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2011 Alabama

12–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Nick Saban, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 2011, game by game: won vs. Kent State 48–7; won at No. 23 Penn State 27–11; won vs. North Texas 41–0; won vs. No. 14 Arkansas 38–14; won at No. 12 Florida 38–10; won vs. Vanderbilt 34–0; won at Ole Miss 52–7; won vs. Tennessee 37–6; lost vs. No. 1 LSU 6–9; won at Mississippi State 24–7; won vs. Georgia Southern 45–21; won at Auburn 42–14; won vs. No. 1 LSU 21–0+45−3Won 48–7 vs. Kent State+41Kent StateWon 27–11 at No. 23 Penn State+16No. 23 Penn StateWon 41–0 vs. North Texas+41North TexasWon 38–14 vs. No. 14 Arkansas+24No. 14 ArkansasWon 38–10 at No. 12 Florida+28No. 12 FloridaWon 34–0 vs. Vanderbilt+34VanderbiltWon 52–7 at Ole Miss+45Ole MissWon 37–6 vs. Tennessee+31TennesseeLost 6–9 vs. No. 1 LSU-3No. 1 LSUWon 24–7 at Mississippi State+17Mississippi Sta…Won 45–21 vs. Georgia Southern+24Georgia SouthernWon 42–14 at Auburn+28AuburnWon 21–0 vs. No. 1 LSU+21No. 1 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsKent StateW 48–⁠786%
Sep 10at23Penn StateW 27–⁠1163%
Sep 17vsNorth TexasW 41–⁠093%
Sep 24vs14ArkansasW 38–⁠1468%
Oct 1at12FloridaW 38–⁠1053%
Oct 8vsVanderbiltW 34–⁠091%
Oct 15atOle MissW 52–⁠782%
Oct 22vsTennesseeW 37–⁠688%
Nov 5vs1LSUL 6–⁠960%
Nov 12atMississippi StateW 24–⁠770%
Nov 19vsGeorgia SouthernW 45–⁠2187%
Nov 26atAuburnW 42–⁠1467%
Jan 9Bowls & playoffvs1LSUBCS National ChampionshipW 21–⁠046%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat LSU 21–⁠0 in the BCS National Championship; No. 1 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 4
  12. Wk 12: 3
  13. Wk 13: 2
  14. Wk 14: 2
  15. Wk 15: 2
  16. Final: 1

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Heisman voteTrent Richardson, third

Doak Walker AwardTrent Richardson, RB

Outland TrophyBarrett Jones, OT; also the Wuerffel

4 consensus All-AmericansTrent Richardson, RB; Barrett Jones, OT; Dont’a Hightower, LB; Mark Barron, S

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
453–⁠106
Coach
Nick Saban
Elo
1876 +170 this season
SP+ rating
32.5 No. 1 of 120; offense No. 12, defense No. 1, special teams No. 77
SRS
26.1 No. 1 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 1
Offensive coordinator
Jim McElwain
Defensive coordinator
Kirby Smart
Captains
Mark Barron, Dont’a Hightower and Trent Richardson
Most valuable player
Trent Richardson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense44th of 120
  • Defense1st of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted31st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted1st of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0645%0.9044th of 120
Defense-0.1527%0.901st of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
-0.06 def		46% off
31% def		—31st off
1st 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 325% allowed
Defense-0.3own 283% 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 yardsA.J. McCarron QB2,634 yds
Passing touchdownsA.J. McCarron QB16 TD
Rushing yardsTrent Richardson RB1,679 yds
Rushing touchdownsTrent Richardson RB21 TD
Receiving yardsMarquis Maze WR627 yds
Receiving touchdownsBrad Smelley TE4 TD
InterceptionsDee Milliner DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Cyrus Kouandjio OT★★★★★No. 2
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix S★★★★★No. 7
Trey DePriest ILB★★★★★No. 31
Xzavier Dickson SDE★★★★No. 36
Dee Hart APB★★★★No. 38
Marvin Shinn WR★★★★No. 64
Jeoffrey Pagan SDE★★★★No. 69
Brent Calloway OLB★★★★No. 74

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs24.00.946
Receivers44.00.938
Offensive line34.00.927
Defensive line44.00.941
Linebackers24.50.974
Defensive backs24.00.938
Athletes and specialists14.00.893
Whole class184.10.939

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 1Trent Richardson RBCleveland Browns
Rd 1Mark Barron STampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 1Dre Kirkpatrick CBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 1Dont’a Hightower ILBNew England Patriots
Rd 2Courtney Upshaw DEBaltimore Ravens
Rd 5Josh Chapman DTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 5De’quan Menzie CBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 7Brad Smelley TECleveland Browns

Roster 119

The 2011 roster

119 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU8–⁠013–⁠12
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠110–⁠419
Arkansas6–⁠211–⁠25
South Carolina6–⁠211–⁠29
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida3–⁠57–⁠6
Mississippi State2–⁠67–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠66–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Tennessee1–⁠75–⁠7
Ole Miss0–⁠82–⁠10

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