CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2005 Minnesota

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Glen Mason.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 2005, game by game: won at Tulsa 41–10; won vs. Colorado State 56–24; won vs. Florida Atlantic 46–7; won vs. No. 11 Purdue 42–35; lost at Penn State 14–44; won at No. 21 Michigan 23–20; lost vs. No. 23 Wisconsin 34–38; lost vs. No. 12 Ohio State 31–45; won at Indiana 42–21; won vs. Michigan State 41–18; lost at Iowa 28–52; lost vs. Virginia 31–34+39−30Won 41–10 at Tulsa+31TulsaWon 56–24 vs. Colorado State+32Colorado StateWon 46–7 vs. Florida Atlantic+39Florida AtlanticWon 42–35 vs. No. 11 Purdue+7No. 11 PurdueLost 14–44 at Penn State-30Penn StateWon 23–20 at No. 21 Michigan+3No. 21 MichiganLost 34–38 vs. No. 23 Wisconsin-4No. 23 WisconsinLost 31–45 vs. No. 12 Ohio State-14No. 12 Ohio StateWon 42–21 at Indiana+21IndianaWon 41–18 vs. Michigan State+23Michigan StateLost 28–52 at Iowa-24IowaLost 31–34 vs. Virginia-3Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atTulsaW 41–⁠1059%
Sep 10vsColorado StateW 56–⁠2472%
Sep 17vsFlorida AtlanticW 46–⁠777%
Sep 24vs11PurdueW 42–⁠3555%
Oct 1atPenn StateL 14–⁠4450%
Oct 8at21MichiganW 23–⁠2035%
Oct 15vs23WisconsinL 34–⁠3855%
Oct 29vs12Ohio StateL 31–⁠4544%
Nov 5atIndianaW 42–⁠2163%
Nov 12vsMichigan StateW 41–⁠1866%
Nov 19atIowaL 28–⁠5235%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsVirginiaMusic City BowlL 31–⁠3451%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Virginia 34–⁠31 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 18
  2. Wk 7: 22

Rimington TrophyGreg Eslinger, C; also the Outland

Consensus All-AmericanGreg Eslinger, C

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
429–⁠348
Coach
Glen Mason
Elo
1570 +29 this season
SP+ rating
15.9 No. 20 of 118; offense No. 8, defense No. 48
SRS
12.0 No. 18 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 53
Offensive coordinators
Mitch Browning and Tony Petersen
Defensive coordinator
David Lockwood
Captains
Greg Eslinger, Anthony Montgomery, John Pawielski and Mark Setterstrom

How good, play by play

  • Offense45th of 119
  • Defense61st of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0844%0.8045th of 119
Defense0.0738%1.0761st of 119
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.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 322% allowed
Defense-0.1own 282% 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.

Top recruits in the 2005 class

Alex Daniels ATH★★★★No. 123
Troy Reilly TE★★★No. 829
Otis Hudson OG★★No. 1132
Richard Christy WR★★No. 1132
Jeff Brooks CB★★No. 1132

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

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers32.30.767
Offensive line22.00.767
Defensive line12.00.722
Defensive backs22.00.745
Athletes and specialists14.00.922
Whole class92.30.774

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 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1Laurence Maroney RBNew England Patriots
Rd 5Anthony Montgomery DTWashington Redskins
Rd 6Greg Eslinger CDenver Broncos
Rd 7Mark Setterstrom OGSt. Louis Rams

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠315
Iowa5–⁠37–⁠5
Northwestern5–⁠37–⁠5
Michigan5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠9

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