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2008 Cincinnati

11–⁠3 (6–⁠1 Big East), coached by Brian Kelly, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Cincinnati in 2008, game by game: won vs. Eastern Kentucky 40–7; lost at No. 4 Oklahoma 26–52; won vs. Miami (OH) 45–20; won at Akron 17–15; won at Marshall 33–10; won vs. Rutgers 13–10; lost at UConn 16–40; won vs. No. 24 South Florida 24–10; won at No. 20 West Virginia 26–23; won at Louisville 28–20; won vs. No. 20 Pittsburgh 28–21; won vs. Syracuse 30–10; won at Hawai’i 29–24; lost vs. Virginia Tech 7–20+33−26Won 40–7 vs. Eastern Kentucky+33Eastern KentuckyLost 26–52 at No. 4 Oklahoma-26No. 4 OklahomaWon 45–20 vs. Miami (OH)+25Miami (OH)Won 17–15 at Akron+2AkronWon 33–10 at Marshall+23MarshallWon 13–10 vs. Rutgers+3RutgersLost 16–40 at UConn-24UConnWon 24–10 vs. No. 24 South Florida+14No. 24 South FloridaWon 26–23 at No. 20 West Virginia+3No. 20 West VirginiaWon 28–20 at Louisville+8LouisvilleWon 28–21 vs. No. 20 Pittsburgh+7No. 20 PittsburghWon 30–10 vs. Syracuse+20SyracuseWon 29–24 at Hawai’i+5Hawai’iLost 7–20 vs. Virginia Tech-13Virginia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vsEastern KentuckyW 40–⁠784%
Sep 6at4OklahomaL 26–⁠5236%
Sep 20vsMiami (OH)W 45–⁠2082%
Sep 27atAkronW 17–⁠1568%
Oct 3atMarshallW 33–⁠1064%
Oct 11vsRutgersW 13–⁠1077%
Oct 25atUConnL 16–⁠4053%
Oct 30vs24South FloridaW 24–⁠1057%
Nov 8at20West VirginiaW 26–⁠2332%
Nov 14atLouisvilleW 28–⁠2061%
Nov 22vs20PittsburghW 28–⁠2170%
Nov 29vsSyracuseW 30–⁠1091%
Dec 6atHawai’iW 29–⁠2461%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsVirginia TechOrange BowlL 7–⁠2051%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Virginia Tech 20–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 114 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 22
  2. Wk 13: 19
  3. Wk 14: 16
  4. Wk 15: 13
  5. Final: 17

Big East champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanKevin Huber, P

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Big East
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 13
Points
362–⁠282
Coach
Brian Kelly
Elo
1671 +60 this season
SP+ rating
8.6 No. 35 of 120; offense No. 64, defense No. 38, special teams No. 4
SRS
4.5 No. 43 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 104
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Quinn
Defensive coordinator
Joe Tresey
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense56th of 120
  • Defense45th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted51st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted49th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0441%0.9056th of 120
Defense0.0137%0.9345th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
0.02 def		42% off
37% def		—51st off
49th 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
Offense0.0own 343% allowed
Defense0.0own 283% 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

Ike Iloegbu CB★★★No. 825
Lynell Payne WR★★★No. 926
Nick Truesdell WR★★★No. 1019
Quincy Quetant S★★★No. 1129
Darrin Williams APB★★★No. 1146

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.815
Receivers32.70.814
Offensive line12.00.789
Linebackers22.00.748
Defensive backs23.00.839
Whole class102.60.803

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 2Connor Barwin DEHouston Texans
Rd 5Kevin Huber PCincinnati Bengals
Rd 5DeAngelo Smith CBDallas Cowboys
Rd 6Brandon Underwood CBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Mike Mickens CBDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Trevor Canfield OGArizona Cardinals

2008 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Cincinnati6–⁠111–⁠317
Pittsburgh5–⁠29–⁠4
West Virginia5–⁠29–⁠423
Rutgers5–⁠28–⁠5
UConn3–⁠48–⁠5
South Florida2–⁠58–⁠5
Louisville1–⁠65–⁠7
Syracuse1–⁠63–⁠9

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