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2011 Michigan State

11–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Mark Dantonio, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2011, game by game: won vs. Youngstown State 28–6; won vs. Florida Atlantic 44–0; lost at Notre Dame 13–31; won vs. Central Michigan 45–7; won at Ohio State 10–7; won vs. No. 11 Michigan 28–14; won vs. No. 4 Wisconsin 37–31; lost at No. 13 Nebraska 3–24; won vs. Minnesota 31–24; won at Iowa 37–21; won vs. Indiana 55–3; won at Northwestern 31–17; lost vs. No. 15 Wisconsin 39–42; won vs. No. 18 Georgia 33–30+52−21Won 28–6 vs. Youngstown State+22Youngstown StateWon 44–0 vs. Florida Atlantic+44Florida AtlanticLost 13–31 at Notre Dame-18Notre DameWon 45–7 vs. Central Michigan+38Central MichiganWon 10–7 at Ohio State+3Ohio StateWon 28–14 vs. No. 11 Michigan+14No. 11 MichiganWon 37–31 vs. No. 4 Wisconsin+6No. 4 WisconsinLost 3–24 at No. 13 Nebraska-21No. 13 NebraskaWon 31–24 vs. Minnesota+7MinnesotaWon 37–21 at Iowa+16IowaWon 55–3 vs. Indiana+52IndianaWon 31–17 at Northwestern+14NorthwesternLost 39–42 vs. No. 15 Wisconsin-3No. 15 WisconsinWon 33–30 vs. No. 18 Georgia+3No. 18 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsYoungstown StateW 28–⁠690%
Sep 10vsFlorida AtlanticW 44–⁠084%
Sep 17atNotre DameL 13–⁠3150%
Sep 24vsCentral MichiganW 45–⁠778%
Oct 1atOhio StateW 10–⁠733%
Oct 15vs11MichiganW 28–⁠1459%
Oct 22vs4WisconsinW 37–⁠3145%
Oct 29at13NebraskaL 3–⁠2441%
Nov 5vsMinnesotaW 31–⁠2487%
Nov 12atIowaW 37–⁠2144%
Nov 19vsIndianaW 55–⁠391%
Nov 26atNorthwesternW 31–⁠1764%
Dec 3vs15WisconsinBig Ten Championship GameL 39–⁠4243%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs18GeorgiaOutback BowlW 33–⁠3050%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Georgia 33–⁠30 in the Outback Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 7: 23
  5. Wk 8: 15
  6. Wk 9: 9
  7. Wk 10: 15
  8. Wk 11: 13
  9. Wk 12: 12
  10. Wk 13: 11
  11. Wk 14: 11
  12. Wk 15: 12
  13. Final: 11

Big Ten Legends champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJerel Worthy, DT

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 9
Points
434–⁠257
Coach
Mark Dantonio
Elo
1707 +103 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 13 of 120; offense No. 26, defense No. 9, special teams No. 20
SRS
10.4 No. 22 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 32
Offensive coordinator
Dan Roushar
Defensive coordinator
Pat Narduzzi
Captains
Kirk Cousins, Joel Foreman and Trenton Robinson

How good, play by play

  • Offense89th of 120
  • Defense4th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted110th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted4th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0140%0.9289th of 120
Defense-0.0532%0.924th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
-0.04 def		40% off
32% def		—110th off
4th 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-0.2own 342% allowed
Defense-0.6own 283% 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 QB3,316 yds
Passing touchdownsKirk Cousins QB25 TD
Rushing yardsLe’Veon Bell RB948 yds
Rushing touchdownsLe’Veon Bell RB13 TD
Receiving yardsB.J. Cunningham WR1,306 yds
Receiving touchdownsB.J. Cunningham WR12 TD
InterceptionsIsaiah Lewis S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Lawrence Thomas WDE★★★★No. 46
Onaje Miller RB★★★No. 337
Donavon Clark OT★★★No. 351
Brandon Clemons DT★★★No. 382
Joel Heath SDE★★★No. 404

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.839
Running backs13.00.883
Receivers33.00.848
Offensive line13.00.881
Defensive line73.10.870
Defensive backs23.00.832
Whole class153.10.860

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 2Jerel Worthy DTGreen Bay Packers
Rd 4Kirk Cousins QBWashington Redskins
Rd 4Keshawn Martin WRHouston Texans
Rd 6Trent Robinson SSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6B.J. Cunningham WRMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Edwin Baker RBSan Diego Chargers

Roster 111

The 2011 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 7 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠311
Michigan6–⁠211–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠211–⁠310
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠4
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠424
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠6
Ohio State3–⁠56–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠67–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠81–⁠11

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