2009 Michigan State Spartans football team

This season saw the Spartans schedule a Division I FCS opponent (Montana State) for the first time since the NCAA split Division I football in 1978. This left Notre Dame, UCLA, USC, and Washington as the only Division I FBS teams to never have played a lower-division opponent since the split.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	12:00 p.m.[2]	Montana State*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	BTN[2]	W 44–3	74,518[3]
September 12	12:00 p.m.[2]	Central Michigan*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, Michigan	ESPN2[2]	L 27–29	76,221[4]
September 19	3:30 p.m.[5]	at Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)	NBC[5]	L 30–33	80,795[6]
September 26	12:00 p.m.	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 30–38	80,123[7]
October 3	12:00 p.m.	No. 22 Michigan	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	BTN	W 26–20 OT	78,629[8]
October 10	12:00 p.m.	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 24–14	62,870[9]
October 17	12:00 p.m.[10]	Northwestern	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	W 24–14	71,726[11]
October 24	7:00 p.m.[12]	No. 6 Iowa	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	BTN[12]	L 13–15	74,411[13]
October 31	8:00 p.m.[12]	at Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN[12]	L 34–42	50,805[14]
November 7	12:00 p.m.	Western Michigan*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	BTN	W 49–14	73,910[15]
November 14	12:00 p.m.	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN	W 40–37	48,408[16]
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 Penn State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Land Grant Trophy)	ABC/ESPN	L 14–42	73,771[17]
January 2, 2010	9:00 p.m.	vs. Texas Tech*	Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	L 31–41	64,757[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Michigan came into the game 4–0 (1–0 Big Ten) and ranked #22, looking to reclaim the Paul Bunyan trophy after losing to MSU the previous year. Michigan State dominated the first 55 minutes of regulation, building a 20–6 lead. Michigan rallied with two TDs in the final minutes to send the game to OT, but MSU quickly intercepted a pass and running back Larry Caper rushed 23 yards through multiple tackles for the game-winning score.

Final Seconds: With 2 seconds remaining in the game, on 4th and Goal from the Michigan State 7 and a half yard line, Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi snapped the ball and passed the ball to Iowa WR Marvin McNutt into the end zone as the time expired to win the game.

Only one Spartan was selected in the 2010 NFL draft. However, wide receiver Blair White signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent.