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2018 Auburn

8–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2018, game by game: won vs. No. 6 Washington 21–16; won vs. Alabama State 63–9; lost vs. No. 12 LSU 21–22; won vs. Arkansas 34–3; won vs. Southern Miss 24–13; lost at Mississippi State 9–23; lost vs. Tennessee 24–30; won at Ole Miss 31–16; won vs. No. 25 Texas A&M 28–24; lost at No. 5 Georgia 10–27; won vs. Liberty 53–0; lost at No. 1 Alabama 21–52; won vs. Purdue 63–14+54−31Won 21–16 vs. No. 6 Washington+5No. 6 WashingtonWon 63–9 vs. Alabama State+54Alabama StateLost 21–22 vs. No. 12 LSU-1No. 12 LSUWon 34–3 vs. Arkansas+31ArkansasWon 24–13 vs. Southern Miss+11Southern MissLost 9–23 at Mississippi State-14Mississippi Sta…Lost 24–30 vs. Tennessee-6TennesseeWon 31–16 at Ole Miss+15Ole MissWon 28–24 vs. No. 25 Texas A&M+4No. 25 Texas A&MLost 10–27 at No. 5 Georgia-17No. 5 GeorgiaWon 53–0 vs. Liberty+53LibertyLost 21–52 at No. 1 Alabama-31No. 1 AlabamaWon 63–14 vs. Purdue+49Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vs6WashingtonW 21–⁠1650%
Sep 8vsAlabama StateW 63–⁠993%
Sep 15vs12LSUL 21–⁠2258%
Sep 22vsArkansasW 34–⁠385%
Sep 29vsSouthern MissW 24–⁠1380%
Oct 6atMississippi StateL 9–⁠2354%
Oct 13vsTennesseeL 24–⁠3083%
Oct 20atOle MissW 31–⁠1649%
Nov 3vs25Texas A&MW 28–⁠2466%
Nov 10at5GeorgiaL 10–⁠2726%
Nov 17vsLibertyW 53–⁠086%
Nov 24at1AlabamaL 21–⁠5216%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsPurdueMusic City BowlW 63–⁠1460%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Purdue 63–⁠14 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 7
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 21
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 10th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
402–⁠249
Coach
Gus Malzahn
Elo
1669 +22 this season
SP+ rating
23.6 No. 7 of 130; offense No. 19, defense No. 6, special teams No. 41
SRS
11.8 No. 22 of 130 in FBS
Returning
83% of last season’s EPA, No. 20 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 12 roster talent No. 14 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Chip Lindsey and Kodi Burns
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele

How good, play by play

  • Offense51st of 130
  • Defense27th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted35th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted17th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1243%1.1851st of 130
Defense0.0238%1.2527th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.16 off
-0.00 def		45% off
36% def		—35th off
17th 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
Offense3.4own 3214% allowed
Defense2.5own 2719% caused

CORE rating 12.7, 18th of 130 (offense 2.6, defense -10.1).

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 QB2,795 yds
Passing touchdownsJarrett Stidham QB18 TD
Rushing yardsJaTarvious Whitlow RB783 yds
Rushing touchdownsJaTarvious Whitlow RB6 TD
Receiving yardsDarius Slayton WR670 yds
Receiving touchdownsDarius Slayton WR5 TD
TacklesDeshaun Davis LB112 tkl
SacksNick Coe DE7 sacks
InterceptionsDaniel Thomas DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Joey Gatewood ATH★★★★No. 49
Matthew Hill WR★★★★No. 92
Coynis Miller DT★★★★No. 120
Harold Joiner RB★★★★No. 152
Smoke Monday ATH★★★★No. 158
Anthony Schwartz WR★★★★No. 163
Seth Williams WR★★★★No. 185
Zakoby McClain OLB★★★★No. 197

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs34.00.917
Receivers43.80.926
Offensive line23.00.877
Defensive line23.50.911
Linebackers33.70.890
Defensive backs33.70.888
Athletes and specialists53.60.897
Whole class223.60.902

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 3Jamel Dean CBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Jarrett Stidham QBNew England Patriots
Rd 5Darius Slayton WRNew York Giants
Rd 6Deshaun Davis ILBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Chandler Cox FBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Dontavius Russell DTJacksonville Jaguars

Roster 112

The 2018 roster

112 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 74 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Georgia7–⁠111–⁠37
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠312
Florida5–⁠310–⁠37
LSU5–⁠310–⁠36
Texas A&M5–⁠39–⁠416
Missouri4–⁠48–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Tennessee2–⁠65–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠75–⁠7
Arkansas0–⁠82–⁠10

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