CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 2007 season

LSU finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–⁠2 under Les Miles, after it beat Ohio State 38–⁠24 in the BCS National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Missouri 36, No. 2 Kansas 28 (Nov 24, 2007). 71 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida, who also won the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien.

The Heisman vote: Tim Tebow 1,957 points, Darren McFadden 1,703
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Tim Tebow QB, Florida1,957462229113
Darren McFadden RB, Arkansas1,703291355120
Colt Brennan QB, Hawaii63254114242
Chase Daniel QB, Missouri4252584182
Dennis Dixon QB, Oregon178173165
Pat White QB, West Virginia150162846
Matt Ryan QB, Boston College639722
Kevin Smith RB, UCF5531124
Glenn Dorsey DT, LSU30369
Chris Long DE, Virginia171210

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1LSU (60)Southeastern Conference
2Georgia (3)Southeastern Conference
3USC (1)Pac-10
4MissouriBig 12
5Ohio StateBig Ten
6West VirginiaBig East
7Kansas (1)Big 12
8OklahomaBig 12
9Virginia TechAtlantic Coast Conference
10Boston CollegeAtlantic Coast Conference
10TexasBig 12
12TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
13FloridaSoutheastern Conference
14BYUMountain West Conference
15AuburnSoutheastern Conference
16Arizona StatePac-10
17CincinnatiBig East
18MichiganBig Ten
19Hawai’iWestern Athletic Conference
20IllinoisBig Ten
21ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
22Texas TechBig 12
23OregonPac-10
24WisconsinBig Ten
25Oregon StatePac-10

Biggest upsets

Nov 10, 2007Illinois 28, 1Ohio State 21
Nov 23, 2007Arkansas 50, 1LSU 48
Oct 6, 2007Stanford 24, 2USC 23
Oct 13, 2007Oregon State 31, 2California 28
Oct 18, 2007Rutgers 30, 2South Florida 27
Nov 3, 2007Florida State 27, 2Boston College 17
Nov 15, 2007Arizona 34, 2Oregon 24
Dec 1, 2007Pittsburgh 13, 2West Virginia 9
Sep 29, 2007Colorado 27, 3Oklahoma 24
Nov 17, 2007Texas Tech 34, 3Oklahoma 27
Sep 29, 2007Auburn 20, 4Florida 17
Sep 1, 2007App State 34, 5Michigan 32

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 11 in 2007, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13FinalBoston College: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 21, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 18, Wk 13 No. 15, Wk 14 No. 12, Final No. 1010 Boston CollegeTexas: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 19, Wk 7 No. 23, Wk 8 No. 19, Wk 9 No. 17, Wk 10 No. 14, Wk 11 No. 15, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 13, Wk 14 No. 17, Final No. 1010 TexasVirginia Tech: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 18, Wk 4 No. 17, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 15, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 11, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 6, Final No. 99 Virginia TechOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 9, Final No. 88 OklahomaKansas: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 20, Wk 8 No. 15, Wk 9 No. 12, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 7, Final No. 77 KansasWest Virginia: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 13, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 2, Final No. 66 West VirginiaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 12, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 3, Final No. 55 Ohio StateMissouri: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 25, Wk 5 No. 20, Wk 6 No. 17, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 15, Wk 9 No. 13, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 1, Final No. 44 MissouriUSC: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 13, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 12, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 8, Final No. 33 USCGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 13, Wk 2 No. 11, Wk 3 No. 23, Wk 4 No. 22, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 24, Wk 8 No. 21, Wk 9 No. 20, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 4, Final No. 22 GeorgiaLSU: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 5, Final No. 11 LSU
The top 11 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Missouriunranked → No. 4
  2. Kansasunranked → No. 7
  3. Boston Collegeunranked → No. 10
  4. BYUunranked → No. 14
  5. GeorgiaNo. 13 → No. 2

Fell

  1. WisconsinNo. 7 → No. 24
  2. LouisvilleNo. 10 → unranked
  3. CaliforniaNo. 12 → unranked
  4. MichiganNo. 5 → No. 18
  5. UCLANo. 14 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsGraham Harrell (Texas Tech)5,705 yds
Passing touchdownsGraham Harrell (Texas Tech)48 TD
Passer ratingSam Bradford (Oklahoma)176.5
Rushing yardsKevin Smith (UCF)2,567 yds
Rushing touchdownsKevin Smith (UCF)29 TD
Yards per carryPercy Harvin (Florida)9.2
ReceptionsMichael Crabtree (Texas Tech)134 catches
Receiving yardsMichael Crabtree (Texas Tech)1,962 yds
Yards per catchBrennan Marion (Tulsa)31.9
Receiving touchdownsMichael Crabtree (Texas Tech)22 TD
PointsKevin Smith (UCF)180 pts
Points per gameKevin Smith (UCF)15.0
Total offenseGraham Harrell (Texas Tech)5,614 yds
Total offense per gameGraham Harrell (Texas Tech)431.8
Punt return averageKevin Robinson (Utah State)18.9
Kickoff return averageA.J. Jefferson (Fresno State)35.8

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

FBS

Atlantic Coast Conference
Virginia Tech
Big 12
Oklahoma
Big East
UConn and West Virginia (shared)
Big Ten
Ohio State
Conference USA
UCF
Mid-American Conference
Central Michigan
Mountain West Conference
BYU
Pac-10
Arizona State and USC (shared)
Southeastern Conference
LSU
Sun Belt Conference
Florida Atlantic and Troy (shared)
Western Athletic Conference
Hawai’i

FCS

Big Sky
Montana
Big South
Liberty
Colonial Athletic Association
Massachusetts and Richmond (shared)
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa
Great West Conference
South Dakota State
Ivy League
Harvard
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Duquesne and Marist (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Delaware State
Northeast Conference
UAlbany
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League
Fordham
Pioneer Football League
Dayton and San Diego (shared)
Southern Conference
App State and Wofford (shared)
Southland Conference
McNeese
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State

Division II and below

Heart of America Athletic Conference
Lindenwood
Northeast 10
Bryant

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

28 playersAll 12 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2007 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2007 All-America teams page.

