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2002 Auburn

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Tommy Tuberville, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2002, game by game: lost at No. 20 USC 17–24; won vs. Western Carolina 56–0; won vs. Vanderbilt 31–6; won at Mississippi State 42–14; won vs. Syracuse 37–34; lost vs. Arkansas 17–38; lost at Florida 23–30; won vs. No. 10 LSU 31–7; won at Ole Miss 31–24; won vs. UL Monroe 52–14; lost vs. No. 7 Georgia 21–24; won at No. 9 Alabama 17–7; won vs. No. 10 Penn State 13–9+56−21Lost 17–24 at No. 20 USC-7No. 20 USCWon 56–0 vs. Western Carolina+56Western CarolinaWon 31–6 vs. Vanderbilt+25VanderbiltWon 42–14 at Mississippi State+28Mississippi Sta…Won 37–34 vs. Syracuse+3SyracuseLost 17–38 vs. Arkansas-21ArkansasLost 23–30 at Florida-7FloridaWon 31–7 vs. No. 10 LSU+24No. 10 LSUWon 31–24 at Ole Miss+7Ole MissWon 52–14 vs. UL Monroe+38UL MonroeLost 21–24 vs. No. 7 Georgia-3No. 7 GeorgiaWon 17–7 at No. 9 Alabama+10No. 9 AlabamaWon 13–9 vs. No. 10 Penn State+4No. 10 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2at20USCL 17–⁠2438%
Sep 7vsWestern CarolinaW 56–⁠083%
Sep 14vsVanderbiltW 31–⁠672%
Sep 19atMississippi StateW 42–⁠1449%
Sep 28vsSyracuseW 37–⁠3455%
Oct 12vsArkansasL 17–⁠3861%
Oct 19atFloridaL 23–⁠3027%
Oct 26vs10LSUW 31–⁠732%
Nov 2atOle MissW 31–⁠2448%
Nov 9vsUL MonroeW 52–⁠1491%
Nov 16vs7GeorgiaL 21–⁠2445%
Nov 23at9AlabamaW 17–⁠723%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10Penn StateCapital One BowlW 13–⁠946%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Penn State 13–⁠9 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 24
  2. Wk 13: 24
  3. Wk 15: 20
  4. Wk 16: 20
  5. Final: 14

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 Arkansas and LSU

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 14
Points
388–⁠231
Coach
Tommy Tuberville
Elo
1645 +131 this season
SP+ rating
19.2 No. 15 of 117; offense No. 35, defense No. 12
SRS
14.5 No. 15 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 16
Offensive coordinator
Bobby Petrino
Defensive coordinator
Gene Chizik
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 35— allowed
Defense0.0own 29— 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

Ben Obomanu WR★★★★★No. 31
Montae Pitts ATH★★★★No. 77
Devin Aromashodu WR★★★★No. 81
Ben Grubbs SDE★★★No. 670
Wesley Hill PRO★★★No. 670

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

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Receivers34.00.917
Defensive line32.70.789
Linebackers12.00.767
Athletes and specialists32.70.834
Whole class113.00.835

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.

All-SEC

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Ben NowlandCAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Karlos DansbyLBAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Travaris RobinsonDBAP-1; Coaches-1

Second team

  • Ronnie BrownRBAP-2; Coaches-2
  • Mark BrownLBCoaches-2
  • Damon DuvalPAP-2

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.