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2008 Iowa

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Kirk Ferentz, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 2008, game by game: won vs. Maine 46–3; won vs. Florida International 42–0; won vs. Iowa State 17–5; lost at Pittsburgh 20–21; lost vs. Northwestern 17–22; lost at Michigan State 13–16; won at Indiana 45–9; won vs. Wisconsin 38–16; lost at Illinois 24–27; won vs. No. 3 Penn State 24–23; won vs. Purdue 22–17; won at Minnesota 55–0; won vs. South Carolina 31–10+55−5Won 46–3 vs. Maine+43MaineWon 42–0 vs. Florida International+42Florida Interna…Won 17–5 vs. Iowa State+12Iowa StateLost 20–21 at Pittsburgh-1PittsburghLost 17–22 vs. Northwestern-5NorthwesternLost 13–16 at Michigan State-3Michigan StateWon 45–9 at Indiana+36IndianaWon 38–16 vs. Wisconsin+22WisconsinLost 24–27 at Illinois-3IllinoisWon 24–23 vs. No. 3 Penn State+1No. 3 Penn StateWon 22–17 vs. Purdue+5PurdueWon 55–0 at Minnesota+55MinnesotaWon 31–10 vs. South Carolina+21South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsMaineW 46–⁠382%
Sep 6vsFlorida InternationalW 42–⁠082%
Sep 13vsIowa StateW 17–⁠565%
Sep 20atPittsburghL 20–⁠2151%
Sep 27vsNorthwesternL 17–⁠2257%
Oct 4atMichigan StateL 13–⁠1631%
Oct 11atIndianaW 45–⁠952%
Oct 18vsWisconsinW 38–⁠1651%
Nov 1atIllinoisL 24–⁠2745%
Nov 8vs3Penn StateW 24–⁠2329%
Nov 15vsPurdueW 22–⁠1773%
Nov 22atMinnesotaW 55–⁠055%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsSouth CarolinaOutback BowlW 31–⁠1056%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 31–⁠10 in the Outback Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 20

Doak Walker AwardShonn Greene, RB

Consensus All-AmericanShonn Greene, RB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 20
Points
394–⁠169
Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Elo
1641 +141 this season
SP+ rating
25.5 No. 6 of 120; offense No. 19, defense No. 4, special teams No. 27
SRS
13.0 No. 14 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 50
Offensive coordinator
Ken O’Keefe
Defensive coordinator
Norm Parker
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense58th of 120
  • Defense11th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted53rd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted13th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0444%0.8358th of 120
Defense-0.0439%0.8011th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
-0.02 def		44% off
38% def		—53rd off
13th 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
Defense-0.1own 293% 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

Khalif Staten WR★★★No. 701
Shaun Prater CB★★★No. 713
David Blackwell ATH★★★No. 857
Jonathan Gimm FB★★★No. 938
Trent Mossbrucker K★★★No. 951

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs32.30.791
Receivers32.70.819
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line42.00.759
Defensive backs43.00.825
Athletes and specialists23.00.843
Whole class172.50.801

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 3Shonn Greene RBNew York Jets
Rd 3Bradley Fletcher CBSt. Louis Rams
Rd 4Seth Olsen OTDenver Broncos
Rd 6Brandon Myers TEOakland Raiders

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 6 second team

First team

  • Shonn GreeneRBCoaches-1; Media-1
  • Rob BruggemanC
  • Seth OlsenOGCoaches-1; Media-1
  • Brandon MyersTECoaches-1
  • Mitch KingDLCoaches-1; Media-1

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 Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠39
Michigan State6–⁠29–⁠424
Northwestern5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠420
Wisconsin3–⁠57–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠55–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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