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2012 Kentucky

2–⁠10 (0–⁠8 Southeastern Conference), coached by Joker Phillips.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 2012, game by game: lost at No. 25 Louisville 14–32; won vs. Kent State 47–14; lost vs. Western Kentucky 31–32; lost at No. 14 Florida 0–38; lost vs. No. 6 South Carolina 17–38; lost vs. No. 20 Mississippi State 14–27; lost at Arkansas 7–49; lost vs. No. 13 Georgia 24–29; lost at Missouri 10–33; lost vs. Vanderbilt 0–40; won vs. Samford 34–3; lost at Tennessee 17–37+33−42Lost 14–32 at No. 25 Louisville-18No. 25 LouisvilleWon 47–14 vs. Kent State+33Kent StateLost 31–32 vs. Western Kentucky-1Western KentuckyLost 0–38 at No. 14 Florida-38No. 14 FloridaLost 17–38 vs. No. 6 South Carolina-21No. 6 South CarolinaLost 14–27 vs. No. 20 Mississippi State-13No. 20 Mississippi Sta…Lost 7–49 at Arkansas-42ArkansasLost 24–29 vs. No. 13 Georgia-5No. 13 GeorgiaLost 10–33 at Missouri-23MissouriLost 0–40 vs. Vanderbilt-40VanderbiltWon 34–3 vs. Samford+31SamfordLost 17–37 at Tennessee-20Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2at25LouisvilleL 14–⁠3232%
Sep 8vsKent StateW 47–⁠1456%
Sep 15vsWestern KentuckyL 31–⁠3261%
Sep 22at14FloridaL 0–⁠3823%
Sep 29vs6South CarolinaL 17–⁠3826%
Oct 6vs20Mississippi StateL 14–⁠2733%
Oct 13atArkansasL 7–⁠4922%
Oct 20vs13GeorgiaL 24–⁠2924%
Oct 27atMissouriL 10–⁠3324%
Nov 3vsVanderbiltL 0–⁠4043%
Nov 17vsSamfordW 34–⁠352%
Nov 24atTennesseeL 17–⁠3732%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 37–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 13th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 112th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
2–⁠10
Conference
0–⁠8 tied for 13th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
215–⁠372
Coach
Joker Phillips
Elo
1371 −96 this season
SP+ rating
-8.7 No. 91 of 124; offense No. 98, defense No. 74, special teams No. 99
SRS
−5.9 No. 83 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 50
Offensive coordinator
Randy Sanders
Defensive coordinator
Rick Minter
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense110th of 124
  • Defense103rd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted114th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted112th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0236%0.94110th of 124
Defense0.1147%0.88103rd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
0.10 def		38% off
45% def		—114th off
112th 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 295% allowed
Defense0.0own 321% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsMaxwell Smith QB975 yds
Passing touchdownsMaxwell Smith QB8 TD
Rushing yardsRaymond Sanders RB669 yds
Rushing touchdownsRaymond Sanders RB5 TD
Receiving yardsLa’Rod King WR488 yds
Receiving touchdownsLa’Rod King WR4 TD
InterceptionsJ.D. Harmon CB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Patrick Towles PRO★★★★No. 354
Thomas Chapman DT★★★No. 447
Justin Taylor RB★★★No. 521
Jalen Whitlow DUAL★★★No. 686
Jordan Watson OG★★★No. 692

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.879
Running backs23.00.859
Receivers32.70.814
Offensive line53.00.838
Defensive line23.00.854
Linebackers33.00.856
Defensive backs32.70.795
Athletes and specialists43.00.835
Whole class243.00.838

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 3Larry Warford OGDetroit Lions

Roster 108

The 2012 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 26 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠112–⁠25
Florida7–⁠111–⁠29
South Carolina6–⁠211–⁠28
Texas A&M6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠314
Vanderbilt5–⁠39–⁠423
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠8
Tennessee1–⁠75–⁠7
Auburn0–⁠83–⁠9
Kentucky0–⁠82–⁠10

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