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2008 Arkansas

5–⁠7 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bobby Petrino.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2008, game by game: won vs. Western Illinois 28–24; won vs. UL Monroe 28–27; lost vs. No. 9 Alabama 14–49; lost at No. 7 Texas 10–52; lost vs. No. 12 Florida 7–38; won at No. 20 Auburn 25–22; lost at Kentucky 20–21; lost vs. Ole Miss 21–23; won vs. No. 19 Tulsa 30–23; lost at South Carolina 21–34; lost at Mississippi State 28–31; won vs. LSU 31–30+7−42Won 28–24 vs. Western Illinois+4Western IllinoisWon 28–27 vs. UL Monroe+1UL MonroeLost 14–49 vs. No. 9 Alabama-35No. 9 AlabamaLost 10–52 at No. 7 Texas-42No. 7 TexasLost 7–38 vs. No. 12 Florida-31No. 12 FloridaWon 25–22 at No. 20 Auburn+3No. 20 AuburnLost 20–21 at Kentucky-1KentuckyLost 21–23 vs. Ole Miss-2Ole MissWon 30–23 vs. No. 19 Tulsa+7No. 19 TulsaLost 21–34 at South Carolina-13South CarolinaLost 28–31 at Mississippi State-3Mississippi Sta…Won 31–30 vs. LSU+1LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsWestern IllinoisW 28–⁠2483%
Sep 6vsUL MonroeW 28–⁠2765%
Sep 20vs9AlabamaL 14–⁠4956%
Sep 27at7TexasL 10–⁠5225%
Oct 4vs12FloridaL 7–⁠3832%
Oct 11at20AuburnW 25–⁠2226%
Oct 18atKentuckyL 20–⁠2133%
Oct 25vsOle MissL 21–⁠2370%
Nov 1vs19TulsaW 30–⁠2334%
Nov 8atSouth CarolinaL 21–⁠3433%
Nov 22atMississippi StateL 28–⁠3148%
Nov 28vsLSUW 31–⁠3039%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat LSU 31–⁠30; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 73rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
263–⁠374
Coach
Bobby Petrino
Elo
1506 −60 this season
SP+ rating
4.8 No. 51 of 120; offense No. 32, defense No. 68, special teams No. 107
SRS
−2.0 No. 70 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 25
Offensive coordinator
Paul Petrino
Defensive coordinator
Willy Robinson
Captains
Casey Dick, Jonathan Luigs, Jamar Love and Malcolm Sheppard
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense61st of 120
  • Defense63rd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted41st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted51st of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0340%0.9461st of 120
Defense0.0440%0.9263rd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.02 def		41% off
39% def		—41st off
51st 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 283% allowed
Defense0.0own 343% 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

De’Anthony Curtis CB★★★★No. 91
Tyler Wilson PRO★★★★No. 131
Joe Adams WR★★★★No. 139
Jarius Wright WR★★★★No. 266
Jerico Nelson OLB★★★★No. 289

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.937
Running backs23.00.849
Receivers43.50.881
Offensive line13.00.839
Defensive line42.50.817
Linebackers33.00.841
Defensive backs43.00.831
Athletes and specialists13.00.811
Whole class203.00.846

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 4Jonathan Luigs CCincinnati Bengals

All-SEC

1 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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠26
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠313
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠414
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Vanderbilt4–⁠47–⁠6
LSU3–⁠58–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠67–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠65–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠64–⁠8

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