CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Kentucky

7–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Rich Brooks.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 2008, game by game: won at Louisville 27–2; won vs. Norfolk State 38–3; won vs. Middle Tennessee 20–14; won vs. Western Kentucky 41–3; lost at No. 2 Alabama 14–17; lost vs. South Carolina 17–24; won vs. Arkansas 21–20; lost at No. 5 Florida 5–63; won at Mississippi State 14–13; lost vs. No. 14 Georgia 38–42; lost vs. Vanderbilt 24–31; lost at Tennessee 10–28; won vs. East Carolina 25–19+38−58Won 27–2 at Louisville+25LouisvilleWon 38–3 vs. Norfolk State+35Norfolk StateWon 20–14 vs. Middle Tennessee+6Middle TennesseeWon 41–3 vs. Western Kentucky+38Western KentuckyLost 14–17 at No. 2 Alabama-3No. 2 AlabamaLost 17–24 vs. South Carolina-7South CarolinaWon 21–20 vs. Arkansas+1ArkansasLost 5–63 at No. 5 Florida-58No. 5 FloridaWon 14–13 at Mississippi State+1Mississippi Sta…Lost 38–42 vs. No. 14 Georgia-4No. 14 GeorgiaLost 24–31 vs. Vanderbilt-7VanderbiltLost 10–28 at Tennessee-18TennesseeWon 25–19 vs. East Carolina+6East Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atLouisvilleW 27–⁠240%
Sep 6vsNorfolk StateW 38–⁠386%
Sep 13vsMiddle TennesseeW 20–⁠1475%
Sep 27vsWestern KentuckyW 41–⁠383%
Oct 4at2AlabamaL 14–⁠1736%
Oct 11vsSouth CarolinaL 17–⁠2465%
Oct 18vsArkansasW 21–⁠2067%
Oct 25at5FloridaL 5–⁠6322%
Nov 1atMississippi StateW 14–⁠1355%
Nov 8vs14GeorgiaL 38–⁠4238%
Nov 15vsVanderbiltL 24–⁠3167%
Nov 29atTennesseeL 10–⁠2843%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsEast CarolinaLiberty BowlW 25–⁠1943%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat East Carolina 25–⁠19 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
294–⁠279
Coach
Rich Brooks
Elo
1534 −17 this season
SP+ rating
-1.8 No. 70 of 120; offense No. 103, defense No. 35, special teams No. 69
SRS
1.5 No. 56 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 60
Offensive coordinator
Joker Phillips
Defensive coordinator
Steve Brown
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense115th of 120
  • Defense55th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted118th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted59th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0738%0.78115th of 120
Defense0.0236%1.0355th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.02 off
0.03 def		40% off
36% def		—118th off
59th 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-0.2own 352% allowed
Defense0.0own 292% 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

Aaron Boyd WR★★★★No. 224
Winston Guy S★★★★No. 268
Randall Cobb ATH★★★No. 857
Deaunte Mason ATH★★★No. 877
E.J. Fields ATH★★★No. 976

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers42.80.797
Offensive line52.40.796
Defensive line22.50.800
Linebackers12.00.789
Defensive backs14.00.903
Athletes and specialists53.00.833
Whole class182.70.813

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 6Myron Pryor DTNew England Patriots

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Garry WilliamsOTAP-2; Coaches-2
  • Myron PryorDTAP-2; Coaches-2

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.