PHOTO: Notre Dame’s Terry Hanratty and Michigan State’s Jimmy Raye still collect awards 60 years after the quarterbacks met in the 1966 Game of the Century. The seminal moment in college football played on November 19 ended in a 10-10 with Notre Dame (9-0-1) ranked No. 1 and Michigan State (9-0-1) No. 2. Hanratty (L) with his College Football Hall of Fame plaque at the 2025 ceremony in Las Vegas. Raye with his Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL Awards of Excellence plaque presented in Canthon, Ohio. Raye was honored in the inaugural 2021 class. Duffy Daughery launched his careers as a pioneering Black quarterback and college and NFL coach.

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Thomas Shanahan | @Thomas-Shanahan-23

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By TOM SHANAHAN

Anniversary stories reflecting on the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Game of the Century matching No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State will focus on the controversial 10-10 tie. But backdrops to the epic showdown were bigger than the on-field results. They are the foundation of today’s game on several levels. Michigan State and Notre Dame meet this year on September 19 at Notre Dame and in 2027 at Michigan State.

— Two-platoon football: Notre Dame and Michigan State separated themselves in the two-platoon era with rosters bigger and quicker than other schools. In one-platoon football that ended after the 1963 season, coaches wanted smaller players who could stay on the field 60 minutes. By 1966, Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty and Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian adapted. Michigan State lined up College Football Hall of Famers Bubba Smith (6-7, 280) and George Webster (6-3, 235) and Notre Dame College Football Hall Famers Alan Page (6-3, 245) and Maxwell Award winner Jim Lynch (6-1, 235). Notre Dame and Michigan State finished 1-2 in the rankings. How big was the gap? Third-ranked Alabama’s All-American offensive tackle was 6-1, 202 Cecil Dowdy. Who was going to block Michigan State and Notre Dame players if they faced Alabama.

— The modern TV sports age was born — for better or worse. A record TV audience of 33 million in a population of 195 million watched the game played before a overflow crowd of 80,011 in the 76,000-seat Spartan Stadium. With space-age satellite technology, it was the first football game broadcast live to Hawaii and troops serving in Vietnam.

—. Michigan State changed the face of the game with college football’s first fully integrated rosters that grew to 20-some Black players by the 1960s. Michigan State was the first fully integrated team to play in the South when the 1964 Spartans faced North Carolina at Kenan Stadium in segregated Chapel Hill. Jimmy Raye was the South’s first Black QB to lead a team to a national title, and the Spartans’ George Webster and Clinton Jones were the first two Black captains elected to the role by a predominantly White roster. Although college football lore credits the 1970 USC-Alabama game as a tipping point, such stories fail to note USC only had four Black starters and 11 of 18 USC Black players were recruited as junior college or four-year college transfers in the 1969 and 1970 classes. USC numbered only five Black players on its 1962 national title team and seven on the 1967 national championship roster.

— The Vietnam War and military draft was a backdrop to the 1966 season. Notre Dame’s Rocky Bleier, who was wounded in Vietnam before making it back to the NFL and winning four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was one of six players who went from the Game of the Century to serving in Vietnam. The others were Notre Dame’s Mike Burgner and four Spartans, Eric Marshall, Jimmy Hoye, Mitch Pruitt and John Kuettner. Don’t expect to see any 2025 players from the Indiana-Miami national title game to be serving in Iran.

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PART V: Michigan State quarterback Jimmy Raye and Notre Dame quarterback Terry Hanratty on the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Game of the Century matching the Spartans and Irish for a quasi-national title.

8:00: The two most talented teams to play. 13:40 The Sporting News failed to rank 1966 team in its all-time Top 25. 17:55: Alabama’s inferior size to the Spartans and Irish. 23:30: Terry responds to Bubba Smith’s post-game quote. 26:00: Jimmy and Terry recall the one play they wish they had back. 29:35: Respect for Duffy Daugherty from both QBs. 42:00: Terry and Jimmy comment on rivalry that is new to both head coaches, Michigan State’s Pat Fitzgerald and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. 46:55: Comments on missing statue of Duffy Daugherty.

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PART IV: The 1971 Game of the Century matching Nebraska and Oklahoma is known for Johnny Rodgers’ iconic touchdown return. But another distinction is Duffy Daugherty’s fingerprints are on the 1966 Game of the Century, the first with Black players, and the 1971 Game of the Century, the first with two fully integrated rosters. 23:30: Terry responds to Bubba Smith quote.

