1966 Notre Dame vs . Michigan State football game The 1966 Michigan State vs . Notre Dame football game ( " the game of the century " ) remains one of the greatest , and most controversial , games in college football history . The game was played in Michigan State ' s Spartan Stadium on November 19 , 1966 . Michigan State entered the contest 9 – 0 and ranked # 2 , while Notre Dame entered the contest 8 – 0 but ranked # 1 . Notre Dame elected not to try for the endzone on the final series ; thus , the game ended in a 10 – 10 tie with both schools recording national championships . Introduction . Notre Dame , which had last won a National Championship in 1953 , was ranked # 1 in one poll and # 2 in the other . Defending National Champion Michigan State , who had finished the season # 1 in the UPI poll , but was upset by UCLA in the Rose Bowl the previous year , entered the game ranked Number 2 in one poll and # 1 in the other . The Fighting Irish , whose bid for a National Championship two years earlier was snuffed out by USC , were hungry , while the Spartans had history and home - field advantage on their side . This was the first time in 20 years that a college football match - up was given the " Game of the Century " tag by the national media , and ABC had the nation ' s viewers in its grip , with equal parts Notre Dame fans and Michigan State fans . A fortuitous quirk in scheduling brought these two teams together late in the season . They weren ' t even supposed to meet when the 1966 schedules were first drawn up . Michigan State had only nine games scheduled ( even though they were allowed to have ten ) while Notre Dame was originally scheduled to play Iowa that week , as had been the custom since 1945 , then in 1960 the Hawkeyes suddenly dropped the Irish after 1964 . Michigan State was available and agreed to return to Notre Dame ' s schedule in 1965 – 66 . [ 1 ] The game was not shown live on national TV . Each team was alloted one national television appearance and two regional television appearances each season . Notre Dame had used their national TV slot in the season opening game against Purdue . ABC executives did not even want to show the game anywhere but the regional area , but pressure from the West Coast and the South ( to the tune of 50 , 000 letters ) made ABC air the game on tape delay . The official attendance was announced 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 ) . Much of the original ABC telecast footage survives . The second half exists in its entirety , as do both scoring drives originating in the second quarter ( Michigan State ' s field goal and Notre Dame ' s touchdown ) . Scoring . Irish quarterback Terry Hanratty was knocked out after getting sacked in the first quarter by Spartan defensive lineman Bubba Smith . Starting Notre Dame running back Nick Eddy was out entirely after hurting his shoulder by slipping on ice while getting off the train in East Lansing . Center George Goeddeke wrenched his ankle on a punt play . Michigan State jumped out to a 7 – 0 lead behind a 5 - yard touchdown run by Regis Cavender early in the second quarter . Later in the half , MSU added a field goal ( by barefooted Hawaiian Dick Kenney ) . But the Irish came back , quickly scoring a touchdown on a 34 - yard pass thrown by Coley O ' Brien over the outstretched hand of MSU safety Jess Phillips to halfback Bob Gladieux . MSU took a 10 – 7 lead into the locker room . Notre Dame then tied the game on the first play of the fourth quarter on Joe Azzaro ' s 28 - yard field goal . Perhaps the best second - half scoring opportunity for MSU occurred during a pass thrown from Jimmy Raye to Gene Washington . The speedy wide receiver had outrun Raye ' s deep pass and Notre Dame ' s defensive backfield . Washington was forced to double back , and in so doing was caught by the defense . Tom Schoen ' s second interception of the game put Notre Dame in a position to take the lead , but Azzaro ' s 41 - yard field goal attempt missed by inches to the right . Later in the game , Notre Dame had the ball on its own 30 - yard line with 1 : 10 to go . They needed about 40 yards for a game - winning field goal . But coach Ara Parseghian , not wanting to risk a turnover that could hand the game to the Spartans , chose to run the clock out , preserving the tie and Notre Dame ' s Number 1 ranking . After making a first down with ten seconds left , O ' Brien dropped back to pass and was sacked by Bubba Smith . On the last play of the game , O ' Brien gained five yards on a quarterback sneak . The game ended in a 10 – 10 tie . Controversy . For nearly 40 years , Parseghian has defended his end - of - the - game strategy , which left many fans feeling disappointed at the game not having some sort of resolution , Michigan State fans and other Notre Dame detractors calling him a coward , and college football expert Dan Jenkins leading off his article for Sports Illustrated by saying Parseghian chose to " Tie one for the Gipper . " In that same article , Parseghian was quoted as saying , " We ' d fought hard to come back and tie it up . After all that , I didn ' t want to risk giving it to them cheap . They get reckless and it could cost them the game . I wasn ' t going to do a jackass thing like that at this point . " The tie resulted in 9 – 0 – 1 seasons for both Michigan State and Notre Dame . The final AP poll put the Irish and the Spartans at # 1 and # 2 , ranking both teams above the undefeated , and two time defending national champion 11 – 0 – 0 Alabama . Both schools shared the MacArthur Trophy , while Alabama was denied recognition for its accomplishment , a point of contention to this day . Fallout . Notre Dame beat USC 51 – 0 the next week , completing an undefeated ( but not untied ) regular season and solidifying its Number 1 claim . The Irish did not accept bowl bids until 1969 ( see below ) , and Michigan State was the victim of two Big Ten rules that would be rescinded a few years later : The same school could not represent the league in the Rose Bowl in back - to - back seasons , and no Big Ten school could play in a bowl game other than the Rose Bowl . So despite being Big Ten Champions and undefeated in the regular season , the Spartans could not play in the Rose Bowl , or indeed any bowl game . Players for both schools earned tremendous accolades for the season including All American honor . In the 1967 NFL draft , Michigan State had 4 players drafted within the first 8 picks of the first round After ( but not necessarily as a result of ) Eddy ' s injury while debarking from the train in East Lansing , Notre Dame football never traveled to away games by train again . Both teams now make the 160 - mile trip by bus . 40th Anniversary . On September 23 , 2006 Michigan State and Notre Dame commemorated the 40th anniversary of the game . Michigan State wore " throwback " jerseys and helmets from the 1960s era . Notre Dame declined to wear throwback jerseys or helmets . 45 members from the original ' 66 squad returned . In addition , 1965 and 1966 All American Bubba Smith had his number 95 jersey retired at halftime , becoming only the third person in Michigan State history with such honor . Notre Dame won the game 40 – 37 , after coming back from a 19 point deficit and scoring 22 straight points to win .