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2010 Michigan State

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Mark Dantonio, then Don Treadwell (games 4–⁠5), finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2010, game by game: won vs. Western Michigan 38–14; won vs. Florida Atlantic 30–17; won vs. Notre Dame 34–31; won vs. Northern Colorado 45–7; won vs. No. 11 Wisconsin 34–24; won at No. 18 Michigan 34–17; won vs. Illinois 26–6; won at Northwestern 35–27; lost at No. 18 Iowa 6–37; won vs. Minnesota 31–8; won vs. Purdue 35–31; won at Penn State 28–22; lost vs. No. 15 Alabama 7–49+38−42Won 38–14 vs. Western Michigan+24Western MichiganWon 30–17 vs. Florida Atlantic+13Florida AtlanticWon 34–31 vs. Notre Dame+3Notre DameWon 45–7 vs. Northern Colorado+38Northern Colora…Won 34–24 vs. No. 11 Wisconsin+10No. 11 WisconsinWon 34–17 at No. 18 Michigan+17No. 18 MichiganWon 26–6 vs. Illinois+20IllinoisWon 35–27 at Northwestern+8NorthwesternLost 6–37 at No. 18 Iowa-31No. 18 IowaWon 31–8 vs. Minnesota+23MinnesotaWon 35–31 vs. Purdue+4PurdueWon 28–22 at Penn State+6Penn StateLost 7–49 vs. No. 15 Alabama-42No. 15 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsWestern MichiganW 38–⁠1468%
Sep 11vsFlorida AtlanticW 30–⁠1761%
Sep 18vsNotre DameW 34–⁠3164%
Sep 25vsNorthern ColoradoW 45–⁠790%
Oct 2vs11WisconsinW 34–⁠2450%
Oct 9at18MichiganW 34–⁠1747%
Oct 16vsIllinoisW 26–⁠672%
Oct 23atNorthwesternW 35–⁠2754%
Oct 30at18IowaL 6–⁠3741%
Nov 6vsMinnesotaW 31–⁠886%
Nov 20vsPurdueW 35–⁠3184%
Nov 27atPenn StateW 28–⁠2246%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs15AlabamaCapital One BowlL 7–⁠4936%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 49–⁠7 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 25
  2. Wk 5: 24
  3. Wk 6: 17
  4. Wk 7: 13
  5. Wk 8: 8
  6. Wk 9: 5
  7. Wk 10: 16
  8. Wk 11: 10
  9. Wk 12: 11
  10. Wk 13: 11
  11. Wk 14: 7
  12. Wk 15: 7
  13. Final: 14

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Wisconsin

Consensus All-AmericanGreg Jones, LB

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 5
Points
383–⁠290
Coach
Mark Dantonio, then Don Treadwell (games 4–⁠5)
Elo
1655 +124 this season
SP+ rating
13.8 No. 27 of 120; offense No. 25, defense No. 46, special teams No. 2
SRS
7.2 No. 38 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 22
Offensive coordinator
Don Treadwell
Defensive coordinator
Pat Narduzzi
Captains
Aaron Bates, Kirk Cousins and Greg Jones

How good, play by play

  • Offense33rd of 120
  • Defense64th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted55th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0841%0.9833rd of 120
Defense0.0541%0.9664th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.04 def		41% off
40% def		—32nd off
55th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 302% allowed
Defense-0.1own 302% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsKirk Cousins QB2,825 yds
Passing touchdownsKirk Cousins QB20 TD
Rushing yardsEdwin Baker RB1,201 yds
Rushing touchdownsEdwin Baker RB13 TD
Receiving yardsMark Dell WR788 yds
Receiving touchdownsB.J. Cunningham WR9 TD
InterceptionsTrenton Robinson S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2010 class

William Gholston SDE★★★★★No. 18
Skyler Burkland OT★★★★No. 125
Max Bullough ILB★★★★No. 233
Skyler Schofner OT★★★★No. 253
Mylan Hicks CB★★★★No. 283
Isaiah Lewis S★★★★No. 315

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

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.890
Running backs22.50.804
Offensive line43.50.876
Defensive line43.50.887
Linebackers23.50.883
Defensive backs33.70.879
Athletes and specialists33.00.863
Whole class193.30.871

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 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 6Greg Jones ILBNew York Giants
Rd 6Chris L. Rucker CBIndianapolis Colts

Roster 106

The 2010 roster

106 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 32 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 7 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠15
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠27
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠214
Iowa4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠6
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠75–⁠7

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