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1985 Minnesota

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Lou Holtz, then John Gutekunst (bowl game).

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1985, game by game: won vs. Wichita State 28–14; won vs. Montana 62–17; lost vs. No. 2 Oklahoma 7–13; won vs. Purdue 45–15; won at Northwestern 21–10; won at Indiana 22–7; lost vs. No. 9 Ohio State 19–23; lost at Michigan State 26–31; won vs. Wisconsin 27–18; lost vs. No. 8 Michigan 7–48; lost at No. 3 Iowa 9–31; won vs. Clemson 20–13+45−41Won 28–14 vs. Wichita State+14Wichita StateWon 62–17 vs. Montana+45MontanaLost 7–13 vs. No. 2 Oklahoma-6No. 2 OklahomaWon 45–15 vs. Purdue+30PurdueWon 21–10 at Northwestern+11NorthwesternWon 22–7 at Indiana+15IndianaLost 19–23 vs. No. 9 Ohio State-4No. 9 Ohio StateLost 26–31 at Michigan State-5Michigan StateWon 27–18 vs. Wisconsin+9WisconsinLost 7–48 vs. No. 8 Michigan-41No. 8 MichiganLost 9–31 at No. 3 Iowa-22No. 3 IowaWon 20–13 vs. Clemson+7Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsWichita StateW 28–⁠1462%
Sep 21vsMontanaW 62–⁠1778%
Sep 28vs2OklahomaL 7–⁠1332%
Oct 5vsPurdueW 45–⁠1544%
Oct 12atNorthwesternW 21–⁠1055%
Oct 19atIndianaW 22–⁠749%
Oct 26vs9Ohio StateL 19–⁠2337%
Nov 2atMichigan StateL 26–⁠3149%
Nov 9vsWisconsinW 27–⁠1852%
Nov 16vs8MichiganL 7–⁠4832%
Nov 23at3IowaL 9–⁠3117%
Dec 21Bowls & playoffvsClemsonIndependence BowlW 20–⁠1336%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Clemson 20–⁠13 in the Independence Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 88th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 9: 20

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 1985.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
293–⁠240
Coach
Lou Holtz, then John Gutekunst (bowl game)
Elo
1509 +102 this season
SP+ rating
11.4 No. 29 of 106; offense No. 37, defense No. 29
SRS
6.8 No. 34 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
John Gutekunst
Captains
Jon Lilleberg and Peter Najarian

All-Big Ten

4 second team

Second team

  • Ray HitchcockCAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jon LillebergOGAP-2
  • Larry JoynerDLAP-2
  • Peter NajarianLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠210
Michigan6–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠12
Illinois5–⁠2–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Ohio State5–⁠39–⁠314
Michigan State5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Wisconsin2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠73–⁠8

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