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2012 Louisville

11–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Big East), coached by Charlie Strong, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Louisville in 2012, game by game: won vs. Kentucky 32–14; won vs. Missouri State 35–7; won vs. North Carolina 39–34; won at Florida International 28–21; won at Southern Miss 21–17; won at Pittsburgh 45–35; won vs. South Florida 27–25; won vs. Cincinnati 34–31; won vs. Temple 45–17; lost at Syracuse 26–45; lost vs. UConn 20–23; won at Rutgers 20–17; won vs. No. 4 Florida 33–23+28−19Won 32–14 vs. Kentucky+18KentuckyWon 35–7 vs. Missouri State+28Missouri StateWon 39–34 vs. North Carolina+5North CarolinaWon 28–21 at Florida International+7Florida Interna…Won 21–17 at Southern Miss+4Southern MissWon 45–35 at Pittsburgh+10PittsburghWon 27–25 vs. South Florida+2South FloridaWon 34–31 vs. Cincinnati+3CincinnatiWon 45–17 vs. Temple+28TempleLost 26–45 at Syracuse-19SyracuseLost 20–23 vs. UConn-3UConnWon 20–17 at Rutgers+3RutgersWon 33–23 vs. No. 4 Florida+10No. 4 Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsKentuckyW 32–⁠1468%
Sep 8vsMissouri StateW 35–⁠789%
Sep 15vsNorth CarolinaW 39–⁠3462%
Sep 22atFlorida InternationalW 28–⁠2160%
Sep 29atSouthern MissW 21–⁠1752%
Oct 13atPittsburghW 45–⁠3558%
Oct 20vsSouth FloridaW 27–⁠2579%
Oct 26vsCincinnatiW 34–⁠3160%
Nov 3vsTempleW 45–⁠1777%
Nov 10atSyracuseL 26–⁠4569%
Nov 24vsUConnL 20–⁠2378%
Nov 29atRutgersW 20–⁠1738%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs4FloridaSugar BowlW 33–⁠2331%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Florida 33–⁠23 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 82 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 2: 23
  3. Wk 3: 19
  4. Wk 4: 20
  5. Wk 5: 19
  6. Wk 6: 19
  7. Wk 7: 18
  8. Wk 8: 16
  9. Wk 9: 16
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 11
  12. Wk 12: 20
  13. Wk 13: 19
  14. Wk 15: 22
  15. Final: 13

Big East champions5–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Cincinnati, Rutgers and Syracuse

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 shared first in Big East
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 11
Points
405–⁠309
Coach
Charlie Strong
Elo
1643 +104 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 40 of 124; offense No. 28, defense No. 49, special teams No. 91
SRS
4.0 No. 50 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 45
Offensive coordinator
Shawn Watson
Defensive coordinator
Vance Bedford
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense17th of 124
  • Defense53rd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted15th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted60th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1243%1.0017th of 124
Defense0.0543%0.8953rd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.06 def		43% off
44% def		—15th off
60th 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 301% allowed
Defense0.1own 303% 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 yardsTeddy Bridgewater QB3,718 yds
Passing touchdownsTeddy Bridgewater QB27 TD
Rushing yardsJeremy Wright RB824 yds
Rushing touchdownsSenorise Perry RB11 TD
Receiving yardsDeVante Parker WR744 yds
Receiving touchdownsDeVante Parker WR10 TD
InterceptionsTerell Floyd CB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Keith Brown ILB★★★★No. 169
Nick Dawson ILB★★★★No. 225
Devontre Parnell CB★★★No. 500
Sheldon Rankins SDE★★★No. 771
Will Gardner PRO★★★No. 793

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.857
Receivers13.00.807
Offensive line53.00.838
Defensive line33.00.833
Linebackers33.30.874
Defensive backs23.00.861
Athletes and specialists13.00.814
Whole class163.10.845

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.

Roster 113

The 2012 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

2012 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Louisville5–⁠211–⁠213
Cincinnati5–⁠210–⁠3
Rutgers5–⁠29–⁠4
Syracuse5–⁠28–⁠5
Pittsburgh3–⁠46–⁠7
UConn2–⁠55–⁠7
Temple2–⁠54–⁠7
South Florida1–⁠63–⁠9

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