskegon Chronicle. September 17, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Notre Dame digs deep to bury Michigan St". The Houston Post. September 24, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Hurricanes, backup QB tip Spartans". Wisconsin State Journal. October 1, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Hawks go down trying". The Gazette. October 8, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "U-M defense stymies MSU". The Saginaw News. October 15, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Spartan's fumble sets up Illini victory". The Saginaw News. October 22, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Boiler comeback too late". The Republic. October 29, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "MSU wallops Indiana". The Grand Rapids Press. November 5, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Spartans bid Gophers aloha in fourth, 21–7". Detroit Free Press. November 12, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "MSU buries Wildcats". Lansing State Journal. November 19, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "UW leis down for Spartans". The Post-Crescent. November 26, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Spartans smash Hawaii". Quad-City Times. December 26, 1989. Retrieved June 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Miami 26, Michigan State 20". United Press International. September 30, 1989. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  14. ^ Bedics, Mark (October 30, 1989). "Rally Leaves Spartans Grateful". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  15. ^ Bedics, Mark (October 30, 1989). "Rally Leaves Spartans Grateful". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  16. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. "Saturday's Summaries." pg. 8C. 1989-Nov-26. Retrieved 2023-Jan-17.
  17. ^ "1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.
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