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2004 Michigan State

5–⁠7 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by John Smith.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2004, game by game: lost at Rutgers 14–19; won vs. Central Michigan 24–7; lost vs. Notre Dame 24–31; won at Indiana 30–20; lost at Iowa 16–38; won vs. Illinois 38–25; won vs. No. 19 Minnesota 51–17; lost at No. 12 Michigan 37–45; lost vs. Ohio State 19–32; won vs. No. 4 Wisconsin 49–14; lost at Penn State 13–37; lost at Hawai’i 38–41+35−24Lost 14–19 at Rutgers-5RutgersWon 24–7 vs. Central Michigan+17Central MichiganLost 24–31 vs. Notre Dame-7Notre DameWon 30–20 at Indiana+10IndianaLost 16–38 at Iowa-22IowaWon 38–25 vs. Illinois+13IllinoisWon 51–17 vs. No. 19 Minnesota+34No. 19 MinnesotaLost 37–45 at No. 12 Michigan-8No. 12 MichiganLost 19–32 vs. Ohio State-13Ohio StateWon 49–14 vs. No. 4 Wisconsin+35No. 4 WisconsinLost 13–37 at Penn State-24Penn StateLost 38–41 at Hawai’i-3Hawai’i
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atRutgersL 14–⁠1957%
Sep 11vsCentral MichiganW 24–⁠780%
Sep 18vsNotre DameL 24–⁠3156%
Sep 25atIndianaW 30–⁠2056%
Oct 2atIowaL 16–⁠3832%
Oct 9vsIllinoisW 38–⁠2574%
Oct 16vs19MinnesotaW 51–⁠1739%
Oct 30at12MichiganL 37–⁠4522%
Nov 6vsOhio StateL 19–⁠3247%
Nov 13vs4WisconsinW 49–⁠1436%
Nov 20atPenn StateL 13–⁠3760%
Dec 4atHawai’iL 38–⁠4146%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Hawai’i 41–⁠38; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 71st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

Led the nationDeAndra’ Cobb: yards per carry (7.6)

Consensus All-AmericanBrandon Fields, P

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
353–⁠326
Coach
John Smith
Elo
1520 −12 this season
SP+ rating
4.9 No. 52 of 120; offense No. 32, defense No. 73
SRS
2.8 No. 50 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinator
Dave Baldwin
Defensive coordinator
Chris Smeland
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense28th of 118
  • Defense59th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0140%0.9528th of 118
Defense-0.0436%0.9859th of 118
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 294% allowed
Defense-0.1own 312% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2004 class

Roland Martin OT★★★★★No. 36
Jesse Miller OT★★No. 831
Justin Kershaw SDE★★No. 979
Tyrone McKenzie OLB★★No. 1839

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Offensive line23.50.886
Defensive line12.00.767
Linebackers12.00.744
Whole class42.80.821

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2005

The 2005 draft
Rd 6DeAndra Cobb RBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 6Dave Rayner KIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Kevin Vickerson DTMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Will Whitticker OGGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2004 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2004 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠28
Michigan7–⁠19–⁠314
Wisconsin6–⁠29–⁠317
Northwestern5–⁠36–⁠6
Ohio State4–⁠48–⁠420
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠5
Penn State2–⁠64–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠73–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠8

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