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1969 Michigan State

4–⁠6 (2–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Duffy Daugherty.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1969, game by game: won vs. Washington 27–11; won vs. SMU 23–15; lost at Notre Dame 28–42; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 21–54; won vs. No. 13 Michigan 23–12; lost at Iowa 18–19; lost vs. Indiana 0–16; lost at No. 10 Purdue 13–41; lost vs. Minnesota 10–14; won at Northwestern 39–7+32−33Won 27–11 vs. Washington+16WashingtonWon 23–15 vs. SMU+8SMULost 28–42 at Notre Dame-14Notre DameLost 21–54 at No. 1 Ohio State-33No. 1 Ohio StateWon 23–12 vs. No. 13 Michigan+11No. 13 MichiganLost 18–19 at Iowa-1IowaLost 0–16 vs. Indiana-16IndianaLost 13–41 at No. 10 Purdue-28No. 10 PurdueLost 10–14 vs. Minnesota-4MinnesotaWon 39–7 at Northwestern+32Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 20vsWashingtonW 27–⁠1165%
Sep 27vsSMUW 23–⁠1561%
Oct 4atNotre DameL 28–⁠4236%
Oct 11at1Ohio StateL 21–⁠5425%
Oct 18vs13MichiganW 23–⁠1248%
Oct 25atIowaL 18–⁠1956%
Nov 1vsIndianaL 0–⁠1663%
Nov 8at10PurdueL 13–⁠4124%
Nov 15vsMinnesotaL 10–⁠1459%
Nov 22atNorthwesternW 39–⁠757%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 39–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 77th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 19

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1969.

Record
4–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠5 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
202–⁠231
Coach
Duffy Daugherty
Elo
1502 −24 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.4 No. 36 of 122 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Franklin Foreman and Rich Saul
Most valuable player
Ron Saul

Drafted in 1970

The 1970 draft
Rd 5Ron Saul OGHouston Oilers
Rd 7Craig Wycinsky OGCleveland Browns

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Ron SaulOGAP-1; UPI-1
  • Rich SaulDEUPI-1
  • Ron CurlDTAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Don LawLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1969 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1969 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠18–⁠14
Michigan6–⁠18–⁠39
Purdue5–⁠28–⁠218
Minnesota4–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa3–⁠45–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠44–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠43–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠43–⁠7
Michigan State2–⁠54–⁠6
Illinois0–⁠70–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.