CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Colorado

5–⁠7 (2–⁠6 Big 12), coached by Dan Hawkins.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 2008, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 38–17; won vs. Eastern Washington 31–24; won vs. No. 21 West Virginia 17–14; lost vs. Florida State 21–39; lost vs. No. 5 Texas 14–38; lost at No. 16 Kansas 14–30; won vs. Kansas State 14–13; lost at No. 16 Missouri 0–58; lost at Texas A&M 17–24; won vs. Iowa State 28–24; lost vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State 17–30; lost at Nebraska 31–40+21−58Won 38–17 vs. Colorado State+21Colorado StateWon 31–24 vs. Eastern Washington+7Eastern Washing…Won 17–14 vs. No. 21 West Virginia+3No. 21 West VirginiaLost 21–39 vs. Florida State-18Florida StateLost 14–38 vs. No. 5 Texas-24No. 5 TexasLost 14–30 at No. 16 Kansas-16No. 16 KansasWon 14–13 vs. Kansas State+1Kansas StateLost 0–58 at No. 16 Missouri-58No. 16 MissouriLost 17–24 at Texas A&M-7Texas A&MWon 28–24 vs. Iowa State+4Iowa StateLost 17–30 vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State-13No. 11 Oklahoma StateLost 31–40 at Nebraska-9Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsColorado StateW 38–⁠1757%
Sep 6vsEastern WashingtonW 31–⁠2472%
Sep 18vs21West VirginiaW 17–⁠1439%
Sep 27vsFlorida StateL 21–⁠3950%
Oct 4vs5TexasL 14–⁠3832%
Oct 11at16KansasL 14–⁠3022%
Oct 18vsKansas StateW 14–⁠1352%
Oct 25at16MissouriL 0–⁠5820%
Nov 1atTexas A&ML 17–⁠2442%
Nov 8vsIowa StateW 28–⁠2472%
Nov 15vs11Oklahoma StateL 17–⁠3030%
Nov 28atNebraskaL 31–⁠4024%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nebraska 40–⁠31; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 99th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 8th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked
Points
242–⁠351
Coach
Dan Hawkins
Elo
1435 −48 this season
SP+ rating
-2.7 No. 73 of 120; offense No. 78, defense No. 53, special teams No. 118
SRS
−2.0 No. 70 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinator
Mark Helfrich
Defensive coordinator
Ron Collins
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3 Cover 2

How good, play by play

  • Offense83rd of 120
  • Defense84th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted104th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted70th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0136%1.0683rd of 120
Defense0.0744%0.8384th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.01 off
0.04 def		36% off
41% def		—104th off
70th 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 312% allowed
Defense0.0own 323% 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

Darrell Scott RB★★★★★No. 4
Lynn Katoa ILB★★★★No. 64
Jon Major ILB★★★★No. 84
Bryce Givens OT★★★★No. 153
Max Tuioti-Mariner OG★★★★No. 195
Ryan Deehan TE★★★★No. 298
Ray Polk RB★★★★No. 288

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs33.70.888
Receivers33.30.868
Offensive line33.70.910
Defensive line13.00.876
Linebackers33.70.923
Defensive backs22.50.818
Athletes and specialists22.50.754
Whole class173.30.870

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 7Brad Jones OLBGreen Bay Packers

All-Big 12

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠112–⁠14
Oklahoma7–⁠112–⁠25
Texas Tech7–⁠111–⁠212
Missouri5–⁠310–⁠419
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Oklahoma State5–⁠39–⁠416
Kansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Colorado2–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State2–⁠65–⁠7
Baylor2–⁠64–⁠8
Texas A&M2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa State0–⁠82–⁠10

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