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2014 Auburn

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2014, game by game: won vs. Arkansas 45–21; won vs. San José State 59–13; won at No. 20 Kansas State 20–14; won vs. Louisiana Tech 45–17; won vs. No. 15 LSU 41–7; lost at No. 3 Mississippi State 23–38; won vs. South Carolina 42–35; won at No. 7 Ole Miss 35–31; lost vs. Texas A&M 38–41; lost at No. 16 Georgia 7–34; won vs. Samford 31–7; lost at No. 2 Alabama 44–55; lost vs. No. 17 Wisconsin 31–34+46−27Won 45–21 vs. Arkansas+24ArkansasWon 59–13 vs. San José State+46San José StateWon 20–14 at No. 20 Kansas State+6No. 20 Kansas StateWon 45–17 vs. Louisiana Tech+28Louisiana TechWon 41–7 vs. No. 15 LSU+34No. 15 LSULost 23–38 at No. 3 Mississippi State-15No. 3 Mississippi Sta…Won 42–35 vs. South Carolina+7South CarolinaWon 35–31 at No. 7 Ole Miss+4No. 7 Ole MissLost 38–41 vs. Texas A&M-3Texas A&MLost 7–34 at No. 16 Georgia-27No. 16 GeorgiaWon 31–7 vs. Samford+24SamfordLost 44–55 at No. 2 Alabama-11No. 2 AlabamaLost 31–34 vs. No. 17 Wisconsin-3No. 17 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsArkansasW 45–⁠2180%
Sep 6vsSan José StateW 59–⁠1376%
Sep 18at20Kansas StateW 20–⁠1449%
Sep 27vsLouisiana TechW 45–⁠1782%
Oct 4vs15LSUW 41–⁠761%
Oct 11at3Mississippi StateL 23–⁠3851%
Oct 25vsSouth CarolinaW 42–⁠3565%
Nov 1at7Ole MissW 35–⁠3143%
Nov 8vsTexas A&ML 38–⁠4171%
Nov 15at16GeorgiaL 7–⁠3446%
Nov 22vsSamfordW 31–⁠787%
Nov 29at2AlabamaL 44–⁠5529%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17WisconsinOutback BowlL 31–⁠3446%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 34–⁠31 in the Outback Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Wk 9: 5
  10. Wk 10: 4
  11. Wk 11: 3
  12. Wk 12: 9
  13. Wk 13: 16
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Wk 15: 20
  16. Wk 16: 19
  17. Final: 22

Rimington TrophyReese Dismukes, C

Consensus All-AmericanReese Dismukes, C

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 2
Points
461–⁠347
Coach
Gus Malzahn
Elo
1666 +20 this season
SP+ rating
24.2 No. 6 of 128; offense No. 3, defense No. 33, special teams No. 28
SRS
18.1 No. 8 of 128 in FBS
Returning
81% of last season’s EPA, No. 25 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 6
Offensive coordinators
Rhett Lashlee and Dameyune Craig
Defensive coordinators
Ellis Johnson and Charlie Harbison
Captains
Reese Dismukes and Gabe Wright
Offense
Hurry-up no-huddle spread option
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense12th of 128
  • Defense67th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted5th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted36th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2750%1.1712th of 128
Defense0.1542%1.2567th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.32 off
0.10 def		52% off
38% def		—5th off
36th 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
Offense4.3own 302% allowed
Defense3.0own 304% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsNick Marshall QB2,532 yds
Passing touchdownsNick Marshall QB20 TD
Rushing yardsCameron Artis-Payne RB1,608 yds
Rushing touchdownsCameron Artis-Payne RB13 TD
Receiving yardsSammie Coates WR741 yds
Receiving touchdownsQuan Bray WR4 TD
InterceptionsJermaine Whitehead DB6 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Roc Thomas RB★★★★★No. 23
Tre’ Williams ILB★★★★★No. 27
Braden Smith OG★★★★No. 63
Nick Ruffin CB★★★★No. 113
Justin Thornton WDE★★★★No. 120
Kalvaraz Bessent CB★★★★No. 126
Stephen Roberts CB★★★★No. 128
Sean White PRO★★★★No. 150

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.935
Running backs24.00.935
Receivers22.50.788
Offensive line14.00.970
Defensive line43.80.906
Linebackers15.00.987
Defensive backs34.00.944
Athletes and specialists33.00.827
Whole class173.60.899

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 3Sammie Coates WRPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Angelo Blackson DTTennessee Titans
Rd 4Gabe Wright DTDetroit Lions
Rd 5C.J. Uzomah TECincinnati Bengals
Rd 5Cameron Artis-Payne RBCarolina Panthers

Roster 127

The 2014 roster

127 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠24
Missouri7–⁠111–⁠314
Mississippi State6–⁠210–⁠311
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠417
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠522
LSU4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
Texas A&M3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠57–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠9

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