CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Arizona

8–⁠5 (5–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Mike Stoops.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 2008, game by game: won vs. Idaho 70–0; won vs. Toledo 41–16; lost at New Mexico 28–36; won at UCLA 31–10; won vs. Washington 48–14; lost at Stanford 23–24; won vs. No. 25 California 42–27; lost vs. No. 6 USC 10–17; won at Washington State 59–28; lost at Oregon 45–55; lost vs. No. 21 Oregon State 17–19; won vs. Arizona State 31–10; won vs. No. 20 BYU 31–21+70−10Won 70–0 vs. Idaho+70IdahoWon 41–16 vs. Toledo+25ToledoLost 28–36 at New Mexico-8New MexicoWon 31–10 at UCLA+21UCLAWon 48–14 vs. Washington+34WashingtonLost 23–24 at Stanford-1StanfordWon 42–27 vs. No. 25 California+15No. 25 CaliforniaLost 10–17 vs. No. 6 USC-7No. 6 USCWon 59–28 at Washington State+31Washington StateLost 45–55 at Oregon-10OregonLost 17–19 vs. No. 21 Oregon State-2No. 21 Oregon StateWon 31–10 vs. Arizona State+21Arizona StateWon 31–21 vs. No. 20 BYU+10No. 20 BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsIdahoW 70–⁠082%
Sep 6vsToledoW 41–⁠1673%
Sep 13atNew MexicoL 28–⁠3654%
Sep 20atUCLAW 31–⁠1043%
Oct 4vsWashingtonW 48–⁠1478%
Oct 11atStanfordL 23–⁠2461%
Oct 18vs25CaliforniaW 42–⁠2753%
Oct 25vs6USCL 10–⁠1734%
Nov 8atWashington StateW 59–⁠2876%
Nov 15atOregonL 45–⁠5537%
Nov 22vs21Oregon StateL 17–⁠1946%
Dec 6vsArizona StateW 31–⁠1062%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvs20BYULas Vegas BowlW 31–⁠2138%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat BYU 31–⁠21 in the Las Vegas Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠4 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
476–⁠277
Coach
Mike Stoops
Elo
1633 +102 this season
SP+ rating
16.3 No. 22 of 120; offense No. 22, defense No. 43, special teams No. 11
SRS
10.2 No. 22 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 27
Offensive coordinator
Sonny Dykes
Defensive coordinator
Mark Stoops
Offense
Air raid
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense38th of 120
  • Defense60th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted36th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted60th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0541%0.8838th of 120
Defense0.0341%0.8460th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.03 def		42% off
40% def		—36th off
60th 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-0.2own 332% allowed
Defense-0.1own 323% 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

Robert Golden CB★★★★No. 117
Apaiata Tuihalamaka SDE★★★★No. 149
Solomon Koehler DT★★★★No. 163
Matt Scott DUAL★★★★No. 289
Zander Fabbri ILB★★★No. 473

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.900
Receivers13.00.818
Offensive line13.00.878
Defensive line53.20.865
Linebackers13.00.878
Defensive backs33.00.852
Whole class123.20.863

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 2Eben Britton OTJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Mike Thomas WRJacksonville Jaguars

All-Pac-10

3 first team, 4 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.