Michigan State — Big Ten
PPA off / def
0.13 / 0.20
2025
Class rank
#45
class of 2026
Returning PPA
21%
returning production
vs Ohio State — OSU leads 38–14
| 2024 |
OSU W 38–7 | away |
| 2023 |
OSU W 38–3 | Columbus |
| 2022 |
OSU W 49–20 | away |
| 2021 |
OSU W 56–7 | Columbus |
| 2020 |
OSU W 52–12 | away |
| 2019 |
OSU W 34–10 | Columbus |
| 2018 |
OSU W 26–6 | away |
| 2017 |
OSU W 48–3 | Columbus |
| 2016 |
OSU W 17–16 | away |
| 2015 |
OSU L 14–17 | Columbus |
| + 42 earlier meetings in archive |
2026 schedule
2025 results (4–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 Michigan State's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (28 in / 46 out)
Origins
The template every land-grant university copied. Daugherty integrated aggressively when the South would not, and his 1965-66 teams — with Bubba Smith and Gene Washington — were the best in the country.
Founded 1855 · The nation's first agricultural college, and the model for the Morrill Act · first football 1896 · defined by Duffy Daugherty
All-time record
All-time
620–454–31
1898–2025
Win %
57.5%
121 seasons played
Winning seasons
62
51% of seasons
By level: D-III 0–7 (1898–1907) · FBS 620–447–31 (1908–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2013 | 13 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 2015 | 12 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2021 | 11 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2014 | 11 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2010 | 11 | 2 | Big Ten |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1898 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 309 | 54% |
45% | 41 of 136 | 5.4 | 10% |
| 2nd down | 240 | 46% |
43% | 58 of 136 | 5.7 | 13% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 41 | 59% |
63% | — | 5.1 | 10% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 56 | 27% |
34% | — | 5.5 | 13% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 57 | 25% |
18% | — | 5.6 | 16% |
| 4th down | 27 | 48% |
48% | — | 2.9 | 7% |
149 drives · 31% ended in points · 6.8 plays and 37.0 yards per drive · 0.68 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 10 | Minnesota |
(14:16) Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass complete short right to #3 R.Bullard Jr. caught at … |
71 | 6.84 |
| 4 | USC |
Aidan Chiles pass complete to Omari Kelly for 75 yds for a TD USC Penalty, Roughing The Pa… |
75 | 6.78 |
| 13 | Iowa |
(09:04) Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass complete deep left to #13 C.McCray caught at IOWA02… |
45 | 5.36 |
| 10 | Minnesota |
(02:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush middle for 85 yards gain to the MINN03 (#… |
85 | 5.27 |
| 12 | Penn State |
Shotgun #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush right for 57 yards gain to the PSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:46… |
57 | 4.47 |
| 8 | Indiana |
Aidan Chiles run for 64 yds to the IU 20 Aidan Chiles fumbled, recovered by MSU for a 1ST … |
64 | 4.31 |
| 9 | Michigan |
Shotgun #5 M.Frazier rush right for 49 yards gain to the UM25 (#15 E.Hausmann), out of bou… |
49 | 4.11 |
| 10 | Minnesota |
End of 3rd quarter. |
72 | 4.04 |