From the Archives: 'Game of the Century'

EAST LANSING - On Nov. 19, 1966, the Michigan State and Notre Dame football teams met for what was billed as the "Game of the Century."

The showdown at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing between MSU, coached by Duffy Daugherty, and Notre Dame, coached by Ara Parseghian, was a clash between two undefeated teams.

Notre Dame was 8-0 and ranked No. 1; the Spartans were 9-0 and ranked No. 2.

The game's controversy came with the scored tied at 10 when the Fighting Irish took the ball at their own 30-yard line, about 40 yards away from a reasonable attempt at a winning field goal, with 1:24 left on the clock. Parseghian decided to run the ball.

The Irish moved nine yards in their first three plays, then faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 39, with about 30 seconds left. Parseghian went for it.

Notre Dame quarterback Coley O'Brien, who had replaced an injured Terry Hanratty early in the game, got two yards on a sneak. MSU frantically called its second timeout.

On first down, Parseghian called for a pass, figuring his team was in good enough field position to give it a shot. But Bubba Smith crashed through the line and dropped O'Brien for a loss of seven, then called MSU's final timeout.

Five seconds remained. O'Brien ran for five yards, and the clock hit zero. There would be no overtime.

Instead of a decisive victory by either side, 80,011 fans in Spartan Stadium and more than 30 million viewers watching on TV saw the two teams battle to a 10-10 tie.

Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 or vdozier@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@vickkiD.