Michigan State University Athletics
20th Anniversary Celebration: 1987 Big Ten Championship Football Team
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 1, 2007
It was a season no Spartan player, coach or fan can forget. Bobby McAllister ran as much as he passed. Lorenzo White ran till he nearly passed out. And Michigan State's "Gang Green" defense passed test after test from October on, allowing just 78 points in its last nine games. What other team could have beaten USC twice on holidays in less than four months? What team could have picked off seven Michigan passes and held Ohio State to 2 yards rushing? What team could have been outscored 62-11 in back-to-back losses in September, only to go unbeaten the rest of the way? Only George Perles' undisputed Big Ten and Rose Bowl champs, the last MSU team to wear those tags. Twenty years later, we'll bask in that glory for 12 weeks with game-by-game recaps and analysis. Longtime Michigan State beat writer and columnist Jack Ebling, now at 1320 WILS Radio, will lead the tour down Memory Lane, as he did in his first of five books, Spartan Champions, produced and edited in 1988 by Bruce McCristal.
By Jack Ebling, Online Columnist
Sept. 7, 1987, was more than 60 minutes of football. It was one of the most memorable days and nights in Michigan State athletic history.
"The Great American Football Celebration," a Labor Day extravaganza, featured pregame spirit displays, a spectacular halftime show and, finally, a 27-13 win over Southern California.
A capacity crowd of 77,922 and an "ABC Monday Night Football" national television audience saw the first night game in Spartan Stadium. Billboards, radio and television spots and newspaper ads stirred early interest. And 10,000 reduced-price tickets were sold to unions in "A Salute to Michigan Labor."
Meanwhile, years of labor for George Perles' players and coaches were about to pay off. No less a football expert than Gov. James Blanchard quickly saw that his Spartans meant business.
"I'm partial you understand, but I see this as a very good football team," said the former MSU class president on a preseason inspection. "There's as much talent here as there has been in recent history. I think this is a team that can beat anybody."
The trick was to start by beating a traditional Pac-10 powerhouse, one that was 51-18-2 against Big Ten schools and 4-1 against the Spartans.
This time, the Trojans were playing their first game under Larry Smith, a former Michigan assistant and a successful leader at Arizona. That coaching transition was a big reason MSU was a 2 1/2-point favorite.
The Spartans had a new look, too, with five first-year starters on offense and a new No. 1 quarterback, junior Bobby McAllister, who hadn't seen significant action in two years.
"I'm going to treat this game like a practice - one with 76,000 people watching," McAllister said. "I've been waiting for this day a long time. It's a dream-come-true."
It was every bit as exciting for new MSU offensive line coach Pat Morris, a former USC player and assistant.
"I'd never want to wish bad on any place I'd left," Morris said of wholesale changes when Ted Tollner was fired as head coach after the previous season. "That's the wrong reason to want to win."
The right reason was to start the season with a huge lift and a 1-0 record. To do that, the Spartans would have to contain USC quarterback Rodney Peete and outspoken outside linebacker Marcus Cotton, two of the nation's best.
"Peete can hurt you a lot of ways," Morris said. "And Cotton's a great linebacker, comparable to (ex-MSU star) Carl Banks. You don't want to challenge him at the point of attack. But you can't change your whole game plan."
The loose-lipped Cotton had challenged everyone and backed up his boasts with 33 career sacks - "Cotton Clubs" to his fans. He was a unanimous preseason All-American and a co-favorite for the Butkus Award as college football's premiere linebacker.
"I like basketball because you get to slam dunk on people," Cotton said with a smile. "And I like football because you get to slam dunk people. They don't bounce.
"I don't know Lorenzo White personally. I'm sure he's a terrific guy, a hard runner who won't back down. But I'm going to punish him the whole game."
Cotton would certainly have that opportunity. The Spartans planned to send White and McAllister his way at least 20 times, and ABC was drooling at the prospect.
Twenty years earlier, O.J. Simpson had rushed 31 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the Trojans' 21-17 win in Spartan Stadium. The White-Simpson comparison graphics had been ready for weeks.
"The crowd is there, TV is there, and the lights are in place," Perles said. "All we have to do is not lay an egg."
Shortly after 8 p.m. under four towers of Musco portable lights, the Spartans laid several doubts to rest and gave birth to their greatest season in at least two decades.
Craig Johnson nearly broke free with the opening kickoff, and MSU followed with a near-perfect 65-yard scoring drive. White carried five times for 48 yards, including a 31-yard draw play on third-and-4. And a poised McAllister hit his first three passes for 17 yards.
The payoff came on third-and-3 at the 9 on a highlight-reel run. As White swept left end, a matador move on USC safety Mark Carrier set up the first of his 16 touchdowns as a senior.
The Trojans cut the margin to 7-3 on a 23-yard field goal by Quin Rodriguez. And the Spartans had to play solid defense to keep the lead after normally reliable punt returner Todd Krumm coughed it up at his 21.
