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2008 Florida

13–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Urban Meyer, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida in 2008, game by game: won vs. Hawai’i 56–10; won vs. Miami 26–3; won at Tennessee 30–6; lost vs. Ole Miss 30–31; won at Arkansas 38–7; won vs. No. 4 LSU 51–21; won vs. Kentucky 63–5; won vs. No. 8 Georgia 49–10; won at Vanderbilt 42–14; won vs. No. 24 South Carolina 56–6; won vs. The Citadel 70–19; won at No. 23 Florida State 45–15; won vs. No. 1 Alabama 31–20; won vs. No. 4 Oklahoma 24–14+58−1Won 56–10 vs. Hawai’i+46Hawai’iWon 26–3 vs. Miami+23MiamiWon 30–6 at Tennessee+24TennesseeLost 30–31 vs. Ole Miss-1Ole MissWon 38–7 at Arkansas+31ArkansasWon 51–21 vs. No. 4 LSU+30No. 4 LSUWon 63–5 vs. Kentucky+58KentuckyWon 49–10 vs. No. 8 Georgia+39No. 8 GeorgiaWon 42–14 at Vanderbilt+28VanderbiltWon 56–6 vs. No. 24 South Carolina+50No. 24 South CarolinaWon 70–19 vs. The Citadel+51The CitadelWon 45–15 at No. 23 Florida State+30No. 23 Florida StateWon 31–20 vs. No. 1 Alabama+11No. 1 AlabamaWon 24–14 vs. No. 4 Oklahoma+10No. 4 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsHawai’iW 56–⁠1062%
Sep 6vsMiamiW 26–⁠379%
Sep 20atTennesseeW 30–⁠654%
Sep 27vsOle MissL 30–⁠3188%
Oct 4atArkansasW 38–⁠768%
Oct 11vs4LSUW 51–⁠2156%
Oct 25vsKentuckyW 63–⁠578%
Nov 1vs8GeorgiaW 49–⁠1053%
Nov 8atVanderbiltW 42–⁠1480%
Nov 15vs24South CarolinaW 56–⁠682%
Nov 22vsThe CitadelW 70–⁠1997%
Nov 29at23Florida StateW 45–⁠1569%
Dec 6vs1AlabamaSEC Championship GameW 31–⁠2063%
Jan 8Bowls & playoffvs4OklahomaBCS National ChampionshipW 24–⁠1453%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma 24–⁠14 in the BCS National Championship; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Southeastern Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the SEC Championship Game

Heisman voteTim Tebow, third

Maxwell AwardTim Tebow, QB; also the Manning and Wuerffel

2 consensus All-AmericansBrandon Spikes, LB; Brandon James, APB

Record
13–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
611–⁠181
Coach
Urban Meyer
Elo
1891 +243 this season
SP+ rating
34.7 No. 3 of 120; offense No. 7, defense No. 6, special teams No. 8
SRS
29.5 No. 1 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 5
Offensive coordinator
Dan Mullen
Defensive coordinator
Charlie Strong
Captains
Louis Murphy, James Smith, Brandon Spikes, Ryan Stamper, Tim Tebow and Phil Trautwein
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense10th of 120
  • Defense5th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted7th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted3rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1346%0.9410th of 120
Defense-0.0739%0.775th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.12 off
-0.04 def		47% off
38% def		—7th off
3rd 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 352% allowed
Defense0.0own 302% 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

Will Hill S★★★★★No. 5
Omar Hunter DT★★★★★No. 17
Matt Patchan OT★★★★No. 31
Janoris Jenkins CB★★★★No. 55
Dee Finley S★★★★No. 59
William Green SDE★★★★No. 66
Brendan Beal ILB★★★★No. 83
T.J. Lawrence WR★★★★No. 86

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.906
Receivers34.00.926
Offensive line14.00.983
Defensive line44.00.927
Linebackers24.00.957
Defensive backs54.20.957
Whole class164.10.942

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 1Percy Harvin WRMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Louis Murphy WROakland Raiders
Rd 5Cornelius Ingram TEPhiladelphia Eagles

All-SEC

5 first team, 6 second team

First 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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠26
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠313
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠414
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Vanderbilt4–⁠47–⁠6
LSU3–⁠58–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠67–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠65–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠64–⁠8

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