Field at MSU Remains Shining Example for Kirk Cousins
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Turf vs. grass has been an ongoing debate around NFL circles.
Most players seem to prefer playing on natural grass, believing that injuries are more likely to happen on the artificial turf surface. This conversation has heated up in recent weeks when several turf fields were taken out of NFL stadiums and replaced with grass specifically for the World Cup.
Kirk Cousins Chimes In
Michigan State has been a background part of this World Cup discussion. That's because the university and the University of Tennessee partnered up to help engineer the perfect playing surface for FIFA. At least on television, the pitches throughout the world's biggest sporting event have looked great.
Shifting back to American football, the Spartans are among the minority of teams that still play on a grass field. The natural playing surface used to be the norm, but most universities eventually switched to artificial turf after it was introduced because it is easier and cheaper to maintain over the long run.
"I remember saying, 'Hey, would we ever do what The Big House [at Michigan] did or The Horseshoe [at Ohio State] did and go to field turf?'" former MSU star quarterback and current Las Vegas Raiders QB Kirk Cousins said during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. "And they said, 'No, we have such a robust turfgrass management program here at Michigan State, that out of sheer pride and respect for that department, we'll always have a grass field.'"
Michigan State is one of just six teams in the Big Ten still playing on grass. The only other schools in the conference playing on the same surface are Penn State, Purdue, Northwestern, USC, and UCLA. Each of the 12 other members of the conference is playing on artificial turf, plus USC and UCLA are not playing in stadiums specifically meant for their programs.
MSU actually installed artificial turf inside Spartan Stadium way back in 1969. The Spartans finally returned to the natural surface in 2002, a half-decade before Cousins arrived on campus in 2007. Cousins still holds up his alma mater's playing surface as a standard that not too many other places reach.
"I started to notice, as we played around other stadiums in the country, that you couldn't beat Michigan State's surface and the natural grass field felt so much better than the nicest field turf you can get," Cousins said. "So I was always, after college, going into the NFL, preferring grass... I've always said well-kept grass like a Michigan State, you can't beat that."
Cousins' Exceptional Career at MSU
Cousins' words do carry a lot of weight as one of the best quarterbacks in Michigan State history. He's second on MSU's all-time passers list with 9,131 career yards through the air. Cousins left campus as the all-time leading passer, surpassing the previous record-holder, Jeff Smoker. Ironically enough, Cousins' successor, Connor Cook, just squeaked past his record by just 63 yards.
Cousins also stewarded the beginning the start of what was the modern golden age of MSU football. The Spartans went 6-7 during Cousins' first year as a starter in 2009. Michigan State turned the corner following that, going 22-5 during 2010 and 2011.
MSU shared the Big Ten title in 2010 with Wisconsin after starting the season unranked, finishing 11-2. That conference championship was the first for the program since 1990. The Spartans then went 11-3 the next season, falling just short to the Badgers by three points in the first-ever Big Ten championship game, but then taking down Georgia in the Outback Bowl.
Success against Michigan is also something Spartan fans will judge a starting quarterback on. Cousins aced the rivalry test as a starter, going 3-0 against the Wolverines while being Michigan State's QB1. The victories in 2010 and 2011 came against UM teams that were ranked 18th and 11th, respectively, at the time, as well as by multiple scores.
Finding a "program" quarterback is something the Spartans have missed during their slide over recent years. Mark Dantonio had a pretty good run there, going from Cousins, to Cook, and then to Brian Lewerke (one Tyler O'Connor year in between). There hasn't really been a ton of stability at the quarterback position since.
The hope is that Alessio Milivojevic can be the instant solution for Pat Fitzgerald in the program's next era after Aidan Chiles (now at Northwestern) fell short of expectations. Milivojevic will just be a redshirt sophomore this coming season, meaning he could end up being a three-year starter for the Spartans if things work out.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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