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2017 Auburn

10–⁠4 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2017, game by game: won vs. Georgia Southern 41–7; lost at No. 3 Clemson 6–14; won vs. Mercer 24–10; won at Missouri 51–14; won vs. No. 24 Mississippi State 49–10; won vs. Ole Miss 44–23; lost at LSU 23–27; won at Arkansas 52–20; won at Texas A&M 42–27; won vs. No. 2 Georgia 40–17; won vs. UL Monroe 42–14; won vs. No. 1 Alabama 26–14; lost vs. No. 6 Georgia 7–28; lost vs. No. 10 UCF 27–34+39−21Won 41–7 vs. Georgia Southern+34Georgia SouthernLost 6–14 at No. 3 Clemson-8No. 3 ClemsonWon 24–10 vs. Mercer+14MercerWon 51–14 at Missouri+37MissouriWon 49–10 vs. No. 24 Mississippi State+39No. 24 Mississippi Sta…Won 44–23 vs. Ole Miss+21Ole MissLost 23–27 at LSU-4LSUWon 52–20 at Arkansas+32ArkansasWon 42–27 at Texas A&M+15Texas A&MWon 40–17 vs. No. 2 Georgia+23No. 2 GeorgiaWon 42–14 vs. UL Monroe+28UL MonroeWon 26–14 vs. No. 1 Alabama+12No. 1 AlabamaLost 7–28 vs. No. 6 Georgia-21No. 6 GeorgiaLost 27–34 vs. No. 10 UCF-7No. 10 UCF
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsGeorgia SouthernW 41–⁠775%
Sep 9at3ClemsonL 6–⁠1424%
Sep 16vsMercerW 24–⁠1087%
Sep 23atMissouriW 51–⁠1471%
Sep 30vs24Mississippi StateW 49–⁠1058%
Oct 7vsOle MissW 44–⁠2375%
Oct 14atLSUL 23–⁠2746%
Oct 21atArkansasW 52–⁠2066%
Nov 4atTexas A&MW 42–⁠2756%
Nov 11vs2GeorgiaW 40–⁠1750%
Nov 18vsUL MonroeW 42–⁠1491%
Nov 25vs1AlabamaW 26–⁠1438%
Dec 2vs6GeorgiaSEC Championship GameL 7–⁠2851%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10UCFPeach BowlL 27–⁠3455%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCF 34–⁠27 in the Peach Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 12
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 21
  9. Wk 9: 19
  10. Wk 10: 16
  11. Wk 11: 10
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 6
  14. Wk 14: 4
  15. Wk 15: 7
  16. Final: 10

SEC West champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Alabama

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 4
Points
474–⁠259
Coach
Gus Malzahn
Elo
1721 +123 this season
SP+ rating
24.7 No. 8 of 128; offense No. 25, defense No. 3, special teams No. 59
SRS
17.4 No. 11 of 130 in FBS
Returning
52% of last season’s EPA, No. 85 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 9 roster talent No. 8 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Chip Lindsey and Kodi Burns
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele
Offense
Multiple offense, Hurry-up offense

How good, play by play

  • Offense38th of 130
  • Defense21st of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted23rd of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted4th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1445%1.1138th of 130
Defense-0.0337%1.1621st of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.17 off
-0.07 def		48% off
35% def		—23rd off
4th 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
Offense3.2own 3214% allowed
Defense2.5own 3317% caused

CORE rating 19.6, 7th of 130 (offense 3.9, defense -15.7).

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 yardsJarrett Stidham QB3,158 yds
Passing touchdownsJarrett Stidham QB18 TD
Rushing yardsKerryon Johnson RB1,391 yds
Rushing touchdownsKerryon Johnson RB18 TD
Receiving yardsRyan Davis WR815 yds
Receiving touchdownsDarius Slayton WR5 TD
TacklesDeshaun Davis LB77 tkl
SacksJeff Holland OLB9 sacks
InterceptionsJavaris Davis DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2017 class

Calvin Ashley OT★★★★★No. 26
T.D. Moultry ILB★★★★No. 98
Nick Brahms OG★★★★No. 162
Devan Barrett RB★★★★No. 168
Austin Troxell OT★★★★No. 181
Big Kat Bryant WDE★★★★No. 189
Malcolm Askew ATH★★★★No. 217
Alaric Williams ATH★★★★No. 222

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

The 2017 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.929
Receivers23.50.863
Offensive line34.30.948
Defensive line33.30.887
Linebackers33.70.912
Defensive backs23.00.850
Athletes and specialists63.30.872
Whole class203.50.892

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 2018

The 2018 draft
Rd 2Braden Smith OGIndianapolis Colts
Rd 2Kerryon Johnson RBDetroit Lions
Rd 2Carlton Davis CBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Daniel Carlson KMinnesota Vikings

Roster 107

The 2017 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2017 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2017 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2017 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠113–⁠22
Auburn7–⁠110–⁠410
LSU6–⁠29–⁠418
South Carolina5–⁠39–⁠4
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠419
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠6
Missouri4–⁠47–⁠6
Texas A&M4–⁠47–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠56–⁠6
Florida3–⁠54–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠75–⁠7
Arkansas1–⁠74–⁠8
Tennessee0–⁠84–⁠8

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