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2014 Alabama

12–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Nick Saban, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 2014, game by game: won vs. West Virginia 33–23; won vs. Florida Atlantic 41–0; won vs. Southern Miss 52–12; won vs. Florida 42–21; lost at No. 11 Ole Miss 17–23; won at Arkansas 14–13; won vs. No. 21 Texas A&M 59–0; won at Tennessee 34–20; won at No. 14 LSU 20–13; won vs. No. 1 Mississippi State 25–20; won vs. Western Carolina 48–14; won vs. No. 15 Auburn 55–44; won vs. No. 14 Missouri 42–13; lost vs. No. 5 Ohio State 35–42+59−7Won 33–23 vs. West Virginia+10West VirginiaWon 41–0 vs. Florida Atlantic+41Florida AtlanticWon 52–12 vs. Southern Miss+40Southern MissWon 42–21 vs. Florida+21FloridaLost 17–23 at No. 11 Ole Miss-6No. 11 Ole MissWon 14–13 at Arkansas+1ArkansasWon 59–0 vs. No. 21 Texas A&M+59No. 21 Texas A&MWon 34–20 at Tennessee+14TennesseeWon 20–13 at No. 14 LSU+7No. 14 LSUWon 25–20 vs. No. 1 Mississippi State+5No. 1 Mississippi Sta…Won 48–14 vs. Western Carolina+34Western CarolinaWon 55–44 vs. No. 15 Auburn+11No. 15 AuburnWon 42–13 vs. No. 14 Missouri+29No. 14 MissouriLost 35–42 vs. No. 5 Ohio State-7No. 5 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsWest VirginiaW 33–⁠2380%
Sep 6vsFlorida AtlanticW 41–⁠086%
Sep 13vsSouthern MissW 52–⁠1292%
Sep 20vsFloridaW 42–⁠2179%
Oct 4at11Ole MissL 17–⁠2353%
Oct 11atArkansasW 14–⁠1366%
Oct 18vs21Texas A&MW 59–⁠065%
Oct 25atTennesseeW 34–⁠2071%
Nov 8at14LSUW 20–⁠1350%
Nov 15vs1Mississippi StateW 25–⁠2065%
Nov 22vsWestern CarolinaW 48–⁠1496%
Nov 29vs15AuburnW 55–⁠4471%
Dec 6vs14MissouriSEC Championship GameW 42–⁠1359%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5Ohio StateSugar Bowl, CFP SemifinalL 35–⁠4251%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ohio State 42–⁠35 in the Sugar Bowl, CFP Semifinal; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 21st-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: 2
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 4
  12. Wk 12: 4
  13. Wk 13: 2
  14. Wk 14: 2
  15. Wk 15: 1
  16. Wk 16: 1
  17. Final: 4

Southeastern Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the SEC Championship Game

Heisman voteAmari Cooper, third

Led the nationAmari Cooper: receptions (124 catches)

Biletnikoff AwardAmari Cooper, WR

2 consensus All-AmericansAmari Cooper, WR; Landon Collins, DB

Bobby Dodd Coach of the YearNick Saban, coach

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
517–⁠258
Coach
Nick Saban
Elo
1809 +114 this season
SP+ rating
34.3 No. 1 of 128; offense No. 5, defense No. 1, special teams No. 43
SRS
23.5 No. 1 of 128 in FBS
Returning
57% of last season’s EPA, No. 68 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 1
Offensive coordinator
Lane Kiffin
Defensive coordinator
Kirby Smart
Captains
Landon Collins, Amari Cooper, Jalston Fowler and Blake Sims
Most valuable player
Amari Cooper
Offense
West Coast
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense6th of 128
  • Defense12th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted3rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted9th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3051%1.216th of 128
Defense0.0337%1.1512th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.34 off
0.03 def		53% off
34% 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
Offense4.2own 333% allowed
Defense2.7own 292% 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 yardsBlake Sims QB3,487 yds
Passing touchdownsBlake Sims QB28 TD
Rushing yardsDerrick Henry RB990 yds
Rushing touchdownsDerrick Henry RB11 TD
Receiving yardsAmari Cooper WR1,727 yds
Receiving touchdownsAmari Cooper WR16 TD
InterceptionsCyrus Jones DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Da’Shawn Hand SDE★★★★★No. 5
Cam Robinson OT★★★★★No. 4
Tony Brown CB★★★★★No. 9
Marlon Humphrey CB★★★★★No. 11
Rashaan Evans OLB★★★★★No. 14
Bo Scarbrough ATH★★★★★No. 16
Christian Miller OLB★★★★No. 40
Hootie Jones S★★★★No. 50

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.963
Receivers24.00.938
Offensive line54.00.934
Defensive line44.00.935
Linebackers44.30.965
Defensive backs34.70.988
Athletes and specialists34.00.908
Whole class224.10.945

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 1Amari Cooper WROakland Raiders
Rd 2Landon Collins SNew York Giants
Rd 2T.J. Yeldon RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Jalston Fowler FBTennessee Titans
Rd 4Arie Kouandjio OGWashington Redskins
Rd 7Austin Shepherd OTMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Xzavier Dickson DENew England Patriots

Roster 120

The 2014 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠24
Missouri7–⁠111–⁠314
Mississippi State6–⁠210–⁠311
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠417
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠522
LSU4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
Texas A&M3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠57–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠9

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