CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Michigan State

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

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1986, game by game: lost at Arizona State 17–20; won vs. No. 20 Notre Dame 20–15; won vs. Western Michigan 45–10; lost vs. No. 11 Iowa 21–24; lost at No. 4 Michigan 6–27; won at Illinois 29–21; won vs. Purdue 37–3; won at Minnesota 52–23; lost vs. Indiana 14–17; lost at Northwestern 21–24; won vs. Wisconsin 23–13+35−21Lost 17–20 at Arizona State-3Arizona StateWon 20–15 vs. No. 20 Notre Dame+5No. 20 Notre DameWon 45–10 vs. Western Michigan+35Western MichiganLost 21–24 vs. No. 11 Iowa-3No. 11 IowaLost 6–27 at No. 4 Michigan-21No. 4 MichiganWon 29–21 at Illinois+8IllinoisWon 37–3 vs. Purdue+34PurdueWon 52–23 at Minnesota+29MinnesotaLost 14–17 vs. Indiana-3IndianaLost 21–24 at Northwestern-3NorthwesternWon 23–13 vs. Wisconsin+10Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atArizona StateL 17–⁠2036%
Sep 20vs20Notre DameW 20–⁠1556%
Sep 27vsWestern MichiganW 45–⁠1076%
Oct 4vs11IowaL 21–⁠2444%
Oct 11at4MichiganL 6–⁠2723%
Oct 18atIllinoisW 29–⁠2147%
Oct 25vsPurdueW 37–⁠378%
Nov 1atMinnesotaW 52–⁠2347%
Nov 8vsIndianaL 14–⁠1772%
Nov 15atNorthwesternL 21–⁠2475%
Nov 22vsWisconsinW 23–⁠1376%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 23–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 49th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 20
  3. Wk 4: 19
  4. Wk 5: 17

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 1986.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
285–⁠197
Coach
George Perles
Elo
1573 +37 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 23 of 101; offense No. 28, defense No. 25
SRS
9.8 No. 22 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Morris Watts
Defensive coordinator
Nick Saban
Captains
Shane Bullough and Dave Yarema
Most valuable player
Mark Ingram and Dave Yarema

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 1Mark Ingram WRNew York Giants

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dave YaremaQBUPI-2
  • Lorenzo WhiteRBUPI-2
  • Mark Ingram Sr.WRAP-2; UPI-2
  • John BuddeLinemen-outside linebackersAP-2
  • Mark NicholsLinemen-outside linebackersAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠37
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠316
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠63–⁠9

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