MSU made it 10-3 after sophomore tailback Blake Ezor's 38-yard kickoff return. McAllister scrambled for 20 yards on third-and-19. And Langeloh delivered his first career field goal, a second-chance 27-yarder after being roughed on a 43-yarder that sailed wide.
Rodriguez made it 10-6 with a 25-yard field goal after USC drove 60 yards to the MSU 5. Flanker Randy Tanner just missed Peete's pass that should have tied the game with 2:35 left in the half.
Moments later, both locker rooms shook with the sounds of an unbelievable halftime show - one that many fans felt was worth the price of admission.
Country entertainer Lee Greenwood performed a moving medley, including his signature song, "God Bless the USA," as a 150-foot American flag was unfurled. Three howitzers fired a 19-gun salute before a burst of brilliant fireworks.
The Spartans supplied a few fireworks of their own in the third quarter with a quick score and an 84-yard TD drive.
"It really helped that they were holding," Cotton whined after the game. "I've never seen anything like it."
Very few fans saw Cotton do anything. Tight end Mike Sargent, left tackle Tony Mandarich and fullback Joe Pugh dominated and held him to four tackles.
On the second snap of a turnover-filled third period, Peete bumped into pulling guard Brent Parkinson and fumbled the ball to defensive end John Budde at the USC 25.
White picked up 13 yards on a pair of sweeps, and McAllister finished the job by following Pugh and White around left end on a 9-yard keeper.
"That turnover really gave us momentum," McAllister said. "We said, `Let's put that sucker in!' We weren't about to be denied."
After McAllister and USC tailback Marcus Hopkins traded fumbles, MSU moved swiftly through the air from its own 16. The big play was a 44-yard strike to Andre Rison, the longest gain against the Trojans all season.
White scored his second TD on the next play, a 1-yard vault that gave the Spartans a 24-6 lead and scrambled Smith's offensive plans.
It was up to Peete to bring the Trojans back, and he took his team to the MSU 11. But a pass by freshman tailback Scott Lockwood was snared by Krumm in the end zone.
After a 65-yard punt by Greg Montgomery, one of his three boots of more than 50 yards, and an interception by outside linebacker Tim Moore, Langeloh drilled a 43-yarder to give the Spartans a 21-point lead.
Back-up quarterback Kevin McLean found Tanner at the goal line with a 26-yard pass in the final minutes to make the score respectable. But the Trojans' recovery of an onside kick was nullified by an offside call, and a final toss to the end zone was tipped away by strong safety John Miller.
USC finished with 29 completions in 47 attempts, both school records at the time, and threw for 326 yards. But five turnovers gave MSU the openings it needed for a breakthrough win.
"It was a big game for Michigan State - I guess the biggest opener we've ever had," Perles said. "When you play Southern Cal and Notre Dame, you're playing universal schools. They're private, but they belong to everyone."
So did the Spartans' first victory of the season. But the star of stars had to be McAllister, who hit 10 of 15 passes for 103 yards and rushed for 63 more after sacks were subtracted.
"Bobby's sprintouts spread out the defense," White said. "After that, I kept saying, `Lorenzo, you've got to do something!'"
He quickly did, scoring more TDs than USC's team, gaining 111 yards in 22 carries and moving 41 yards ahead of Simpson's career rushing total.
"I don't think it was White who killed us," Smith said from the Trojans' locker room. "It was our mistakes that killed us. But you can't take anything away from MSU. I think they'll be in the hunt in the Big Ten."
"You always say after a loss, `I wish we could play them again," Cotton said. "Maybe we will - if they make it to the Rose Bowl. I know we'll be there!"
He was right about that, if nothing else. But the outcome wouldn't change.
GAME 1
SEPT. 7, 1987 - EAST LANSING, MICH.
MICHIGAN STATE 27, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 13
USC 3 3 0 7 - 13 MSU 10 0 14 3 - 27
Attendance: 77,922 (sellout)
USC MSU First downs 21 17 Rushes-yards 33-61 56-238 Passing yards 326 103 Total offense 387 341 Passing 29-47-3 10-15-0 Fumbles-lost 4-2 3-3 Penalties-yards 8-58 9-88 Time of possession 29:13 30:47
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
MSU ¬ White 9 run (Langeloh kick), 11:11
USC - Rodriguez 23 FG, 7:04
MSU - Langeloh 27 FG, 2:30<>
2nd Quarter
USC - Rodriguez 25 FG, 2:27
3rd Quarter
MSU - McAllister 9 run (Langeloh kick), 13:06
MSU - White 1 run (Langeloh kick). 5:16
4th Quarter
MSU - Langeloh 43 FG, 7:08
USC - Tanner 26 pass from McLean (Rodriguez kick), 4:13
Individual Stats
RUSHING - USC: Knight 19-53. MSU: White 22-111, McAllister 15-63, Ezor 16-56.
PASSING - USC: Peete 20-32-2-229, McLean 9-14-97. MSU: McAllister 10-15-0-103.
RECEIVING - USC: Tanner 8-107. MSU: Rison 5-76, White 3-10.
