2006 Michigan State

4–⁠8 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by John Smith. Share

Schedule and results

Biggest winBeat Eastern Michigan 52–⁠20Sep 9
By 32 points, its widest win.

Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Date	Opponent	Result
Sep 2	vsIdaho	W 27–⁠17	76%
Sep 9	vsEastern Michigan	W 52–⁠20	71%
Sep 16	atPittsburgh	W 38–⁠23	33%
Sep 23	vs12Notre Dame	L 37–⁠40	50%
Sep 30	vsIllinois	L 20–⁠23	82%
Oct 7	at6Michigan	L 13–⁠31	20%
Oct 14	vs1Ohio State	L 7–⁠38	22%
Oct 21	atNorthwestern	W 41–⁠38	50%
Oct 28	atIndiana	L 21–⁠46	56%
Nov 4	vsPurdue	L 15–⁠17	51%
Nov 11	vsMinnesota	L 18–⁠31	50%
Nov 18	atPenn State	L 13–⁠17	19%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 17–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 96th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

Record: 4–⁠8
Conference: 1–⁠7 tied for 10th in Big Ten
AP final: Unranked
Points: 302–⁠341
Coach: John Smith
Elo: 1431 −62 this season
SP+ rating: -1.3 No. 66 of 119; offense No. 55, defense No. 78, special teams No. 46
SRS: −2.4 No. 65 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class: No. 44

Offensive coordinator: Dave Baldwin
Defensive coordinator: Chris Smeland
Offense: Spread
Defense: 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

Offense37th of 119
Defense59th of 119

	EPA per play	Success	Explosiveness	FBS rank
Offense		0.06	44%	0.93	37th of 119
Defense		0.04	40%	0.96	59th 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 40	Average start	Havoc
Offense		-0.2	own 31	2% allowed
Defense		-0.1	own 31	2% 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 2006 class

Patrick Rigan SDE	★★★	No. 328
Ashton Henderson CB	★★★	No. 782
J’Michael Deane DT	★★★	No. 1045
Conner Dixon DUAL	★★★	No. 1183
Roderick Jenrette ATH	★★	No. 1370

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

The 2006 class by position

	Signed	Stars	Rating
Quarterbacks	1	3.0	0.800
Receivers	1	2.0	0.700
Defensive line	2	3.0	0.846
Defensive backs	2	2.5	0.800
Athletes and specialists	1	2.0	0.767
Whole class	7	2.6	0.794

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 2007

The 2007 draft

Rd 2	Drew Stanton QB	Detroit Lions
Rd 5	Clifton Ryan DT	St. Louis Rams
Rd 7	Brandon Fields P	Miami Dolphins

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Brandon FieldsPCoaches-1; Media-1

Second team

Kyle CookOGCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 2006 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2006 Big Ten standings

Conference page

Team	Conf.	Overall	AP final
Ohio State	8–⁠0	12–⁠1	2
Wisconsin	7–⁠1	12–⁠1	7
Michigan	7–⁠1	11–⁠2	8
Penn State	5–⁠3	9–⁠4	24
Purdue	5–⁠3	8–⁠6
Minnesota	3–⁠5	6–⁠7
Indiana	3–⁠5	5–⁠7
Iowa	2–⁠6	6–⁠7
Northwestern	2–⁠6	4–⁠8
Michigan State	1–⁠7	4–⁠8
Illinois	1–⁠7	2–⁠10

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