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2010 Alabama

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Nick Saban, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 2010, game by game: won vs. San José State 48–3; won vs. No. 18 Penn State 24–3; won at Duke 62–13; won at No. 10 Arkansas 24–20; won vs. No. 7 Florida 31–6; lost at No. 19 South Carolina 21–35; won vs. Ole Miss 23–10; won at Tennessee 41–10; lost at No. 12 LSU 21–24; won vs. No. 17 Mississippi State 30–10; won vs. Georgia State 63–7; lost vs. No. 2 Auburn 27–28; won vs. No. 7 Michigan State 49–7+56−14Won 48–3 vs. San José State+45San José StateWon 24–3 vs. No. 18 Penn State+21No. 18 Penn StateWon 62–13 at Duke+49DukeWon 24–20 at No. 10 Arkansas+4No. 10 ArkansasWon 31–6 vs. No. 7 Florida+25No. 7 FloridaLost 21–35 at No. 19 South Carolina-14No. 19 South CarolinaWon 23–10 vs. Ole Miss+13Ole MissWon 41–10 at Tennessee+31TennesseeLost 21–24 at No. 12 LSU-3No. 12 LSUWon 30–10 vs. No. 17 Mississippi State+20No. 17 Mississippi Sta…Won 63–7 vs. Georgia State+56Georgia StateLost 27–28 vs. No. 2 Auburn-1No. 2 AuburnWon 49–7 vs. No. 7 Michigan State+42No. 7 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsSan José StateW 48–⁠392%
Sep 11vs18Penn StateW 24–⁠369%
Sep 18atDukeW 62–⁠1381%
Sep 25at10ArkansasW 24–⁠2063%
Oct 2vs7FloridaW 31–⁠659%
Oct 9at19South CarolinaL 21–⁠3575%
Oct 16vsOle MissW 23–⁠1080%
Oct 23atTennesseeW 41–⁠1079%
Nov 6at12LSUL 21–⁠2458%
Nov 13vs17Mississippi StateW 30–⁠1078%
Nov 18vsGeorgia StateW 63–⁠795%
Nov 26vs2AuburnL 27–⁠2867%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7Michigan StateCapital One BowlW 49–⁠764%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 49–⁠7 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 1
  7. Wk 7: 8
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 6
  10. Wk 10: 5
  11. Wk 11: 11
  12. Wk 12: 10
  13. Wk 13: 9
  14. Wk 14: 17
  15. Wk 15: 15
  16. Final: 10
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 1
Points
464–⁠176
Coach
Nick Saban
Elo
1808 +67 this season
SP+ rating
30.1 No. 1 of 120; offense No. 4, defense No. 7, special teams No. 50
SRS
20.5 No. 5 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 4
Offensive coordinator
Jim McElwain
Defensive coordinator
Kirby Smart
Captains
Mark Barron, Dont’a Hightower and Greg McElroy
Most valuable player
Julio Jones
Offense
Multiple pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense4th of 120
  • Defense15th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted3rd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted9th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1649%0.884th of 120
Defense-0.0135%1.0415th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
-0.01 def		49% off
35% def		—3rd off
9th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 322% allowed
Defense-0.1own 273% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsGreg McElroy QB2,987 yds
Passing touchdownsGreg McElroy QB20 TD
Rushing yardsMark Ingram RB875 yds
Rushing touchdownsMark Ingram RB13 TD
Receiving yardsJulio Jones WR1,133 yds
Receiving touchdownsJulio Jones WR7 TD
InterceptionsRobert Lester DB8 INT

Top recruits in the 2010 class

Dee Milliner CB★★★★★No. 14
Phillip Sims PRO★★★★★No. 31
John Fulton CB★★★★No. 36
C.J. Mosley ILB★★★★No. 79
Alfy Hill SDE★★★★No. 81
Adrian Hubbard OLB★★★★No. 89
DeAndrew White WR★★★★No. 105
Jarrick Williams S★★★★No. 126

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

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.985
Running backs14.00.912
Receivers43.80.923
Offensive line23.50.905
Defensive line23.50.882
Linebackers24.00.961
Defensive backs54.00.934
Athletes and specialists23.50.859
Whole class193.80.920

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 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 1Marcell Dareus DTBuffalo Bills
Rd 1Julio Jones WRAtlanta Falcons
Rd 1James Carpenter OGSeattle Seahawks
Rd 1Mark Ingram RBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 7Greg McElroy QBNew York Jets

Roster 118

The 2010 roster

118 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

5 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn8–⁠014–⁠01
LSU6–⁠211–⁠28
Arkansas6–⁠210–⁠312
Alabama5–⁠310–⁠310
South Carolina5–⁠39–⁠522
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠415
Florida4–⁠48–⁠5
Georgia3–⁠56–⁠7
Tennessee3–⁠56–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠66–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠74–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠10

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