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2002 Arkansas

9–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2002, game by game: won vs. Boise State 41–14; won vs. South Florida 42–3; lost vs. Alabama 12–30; lost at No. 10 Tennessee 38–41; won at No. 24 Auburn 38–17; lost vs. Kentucky 17–29; won vs. Ole Miss 48–28; won vs. Troy 23–0; won at South Carolina 23–0; won vs. Louisiana 24–17; won at Mississippi State 26–19; won vs. No. 18 LSU 21–20; lost vs. No. 4 Georgia 3–30; lost vs. Minnesota 14–29+39−27Won 41–14 vs. Boise State+27Boise StateWon 42–3 vs. South Florida+39South FloridaLost 12–30 vs. Alabama-18AlabamaLost 38–41 at No. 10 Tennessee-3No. 10 TennesseeWon 38–17 at No. 24 Auburn+21No. 24 AuburnLost 17–29 vs. Kentucky-12KentuckyWon 48–28 vs. Ole Miss+20Ole MissWon 23–0 vs. Troy+23TroyWon 23–0 at South Carolina+23South CarolinaWon 24–17 vs. Louisiana+7LouisianaWon 26–19 at Mississippi State+7Mississippi Sta…Won 21–20 vs. No. 18 LSU+1No. 18 LSULost 3–30 vs. No. 4 Georgia-27No. 4 GeorgiaLost 14–29 vs. Minnesota-15Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsBoise StateW 41–⁠1452%
Sep 14vsSouth FloridaW 42–⁠361%
Sep 28vsAlabamaL 12–⁠3057%
Oct 5at10TennesseeL 38–⁠4131%
Oct 12at24AuburnW 38–⁠1739%
Oct 19vsKentuckyL 17–⁠2970%
Oct 26vsOle MissW 48–⁠2858%
Nov 2vsTroyW 23–⁠078%
Nov 9atSouth CarolinaW 23–⁠048%
Nov 16vsLouisianaW 24–⁠1789%
Nov 23atMississippi StateW 26–⁠1972%
Nov 29vs18LSUW 21–⁠2057%
Dec 7vs4GeorgiaSEC Championship GameL 3–⁠3039%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsMinnesotaMusic City BowlL 14–⁠2966%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 29–⁠14 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 43rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 16: 22

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

SEC West champions5–⁠3 in the conference, shared with Auburn and LSU

Consensus All-AmericanShawn Andrews, OL

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 22
Points
370–⁠277
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1580 +44 this season
SP+ rating
15.2 No. 23 of 117; offense No. 54, defense No. 16
SRS
10.4 No. 27 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 25
Defensive coordinator
Dave Wommack
Captains
Richie Butler, Chuck Nalley, Sparky Hamilton, Raymond House, Fred Talley and Gavin Walls
Offense
Multiple option
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 27— allowed
Defense0.0own 38— 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 2002 class

Chris Baker WR★★★★No. 66
Tony Ugoh OT★★★★No. 99
Sam Olajubutu ILB★★No. 898
Michael Coe WR★★No. 898

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

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers23.00.869
Offensive line14.00.937
Linebackers12.00.767
Whole class43.00.861

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 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 2Ken Hamlin DBSeattle Seahawks

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia7–⁠113–⁠13
Alabama6–⁠210–⁠311
Florida6–⁠28–⁠5
Auburn5–⁠39–⁠414
Arkansas5–⁠39–⁠5
LSU5–⁠38–⁠5
Tennessee5–⁠38–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠7
Mississippi State0–⁠83–⁠9
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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