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2005 Michigan State

5–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by John Smith.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2005, game by game: won vs. Kent State 49–14; won vs. Hawai’i 42–14; won at No. 10 Notre Dame 44–41; won at Illinois 61–14; lost vs. Michigan 31–34; lost at No. 15 Ohio State 24–35; lost vs. Northwestern 14–49; won vs. Indiana 46–15; lost at Purdue 21–28; lost at Minnesota 18–41; lost vs. No. 5 Penn State 22–31+47−35Won 49–14 vs. Kent State+35Kent StateWon 42–14 vs. Hawai’i+28Hawai’iWon 44–41 at No. 10 Notre Dame+3No. 10 Notre DameWon 61–14 at Illinois+47IllinoisLost 31–34 vs. Michigan-3MichiganLost 24–35 at No. 15 Ohio State-11No. 15 Ohio StateLost 14–49 vs. Northwestern-35NorthwesternWon 46–15 vs. Indiana+31IndianaLost 21–28 at Purdue-7PurdueLost 18–41 at Minnesota-23MinnesotaLost 22–31 vs. No. 5 Penn State-9No. 5 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsKent StateW 49–⁠1465%
Sep 10vsHawai’iW 42–⁠1462%
Sep 17at10Notre DameW 44–⁠4136%
Sep 24atIllinoisW 61–⁠1464%
Oct 1vsMichiganL 31–⁠3456%
Oct 15at15Ohio StateL 24–⁠3535%
Oct 22vsNorthwesternL 14–⁠4965%
Oct 29vsIndianaW 46–⁠1570%
Nov 5atPurdueL 21–⁠2850%
Nov 12atMinnesotaL 18–⁠4134%
Nov 19vs5Penn StateL 22–⁠3134%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 31–⁠22; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 81st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 17
  2. Wk 5: 11
  3. Wk 6: 19
  4. Wk 7: 16
  5. Wk 8: 22
Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
372–⁠316
Coach
John Smith
Elo
1489 −24 this season
SP+ rating
12.9 No. 24 of 118; offense No. 9, defense No. 64
SRS
9.2 No. 31 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 34
Offensive coordinator
Dave Baldwin
Defensive coordinator
Chris Smeland
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense4th of 119
  • Defense108th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1947%1.034th of 119
Defense0.1544%1.01108th of 119
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
Offense-0.2own 292% allowed
Defense-0.1own 271% 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 2005 class

Haywood Howard DT★★No. 1127
Diego Oquendo WR★★No. 1132
Mike Schmeding OT★★No. 1132
Adam Decker ILB★★No. 1132
Dan Fortener WR★★No. 1514

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

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers22.00.761
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line22.00.761
Linebackers12.00.767
Whole class62.00.763

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 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 3Eric Smith DBNew York Jets
Rd 4Domata Peko DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Chris Morris COakland Raiders

All-Big Ten

1 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠315
Iowa5–⁠37–⁠5
Northwestern5–⁠37–⁠5
Michigan5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠9

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