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2013 Michigan State

13–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Mark Dantonio, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2013, game by game: won vs. Western Michigan 26–13; won vs. South Florida 21–6; won vs. Youngstown State 55–17; lost at No. 22 Notre Dame 13–17; won at Iowa 26–14; won vs. Indiana 42–28; won vs. Purdue 14–0; won at Illinois 42–3; won vs. No. 23 Michigan 29–6; won at Nebraska 41–28; won at Northwestern 30–6; won vs. Minnesota 14–3; won vs. No. 2 Ohio State 34–24; won vs. No. 5 Stanford 24–20+39−4Won 26–13 vs. Western Michigan+13Western MichiganWon 21–6 vs. South Florida+15South FloridaWon 55–17 vs. Youngstown State+38Youngstown StateLost 13–17 at No. 22 Notre Dame-4No. 22 Notre DameWon 26–14 at Iowa+12IowaWon 42–28 vs. Indiana+14IndianaWon 14–0 vs. Purdue+14PurdueWon 42–3 at Illinois+39IllinoisWon 29–6 vs. No. 23 Michigan+23No. 23 MichiganWon 41–28 at Nebraska+13NebraskaWon 30–6 at Northwestern+24NorthwesternWon 14–3 vs. Minnesota+11MinnesotaWon 34–24 vs. No. 2 Ohio State+10No. 2 Ohio StateWon 24–20 vs. No. 5 Stanford+4No. 5 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsWestern MichiganW 26–⁠1377%
Sep 7vsSouth FloridaW 21–⁠682%
Sep 14vsYoungstown StateW 55–⁠1782%
Sep 21at22Notre DameL 13–⁠1734%
Oct 5atIowaW 26–⁠1449%
Oct 12vsIndianaW 42–⁠2875%
Oct 19vsPurdueW 14–⁠085%
Oct 26atIllinoisW 42–⁠373%
Nov 2vs23MichiganW 29–⁠658%
Nov 16atNebraskaW 41–⁠2852%
Nov 23atNorthwesternW 30–⁠670%
Nov 30vsMinnesotaW 14–⁠380%
Dec 7vs2Ohio StateBig Ten Championship GameW 34–⁠2444%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5StanfordRose BowlW 24–⁠2047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Stanford 24–⁠20 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 24
  2. Wk 11: 18
  3. Wk 12: 14
  4. Wk 13: 13
  5. Wk 14: 11
  6. Wk 15: 10
  7. Wk 16: 4
  8. Final: 3

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference, won the Big Ten Championship Game

Jim Thorpe AwardDarqueze Dennard, CB

Consensus All-AmericanDarqueze Dennard, CB

Broyles AwardPat Narduzzi, coach

Record
13–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
411–⁠185
Coach
Mark Dantonio
Elo
1791 +209 this season
SP+ rating
19.7 No. 20 of 125; offense No. 66, defense No. 3, special teams No. 4
SRS
14.9 No. 17 of 125 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 37
Offensive coordinators
Dave Warner and Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinator
Pat Narduzzi
Captains
Max Bullough, Darqueze Dennard and Blake Treadwell
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense99th of 125
  • Defense1st of 125
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted107th of 125
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted2nd of 125
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0341%0.9099th of 125
Defense-0.0631%1.081st of 125
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
-0.01 def		40% off
33% def		—107th off
2nd 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 332% allowed
Defense-0.2own 262% 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 yardsConnor Cook QB2,755 yds
Passing touchdownsConnor Cook QB22 TD
Rushing yardsJeremy Langford RB1,422 yds
Rushing touchdownsJeremy Langford RB18 TD
Receiving yardsTony Lippett WR613 yds
Receiving touchdownsJosiah Price TE4 TD
InterceptionsDarqueze Dennard CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2013 class

Jon Reschke ILB★★★★No. 186
Damion Terry DUAL★★★★No. 204
Shane Jones ILB★★★★No. 259
Dennis Finley OT★★★★No. 322
Delton Williams ATH★★★No. 486

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

The 2013 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.919
Receivers12.00.794
Offensive line14.00.894
Defensive line23.00.815
Linebackers24.00.914
Defensive backs33.00.849
Athletes and specialists13.00.871
Whole class113.30.862

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 2014

The 2014 draft
Rd 1Darqueze Dennard CBCincinnati Bengals

Roster 111

The 2013 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2013 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2013 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2013 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State8–⁠013–⁠13
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠29–⁠422
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠38–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠75–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠74–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠81–⁠11

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