NEWS
On Sept. 26, 1896,11 young men with names such as Vanderhoef, Redfern and Vanderstolpe from Michigan Agricultural College gave birth to MSU football at the corner of Kalamazoo and Walnut streets in Lansing.The first game took place in a park which no longer exists, where parking lots and the Lewis Cass building now watch over the former home field for the Spartans - known back then as the Aggies.And, this Saturday, countless teams and players later, MSU and its 573-382-44 all-time record will face Rutgers to celebrate its 1,000th football game in school history.Saturday's festivities - a plan more than a year in the making, according to associate athletics director John Lewandowski - will include returning members of the 1953 Rose Bowl and 1978 Big Ten championship teams, commemorative gold and black "M.A.C." patches sewn on the chest of the MSU jersey, helmets without the Spartan decal and Aggies in place of Spartans on the scoreboards."We chose the black and gold (patches) because there was a time during Charlie Bachman's (head coach from 1933-46) time that the Spartans actually wore black and gold," Lewandowski said.