At 3:50: Johnny Rodgers iconic punt return with comments from Rodgers and Greg Pruitt. 7:35: Impact of coaches Bob Devaney and Chuck Fairbanks. 14:30: Rodgers on integration and Duffy Daugherty’s coaching tree, “Duffy had his hand in most of it.” 18:30: Rodgers and Pruitt on NIL; Rodgers says Oklahoma would have to pay Pruitt $5-$10 million. 23:35 Houston pipelines. 26:00: Big Eight with No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Colorado. 35:00 Haircuts and Ernest Chambers.

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PART III: Michigan State players Bob Apisa, Kale Ane and Lucy Wedemeyer discuss Duffy Daugherty’s influence on Hawaii and three Hawaiians playing in the 1966 Game of the Century, Bob Apisa, Dick Kenney and Charlie Wedemeyer. With new space-age technology, it was the first live broadcast of a football game in Hawaii.

At 6:30: Michigan State Hawaiian Kale Ane (1971-74) on the Spartans’ three 1966 Hawaiians; 12:05: Bob Apisa on Honolulu Star-Bulletin headline: Hawaiians 11, Ohio State 8; 13:20: Ane on the four 2026 Spartans from Hawaii; 18:30: Bob Apisa on Farrington High students sending him a scroll with 2,400 signatures; 26:00: Lucy Wedemeyer on Bill Walsh taking time from the Super Bowl to present Charlie Wedemeyer with a football; 27:50: Kale on Levi Jackson’s 88-yard run to upset No. 1 Ohio State in 1974; 31:00: Bob, Lucy and Kale encouraging Pat Fitzgerald to continue recruiting Hawaii.

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PART II: Michigan State College Football Hall of Fame running back Clinton Jones and Notre Dame running back and four-time Super Bowl champion Rocky Bleier reflect on the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Game of the Century. They also discuss the backdrop of the Vietnam War.

At the 48:45 mark, Rocky Bleier says this about the Spartan Stadium crowd when Michigan State was introduced running onto the field: “There was a roar that moved the air! I could see it!”

5:30, Rocky on Notre Dame. 11:25, Rocky on NFL and U.S. Army drafts and Vietnam service. 15:25, Rocky on Steelers. 23:10, Clint on 1971 USO tour. 28:00, two Irish and four Spartans served in Vietnam. 31:00, Clint on Eric Marshall. 37:25, Rocky on MSU’s defense. 42:00, Clint on tackling Jim Lynch. 44:22, Rocky on Ara Parseghian. 49:45, Clint on Duffy Daugherty. 55:44, Clint on Alan Page. 57:20: Rocky and Clint on university/athletic department stability. 1:09.25, Clint’s picture of Mean Joe Greene and Steelers’ defense on his back.

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PART I: Michigan State’s Academic All-American defensive tackle Pat Gallinagh and Notre Dame All-American center and seven-year NFL veteran George Goeddeke reflect on the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Game of the Century. They also discuss the influence of Detroit Catholic League schools on both rosters.

Click here for all 20 episodes of Duffy’s Milestone Minutes:

Duffy Daugherty’s ground-breaking teams – Tom Shanahan Report

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Visit my homepage: TomShanahan.Report

— Watch a three-minute video to learn about our documentary at the fundraising stage, GAME CHANGERS OF THE CENTURY, and the Investment Deck.

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— My chance to tell the true stories of college football integration on The Spiro Avenue Show – Tom Shanahan Report

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

I’ll put my facts on the true pioneers of college football integration versus Bear Bryant fairytales against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation and Alabama.

— Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter with two books on college football integration, “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans,” and “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” They are the most accurate accounts of college football integration in the 1950s and 1960s. They also debunk myths about the 1970 USC-Alabama game. The false narrative co-opted the stories of the true pioneers who stood up to Jim Crow and the KKK.

— Two children’s books also explain Michigan State College Football Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty’s impact on integration through the Underground Railroad and the Hawaiian Pipeline: “DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD” and “HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP.”

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PURCHASE LINKS, non-fiction books

— RAYE OF LIGHT, August Publications or on Amazon.

— THE RIGHT THING TO DO, August Publications or on Amazon.

PURCHASE LINKS, children’s books

— DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here. 

— HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP. Order here:

How Duffy Put Hawaii On America’s Football Map by Tom Shanahan, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

Amazon.com: How Duffy Put Hawaii On America’s Football Map eBook : Shanahan, Tom: Kindle Store

Tags: Clinton Jones, Michigan State, NOTRE DAME, Rocky Bleier