1985 Michigan State
7–5 (5–3 Big Ten), coached by George Perles. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Wisconsin 41–7Nov 23
By 34 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14 | vs Arizona State | W 12–3 | 50% |
| Sep 21 | at Notre Dame | L 10–27 | 34% |
| Sep 28 | vs Western Michigan | W 7–3 | 68% |
| Oct 5 | at 1Iowa | L 31–35 | 22% |
| Oct 12 | vs 3Michigan | L 0–31 | 33% |
| Oct 19 | vs Illinois | L 17–30 | 49% |
| Oct 26 | at Purdue | W 28–24 | 34% |
| Nov 2 | vs Minnesota | W 31–26 | 51% |
| Nov 9 | at Indiana | W 35–16 | 54% |
| Nov 16 | vs Northwestern | W 32–0 | 78% |
| Nov 23 | at Wisconsin | W 41–7 | 39% |
| Dec 31Bowls & playoff | vs Georgia TechAll-American Bowl | L 14–17 | 40% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 17–14 in the All-American Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 52nd-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 1985.
Heisman voteLorenzo White, fourth
Led the nationLorenzo White: rushing yards (2,066 yds)
- Record
- 7–5
- Conference
- 5–3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 258–219
- Coach
- George Perles
- Elo
- 1554 +75 this season
- SP+ rating
- 12.8 No. 26 of 106; offense No. 38, defense No. 24
- SRS
- 8.8 No. 28 of 110 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Defensive coordinator
- Nick Saban
- Captains
- Anthony Bell and John Wojciechowski
- Most valuable player
- Lorenzo White
Drafted in 1986
The 1986 draft| Rd 1 | Anthony Bell LB | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Rd 7 | Butch Rolle TE | Buffalo Bills |
All-Big Ten
4 first team, 3 second teamFirst team
Lorenzo WhiteRBAP-1; UPI-1
John WojciechowskiOGAP-1; UPI-2- Phil ParkerDBUPI-1
- Greg MontgomeryPAP-1; UPI-2
Second team
- Steve BogdalekOTAP-2
- Kelly QuinnDLUPI-2
- Shane BulloughLBAP-2; UPI-2
From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1985 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 7–1 | 10–2 | 10 |
| Michigan | 6–1–1 | 10–1–1 | 2 |
| Illinois | 5–2–1 | 6–5–1 | |
 Ohio State | 5–3 | 9–3 | 14 |
| Michigan State | 5–3 | 7–5 | |
| Minnesota | 4–4 | 7–5 | |
| Purdue | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Wisconsin | 2–6 | 5–6 | |
| Indiana | 1–7 | 4–7 | |
| Northwestern | 1–7 | 3–8 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.