CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

Michigan State vs. Oregon State

Michigan State and Oregon State have 8 meetings on file, the first in 1942; Michigan State leads the series 6–⁠1–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 8 meetings it’s Michigan State 6–⁠1, and Michigan State has won the last 5.

Michigan State wins
6
Oregon State wins
1
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1942
Longest streak
5 Michigan State
Current streak
5 Michigan State
Last 10 meetings
Michigan State 6–⁠1
Most recent
1971

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1940s1–⁠1–⁠1
1950s4–⁠0
1970s1–⁠0
Average margin
13.6 points; 3 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Michigan State
4–⁠0–⁠1 Michigan State’s record at home
At Oregon State
1–⁠2 Oregon State’s record at home
Shutouts
1

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Michigan State’s biggest win1953: Michigan State 34, Oregon State 6by 28 points
  2. Oregon State’s biggest win1949: Oregon State 25, Michigan State 20by 5 points

Coach against coach

YearsMichigan StateSeriesOregon State
1949–⁠1953Biggie Munn4–⁠1Kip Taylor

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Michigan State’s side (Munn 4–⁠1 against Taylor). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Michigan State and Oregon State, 1942 on13001500170019501960197019801990200020102020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1942 game: Slick Michigan State Holds Oregon State To TT Deadlock Badly Outrushed Team Fakes Field Goal PIoy To Score Touchdown

    1942 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Nov 29, 1942

  • The Evening star's story of the 1948 game: Michigan State Is Victor Over Oregon State, A-21

    1948 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 31, 1948

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Sep 25, 1971Michigan State 31, Oregon State 14at Michigan State
Oct 31, 19536Michigan State 34, Oregon State 6at Michigan State
Oct 4, 19521Michigan State 17, Oregon State 14at Oregon State
Sep 22, 1951Michigan State 6, Oregon State 0at Michigan State
Sep 23, 1950Michigan State 38, Oregon State 13at Michigan State
Nov 12, 1949Oregon State 25, 8Michigan State 20at Oregon State
Oct 30, 194817Michigan State 46, Oregon State 21at Oregon State
Nov 28, 1942Michigan State 7, Oregon State 7at Michigan State

Every game is listed as played on the field.