CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Arizona State

5–⁠7 (4–⁠5 Pac-10), coached by Dennis Erickson.

Schedule and results

Arizona State in 2008, game by game: won vs. Northern Arizona 30–13; won vs. Stanford 41–17; lost vs. UNLV 20–23; lost vs. No. 3 Georgia 10–27; lost at California 14–24; lost at No. 8 USC 0–28; lost vs. Oregon 20–54; lost at Oregon State 25–27; won at Washington 39–19; won vs. Washington State 31–0; won vs. UCLA 34–9; lost at Arizona 10–31+31−34Won 30–13 vs. Northern Arizona+17Northern ArizonaWon 41–17 vs. Stanford+24StanfordLost 20–23 vs. UNLV-3UNLVLost 10–27 vs. No. 3 Georgia-17No. 3 GeorgiaLost 14–24 at California-10CaliforniaLost 0–28 at No. 8 USC-28No. 8 USCLost 20–54 vs. Oregon-34OregonLost 25–27 at Oregon State-2Oregon StateWon 39–19 at Washington+20WashingtonWon 31–0 vs. Washington State+31Washington StateWon 34–9 vs. UCLA+25UCLALost 10–31 at Arizona-21Arizona
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNorthern ArizonaW 30–⁠1387%
Sep 6vsStanfordW 41–⁠1776%
Sep 13vsUNLVL 20–⁠2384%
Sep 20vs3GeorgiaL 10–⁠2738%
Oct 4atCaliforniaL 14–⁠2437%
Oct 11at8USCL 0–⁠2817%
Oct 25vsOregonL 20–⁠5443%
Nov 1atOregon StateL 25–⁠2726%
Nov 8atWashingtonW 39–⁠1962%
Nov 15vsWashington StateW 31–⁠081%
Nov 28vsUCLAW 34–⁠964%
Dec 6atArizonaL 10–⁠3138%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona 31–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 93 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 15
Record
5–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠5 tied for 6th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
274–⁠272
Coach
Dennis Erickson
Elo
1525 −55 this season
SP+ rating
3.4 No. 54 of 120; offense No. 84, defense No. 39, special teams No. 32
SRS
1.8 No. 52 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 17
Offensive coordinator
Rich Olson
Defensive coordinator
Craig Bray
Captains
Rudy Carpenter and Troy Nolan
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense94th of 120
  • Defense24th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted101st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted21st of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0338%0.8194th of 120
Defense-0.0140%0.8924th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.00 off
-0.00 def		39% off
40% def		—101st off
21st 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-0.3own 323% allowed
Defense-0.1own 303% 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.

Top recruits in the 2008 class

Gerell Robinson ATH★★★★No. 73
Lawrence Guy DT★★★★No. 165
Ryan Bass RB★★★★No. 188
Kemonte Bateman WR★★★★No. 191
Jarrell Barbour S★★★★No. 198
Zach Schlink OG★★★★No. 320

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.850
Running backs14.00.921
Receivers23.50.898
Offensive line14.00.897
Defensive line43.30.866
Linebackers13.00.843
Defensive backs33.30.868
Athletes and specialists14.00.966
Whole class143.40.882

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 7Paul Fanaika OGPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Troy Nolan SHouston Texans

All-Pac-10

1 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠112–⁠13
Oregon7–⁠210–⁠310
Oregon State7–⁠29–⁠418
California6–⁠39–⁠4
Arizona5–⁠48–⁠5
Arizona State4–⁠55–⁠7
Stanford4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠64–⁠8
Washington State1–⁠82–⁠11
Washington0–⁠90–⁠12

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