CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 BYU

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Mountain West Conference), coached by Bronco Mendenhall, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

BYU in 2008, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 41–17; won at Washington 28–27; won vs. UCLA 59–0; won vs. Wyoming 44–0; won at Utah State 34–14; won vs. New Mexico 21–3; lost at TCU 7–32; won vs. UNLV 42–35; won at Colorado State 45–42; won vs. San Diego State 41–12; won at Air Force 38–24; lost at No. 8 Utah 24–48; lost vs. Arizona 21–31+59−25Won 41–17 vs. Northern Iowa+24Northern IowaWon 28–27 at Washington+1WashingtonWon 59–0 vs. UCLA+59UCLAWon 44–0 vs. Wyoming+44WyomingWon 34–14 at Utah State+20Utah StateWon 21–3 vs. New Mexico+18New MexicoLost 7–32 at TCU-25TCUWon 42–35 vs. UNLV+7UNLVWon 45–42 at Colorado State+3Colorado StateWon 41–12 vs. San Diego State+29San Diego StateWon 38–24 at Air Force+14Air ForceLost 24–48 at No. 8 Utah-24No. 8 UtahLost 21–31 vs. Arizona-10Arizona
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNorthern IowaW 41–⁠1780%
Sep 6atWashingtonW 28–⁠2770%
Sep 13vsUCLAW 59–⁠072%
Sep 20vsWyomingW 44–⁠085%
Oct 3atUtah StateW 34–⁠1485%
Oct 11vsNew MexicoW 21–⁠380%
Oct 16atTCUL 7–⁠3251%
Oct 25vsUNLVW 42–⁠3590%
Nov 1atColorado StateW 45–⁠4276%
Nov 8vsSan Diego StateW 41–⁠1293%
Nov 15atAir ForceW 38–⁠2454%
Nov 22at8UtahL 24–⁠4842%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvsArizonaLas Vegas BowlL 21–⁠3162%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona 31–⁠21 in the Las Vegas Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 18
  4. Wk 4: 14
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 18
  10. Wk 10: 17
  11. Wk 11: 17
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 16
  14. Wk 14: 20
  15. Wk 15: 20
  16. Final: 25

Led the nationAustin Collie: receiving yards (1,538 yds)

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in Mountain West Conference
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 8
Points
445–⁠285
Coach
Bronco Mendenhall
Elo
1658 +13 this season
SP+ rating
12.2 No. 27 of 120; offense No. 17, defense No. 70, special teams No. 52
SRS
4.9 No. 40 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 45
Offensive coordinator
Robert Anae
Defensive coordinator
Jaime Hill
Captains
Travis Bright, Max Hall, Jan Jorgensen and David Nixon
Offense
Air raid
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense9th of 120
  • Defense83rd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted11th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted104th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1350%0.789th of 120
Defense0.0743%0.9583rd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.07 def		49% off
44% def		—11th off
104th 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
Offense-0.1own 332% allowed
Defense-0.2own 272% 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 2008 class

Austin Holt TE★★★★No. 223
O’Neil Chambers WR★★★No. 713
Shiloah Te’o S★★★No. 854
Michael Yeck OT★★★No. 951
Justin Sorensen K★★★No. 1019

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs22.50.762
Receivers33.00.846
Offensive line23.00.835
Defensive line22.00.748
Linebackers32.00.769
Defensive backs33.00.830
Athletes and specialists13.00.833
Whole class162.60.804

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 4Austin Collie WRIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Fui Vakapuna RBCincinnati Bengals

2008 Mountain West Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah8–⁠013–⁠02
TCU7–⁠111–⁠27
BYU6–⁠210–⁠325
Air Force5–⁠38–⁠5
Colorado State4–⁠47–⁠6
UNLV2–⁠65–⁠7
New Mexico2–⁠64–⁠8
Wyoming1–⁠74–⁠8
San Diego State1–⁠72–⁠10

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