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2016 Auburn

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2016, game by game: lost vs. No. 2 Clemson 13–19; won vs. Arkansas State 51–14; lost vs. No. 17 Texas A&M 16–29; won vs. No. 18 LSU 18–13; won vs. UL Monroe 58–7; won at Mississippi State 38–14; won vs. No. 17 Arkansas 56–3; won at Ole Miss 40–29; won vs. Vanderbilt 23–16; lost at Georgia 7–13; won vs. Alabama A&M 55–0; lost at No. 1 Alabama 12–30; lost vs. No. 7 Oklahoma 19–35+55−18Lost 13–19 vs. No. 2 Clemson-6No. 2 ClemsonWon 51–14 vs. Arkansas State+37Arkansas StateLost 16–29 vs. No. 17 Texas A&M-13No. 17 Texas A&MWon 18–13 vs. No. 18 LSU+5No. 18 LSUWon 58–7 vs. UL Monroe+51UL MonroeWon 38–14 at Mississippi State+24Mississippi Sta…Won 56–3 vs. No. 17 Arkansas+53No. 17 ArkansasWon 40–29 at Ole Miss+11Ole MissWon 23–16 vs. Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltLost 7–13 at Georgia-6GeorgiaWon 55–0 vs. Alabama A&M+55Alabama A&MLost 12–30 at No. 1 Alabama-18No. 1 AlabamaLost 19–35 vs. No. 7 Oklahoma-16No. 7 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vs2ClemsonL 13–⁠1937%
Sep 10vsArkansas StateW 51–⁠1465%
Sep 17vs17Texas A&ML 16–⁠2956%
Sep 24vs18LSUW 18–⁠1347%
Oct 1vsUL MonroeW 58–⁠783%
Oct 8atMississippi StateW 38–⁠1438%
Oct 22vs17ArkansasW 56–⁠358%
Oct 29atOle MissW 40–⁠2945%
Nov 5vsVanderbiltW 23–⁠1684%
Nov 12atGeorgiaL 7–⁠1355%
Nov 19vsAlabama A&MW 55–⁠095%
Nov 26at1AlabamaL 12–⁠3016%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs7OklahomaSugar BowlL 19–⁠3534%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oklahoma 35–⁠19 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 23
  2. Wk 8: 21
  3. Wk 9: 15
  4. Wk 10: 11
  5. Wk 11: 8
  6. Wk 12: 18
  7. Wk 13: 16
  8. Wk 14: 18
  9. Wk 15: 17
  10. Final: 24
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 8
Points
406–⁠222
Coach
Gus Malzahn
Elo
1647 +74 this season
SP+ rating
15.3 No. 21 of 128; offense No. 49, defense No. 16, special teams No. 14
SRS
13.1 No. 15 of 128 in FBS
Returning
57% of last season’s EPA, No. 84 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 9 roster talent No. 7 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Rhett Lashlee and Kodi Burns
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele
Offense
Multiple, hurry-up
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense28th of 128
  • Defense40th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted26th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted24th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1746%1.0728th of 128
Defense0.0641%1.1740th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.19 off
0.03 def		48% off
39% def		—26th off
24th 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
Offense3.8own 2914% allowed
Defense2.6own 2719% caused

CORE rating 10.7, 21st of 128 (offense 4.9, defense -5.8).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsSean White QB1,679 yds
Passing touchdownsSean White QB9 TD
Rushing yardsKamryn Pettway RB1,224 yds
Rushing touchdownsKerryon Johnson RB11 TD
Receiving yardsTony Stevens WR487 yds
Receiving touchdownsTony Stevens WR3 TD
TacklesTray Matthews 76 tkl
SacksCarl Lawson DL9 sacks
InterceptionsJoshua Holsey DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Derrick Brown DT★★★★★No. 9
Marlon Davidson SDE★★★★No. 32
Nate Craig-Myers WR★★★★No. 45
Antwuan Jackson Jr. DT★★★★No. 51
Kyle Davis WR★★★★No. 75
Eli Stove WR★★★★No. 122
Prince Sammons SDE★★★★No. 209
Woody Barrett DUAL★★★★No. 220

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

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.916
Running backs23.50.893
Receivers53.80.933
Offensive line14.00.892
Defensive line73.90.928
Linebackers13.00.881
Defensive backs43.50.876
Athletes and specialists13.00.883
Whole class223.70.910

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 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 3Montravius Adams DTGreen Bay Packers
Rd 4Carl Lawson DECincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Rudy Ford SArizona Cardinals
Rd 7Josh Holsey CBWashington Redskins

Roster 120

The 2016 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 62 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

6 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Florida6–⁠29–⁠414
LSU5–⁠38–⁠413
Auburn5–⁠38–⁠524
Tennessee4–⁠49–⁠422
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Mississippi State3–⁠56–⁠7
South Carolina3–⁠56–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠65–⁠7
Missouri2–⁠64–⁠8

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