The 2007 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

LSU 39 on the staff list

Support staff (29)

Analysts and quality control

  • John Papuchis administrative Intern

Strength and conditioning

  • Tommy Moffitt strength & conditioning coordinator
  • Jimmy Brumbaugh Asst. strength and conditioning coordinator
  • Mike Ekeler assistant strength coach
  • Melissa Moore assistant strength coach
  • Jeremy Phillips assistant strength coach
  • Brad Price assistant strength coach
  • Corey Raymond assistant strength coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Mack Butler Asst. AD, football administration
  • Sam Nader Asst. AD, football operations
  • Sharon Mangum assistant AD, football recruiting and Alumni relations
  • Charles Baglio coordinator high school relations
  • Tamara Davis coordinator of offensive operations
  • Johanna Trees coordinator of defensive operations
  • Ya’el Lofton coordinator of football operations
  • Lois Stuckey administrative assistant
  • Brendan Farrell administrative Intern
  • Dr. Sam Nader assistant athletics director for football operations

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Jack Marucci director of athletic training
  • Andy Barker senior associate athletic trainer
  • Shelly Mullenix sr. associate trainer

Equipment

  • Greg Stringfellow equipment manager
  • Ferrell Shillings Asst. equipment manager
  • George Branigan Asst. equipment manager
  • Garland Rodriguez Asst. equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • Doug Aucoin Videography director
  • Brad Mendow Asst. Videography director
  • Steve Franz Photography coordinator (LSU coordinator of Photography)
  • Michael Bonnette assistant athletics director, sports Information director (football)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Final BCS standings

1Ohio State11–⁠1
2LSU11–⁠2
3Virginia Tech11–⁠2
4Oklahoma11–⁠2
5Georgia10–⁠2
6Missouri11–⁠2
7USC10–⁠2
8Kansas11–⁠1
9West Virginia10–⁠2
10Hawai’i12–⁠0
11Arizona State10–⁠2
12Florida9–⁠3
13Illinois9–⁠3
14Boston College10–⁠3
15Clemson9–⁠3
16Tennessee9–⁠4
17BYU10–⁠2
18Wisconsin9–⁠3
19Texas9–⁠3
20Virginia9–⁠3
21South Florida9–⁠3
22Cincinnati9–⁠3
23Auburn8–⁠4
24Boise State10–⁠2
25UConn9–⁠3

The last standings of the season, released December 2: the Bowl Championship Series’ formula of polls and computer rankings that matched No. 1 and No. 2 in the title game, 1998–⁠2013. From Wikipedia’s season rankings article (CC BY-SA); records as it lists them.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 20, 2007Utah 35, Navy 32Poinsettia Bowl
Dec 21, 2007Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27New Orleans Bowl
Dec 22, 200720Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss 21PapaJohns.com Bowl
Dec 22, 2007New Mexico 23, Nevada 0New Mexico Bowl
Dec 22, 200721BYU 17, UCLA 16Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 23, 2007East Carolina 41, 24Boise State 38Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2007Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48Motor City Bowl
Dec 27, 200717Texas 52, 13Arizona State 34Holiday Bowl
Dec 28, 200712Boston College 24, Michigan State 21Champs Sports Bowl
Dec 28, 2007TCU 20, Houston 13Texas Bowl
Dec 28, 2007Oregon State 21, Maryland 14Emerald Bowl
Dec 29, 2007Wake Forest 24, UConn 10Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec 29, 2007Mississippi State 10, UCF 3Liberty Bowl
Dec 29, 2007Penn State 24, Texas A&M 17Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 2007Alabama 30, Colorado 24Independence Bowl
Dec 31, 2007California 42, Air Force 36Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 31, 2007Fresno State 40, Georgia Tech 28Humanitarian Bowl
Dec 31, 200718Oregon 56, 25South Florida 21Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 2007Kentucky 35, Florida State 28Music City Bowl
Dec 31, 2007Oklahoma State 49, Indiana 33Insight Bowl
Dec 31, 200723Auburn 23, 16Clemson 20Chick-fil-A Bowl
Jan 1, 200814Tennessee 21, 19Wisconsin 17Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 20081Missouri 38, Arkansas 7Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 2008Michigan 41, 10Florida 35Capital One Bowl
Jan 1, 2008Texas Tech 31, 22Virginia 28Gator Bowl
Jan 1, 20088USC 49, 15Illinois 17Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 20084Georgia 41, 11Hawai’i 10Sugar Bowl
Jan 2, 20082West Virginia 48, 9Oklahoma 28Fiesta Bowl
Jan 3, 20087Kansas 24, 6Virginia Tech 21Orange Bowl
Jan 5, 2008Rutgers 52, Ball State 30International Bowl
Jan 6, 2008Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7GMAC Bowl
Jan 7, 20085LSU 38, 3Ohio State 24BCS National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2007 NCAA rule book against the one before: 5 changed articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Changed Rule 1-3-2 Administration and Enforcement (The Ball Specifications)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • Changed Rule 2-25-11 Postscrimmage Kick Spot (Spots Enforcement Spot)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • Changed Rule 3-2-5 When Clock Starts (Playing Time and Intermissions Length of Periods and Intermissions)

Rule 8: Scoring

  • Changed Rule 8-3-5 Fouls After a Try (Try Down How Scored)

Rule 12: Instant Replay

  • Changed Rule 12-5-2 When to Stop a Game (Initiating the Replay Process Game Stop)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).