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2016 Michigan State

3–⁠9 (1–⁠8 Big Ten), coached by Mark Dantonio.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 2016, game by game: won vs. Furman 28–13; won at No. 18 Notre Dame 36–28; lost vs. No. 11 Wisconsin 6–30; lost at Indiana 21–24; lost vs. BYU 14–31; lost vs. Northwestern 40–54; lost at Maryland 17–28; lost vs. No. 2 Michigan 23–32; lost at Illinois 27–31; won vs. Rutgers 49–0; lost vs. No. 2 Ohio State 16–17; lost at No. 8 Penn State 12–45+49−33Won 28–13 vs. Furman+15FurmanWon 36–28 at No. 18 Notre Dame+8No. 18 Notre DameLost 6–30 vs. No. 11 Wisconsin-24No. 11 WisconsinLost 21–24 at Indiana-3IndianaLost 14–31 vs. BYU-17BYULost 40–54 vs. Northwestern-14NorthwesternLost 17–28 at Maryland-11MarylandLost 23–32 vs. No. 2 Michigan-9No. 2 MichiganLost 27–31 at Illinois-4IllinoisWon 49–0 vs. Rutgers+49RutgersLost 16–17 vs. No. 2 Ohio State-1No. 2 Ohio StateLost 12–45 at No. 8 Penn State-33No. 8 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsFurmanW 28–⁠1395%
Sep 17at18Notre DameW 36–⁠2849%
Sep 24vs11WisconsinL 6–⁠3064%
Oct 1atIndianaL 21–⁠2464%
Oct 8vsBYUL 14–⁠3168%
Oct 15vsNorthwesternL 40–⁠5464%
Oct 22atMarylandL 17–⁠2857%
Oct 29vs2MichiganL 23–⁠3232%
Nov 5atIllinoisL 27–⁠3160%
Nov 12vsRutgersW 49–⁠075%
Nov 19vs2Ohio StateL 16–⁠1719%
Nov 26at8Penn StateL 12–⁠4523%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 45–⁠12; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 12th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 78th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 12
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 17
Record
3–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠8 tied for 12th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
289–⁠333
Coach
Mark Dantonio
Elo
1502 −177 this season
SP+ rating
7.4 No. 50 of 128; offense No. 55, defense No. 39, special teams No. 45
SRS
−1.1 No. 71 of 128 in FBS
Returning
23% of last season’s EPA, No. 124 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 17 roster talent No. 22 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Dave Warner and Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel
Captains
Tyler O’Connor, Riley Bullough and Demetrius Cox
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense77th of 128
  • Defense70th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted52nd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted74th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0742%1.1977th of 128
Defense0.1342%1.2470th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
0.12 def		44% off
41% def		—52nd off
74th 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
Offense3.1own 2816% allowed
Defense3.8own 2913% caused

CORE rating -0.8, 68th of 128 (offense 1.6, defense 2.4).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTyler O’Connor QB1,970 yds
Passing touchdownsTyler O’Connor QB16 TD
Rushing yardsL.J. Scott RB994 yds
Rushing touchdownsL.J. Scott RB6 TD
Receiving yardsR.J. Shelton WR789 yds
Receiving touchdownsJosiah Price TE5 TD
TacklesChris Frey LB96 tkl
SacksDemetrius Cooper DE2.5 sacks
InterceptionsDarian Hicks CB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Josh King SDE★★★★No. 93
Auston Robertson WDE★★★★No. 102
Donnie Corley WR★★★★No. 107
Justin Layne WR★★★★No. 179
Naquan Jones DT★★★★No. 213
Trishton Jackson WR★★★★No. 223
Cameron Chambers WR★★★★No. 232
Demetric Vance S★★★★No. 234

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

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.909
Receivers53.80.914
Offensive line43.00.857
Defensive line53.40.882
Linebackers23.00.866
Defensive backs33.70.887
Athletes and specialists22.50.762
Whole class223.40.874

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 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 2Malik McDowell DTSeattle Seahawks
Rd 4Montae Nicholson SWashington Redskins

Roster 107

The 2016 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 66 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

3 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠26
Penn State8–⁠111–⁠37
Wisconsin7–⁠211–⁠39
Michigan7–⁠210–⁠310
Nebraska6–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa6–⁠38–⁠5
Minnesota5–⁠49–⁠4
Northwestern5–⁠47–⁠6
Indiana4–⁠56–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠73–⁠9
Michigan State1–⁠83–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠83–⁠9
Rutgers0–⁠92–⁠10

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