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1984 Michigan State

6–⁠6 (5–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by George Perles.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1984, game by game: won at Colorado 24–21; lost vs. Notre Dame 20–24; lost at Illinois 7–40; lost vs. Purdue 10–13; won at No. 13 Michigan 19–7; won vs. Indiana 13–6; lost vs. No. 8 Ohio State 20–23; won at Minnesota 20–13; won vs. Northwestern 27–10; won at No. 18 Iowa 17–16; lost vs. Wisconsin 10–20; lost vs. Army 6–10+17−33Won 24–21 at Colorado+3ColoradoLost 20–24 vs. Notre Dame-4Notre DameLost 7–40 at Illinois-33IllinoisLost 10–13 vs. Purdue-3PurdueWon 19–7 at No. 13 Michigan+12No. 13 MichiganWon 13–6 vs. Indiana+7IndianaLost 20–23 vs. No. 8 Ohio State-3No. 8 Ohio StateWon 20–13 at Minnesota+7MinnesotaWon 27–10 vs. Northwestern+17NorthwesternWon 17–16 at No. 18 Iowa+1No. 18 IowaLost 10–20 vs. Wisconsin-10WisconsinLost 6–10 vs. Army-4Army
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8atColoradoW 24–⁠2144%
Sep 15vsNotre DameL 20–⁠2443%
Sep 22atIllinoisL 7–⁠4025%
Sep 29vsPurdueL 10–⁠1354%
Oct 6at13MichiganW 19–⁠717%
Oct 13vsIndianaW 13–⁠674%
Oct 20vs8Ohio StateL 20–⁠2330%
Oct 27atMinnesotaW 20–⁠1358%
Nov 3vsNorthwesternW 27–⁠1079%
Nov 10at18IowaW 17–⁠1622%
Nov 17vsWisconsinL 10–⁠2049%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvsArmyCherry BowlL 6–⁠1048%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Army 10–⁠6 in the Cherry Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 87th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

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 1984.

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
193–⁠203
Coach
George Perles
Elo
1469 +23 this season
SP+ rating
-1.1 No. 67 of 106; offense No. 91, defense No. 24
SRS
1.5 No. 55 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Nick Saban
Captain
Jim Morrissey
Most valuable player
Jim Morrissey

Drafted in 1985

The 1985 draft
Rd 4Ralf Mojsiejenko PSan Diego Chargers
Rd 5Mark Napolitan CSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6Terry Lewis DBSan Diego Chargers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Jim MorrisseyLBAP-2; UPI-1
  • Phil ParkerDBUPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1984 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1984 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠29–⁠313
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa5–⁠3–⁠18–⁠4–⁠116
Wisconsin5–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Michigan State5–⁠46–⁠6
Michigan5–⁠46–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠72–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠90–⁠11

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