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1984 Minnesota

4–⁠7 (3–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Lou Holtz.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1984, game by game: won vs. Rice 31–24; lost at No. 1 Nebraska 7–38; lost at Purdue 10–34; lost vs. No. 3 Ohio State 22–35; won vs. Indiana 33–24; won at Wisconsin 17–14; lost vs. Northwestern 28–31; lost vs. Michigan State 13–20; lost at Illinois 3–48; lost at Michigan 7–31; won vs. Iowa 23–17+9−45Won 31–24 vs. Rice+7RiceLost 7–38 at No. 1 Nebraska-31No. 1 NebraskaLost 10–34 at Purdue-24PurdueLost 22–35 vs. No. 3 Ohio State-13No. 3 Ohio StateWon 33–24 vs. Indiana+9IndianaWon 17–14 at Wisconsin+3WisconsinLost 28–31 vs. Northwestern-3NorthwesternLost 13–20 vs. Michigan State-7Michigan StateLost 3–48 at Illinois-45IllinoisLost 7–31 at Michigan-24MichiganWon 23–17 vs. Iowa+6Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsRiceW 31–⁠2461%
Sep 15at1NebraskaL 7–⁠388%
Sep 22atPurdueL 10–⁠3431%
Sep 29vs3Ohio StateL 22–⁠3516%
Oct 6vsIndianaW 33–⁠2454%
Oct 13atWisconsinW 17–⁠1420%
Oct 20vsNorthwesternL 28–⁠3166%
Oct 27vsMichigan StateL 13–⁠2042%
Nov 3atIllinoisL 3–⁠4815%
Nov 10atMichiganL 7–⁠3115%
Nov 17vsIowaW 23–⁠1717%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 23–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 133rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1984.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠6 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
194–⁠316
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1360 +13 this season
SP+ rating
-12.8 No. 89 of 106; offense No. 77, defense No. 91
SRS
−6.9 No. 79 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
John Gutekunst
Captain
Mark Vonderhaar
Most valuable player
Rickey Foggie

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

  • Peter NajarianLBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Adam KellyPAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1984 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1984 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠29–⁠313
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa5–⁠3–⁠18–⁠4–⁠116
Wisconsin5–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Michigan State5–⁠46–⁠6
Michigan5–⁠46–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠72–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠90–⁠11

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