CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1991 Michigan State

3–⁠8 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by George Perles.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1991, game by game: lost vs. Central Michigan 3–20; lost at No. 11 Notre Dame 10–49; lost vs. Rutgers 7–14; lost at Indiana 0–31; lost vs. No. 5 Michigan 28–45; won vs. Minnesota 20–12; lost at No. 14 Ohio State 17–27; lost vs. Northwestern 13–16; won at Wisconsin 20–7; lost at Purdue 17–27; won vs. Illinois 27–24+13−39Lost 3–20 vs. Central Michigan-17Central MichiganLost 10–49 at No. 11 Notre Dame-39No. 11 Notre DameLost 7–14 vs. Rutgers-7RutgersLost 0–31 at Indiana-31IndianaLost 28–45 vs. No. 5 Michigan-17No. 5 MichiganWon 20–12 vs. Minnesota+8MinnesotaLost 17–27 at No. 14 Ohio State-10No. 14 Ohio StateLost 13–16 vs. Northwestern-3NorthwesternWon 20–7 at Wisconsin+13WisconsinLost 17–27 at Purdue-10PurdueWon 27–24 vs. Illinois+3Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsCentral MichiganL 3–⁠2070%
Sep 21at11Notre DameL 10–⁠4929%
Sep 28vsRutgersL 7–⁠1475%
Oct 5atIndianaL 0–⁠3143%
Oct 12vs5MichiganL 28–⁠4528%
Oct 19vsMinnesotaW 20–⁠1254%
Oct 26at14Ohio StateL 17–⁠2727%
Nov 2vsNorthwesternL 13–⁠1674%
Nov 9atWisconsinW 20–⁠760%
Nov 16atPurdueL 17–⁠2756%
Nov 23vsIllinoisW 27–⁠2438%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 27–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 88th-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: 19
  3. Wk 3: 18

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 1991.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
162–⁠272
Coach
George Perles
Elo
1467 −145 this season
SP+ rating
-9.5 No. 79 of 104; offense No. 86, defense No. 64
SRS
−7.3 No. 76 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Norm Parker
Captains
Alan Haller, Courtney Hawkins, Bill Johnson, Jim Johnson and Brian Vooletich
Most valuable player
Chuck Bullough and Courtney Hawkins

Drafted in 1992

The 1992 draft
Rd 2Courtney Hawkins WRTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 3Bill Johnson DTCleveland Browns
Rd 5Alan Haller DBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Jim Johnson OTDenver Broncos

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Tico DuckettRBAP-2
  • Josh ButlandPAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1991 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1991 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠26
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠1–⁠110
Ohio State5–⁠38–⁠4
Indiana5–⁠37–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois4–⁠46–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠7
Michigan State3–⁠53–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠65–⁠6
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Minnesota1–⁠72–⁠9

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