CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 LSU

8–⁠4 (3–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Charles McClendon.

Schedule and results

LSU in 1978, game by game: won vs. Indiana 24–17; won vs. Wake Forest 13–11; won at Rice 37–7; won at Florida 34–21; lost vs. Georgia 17–24; won at Kentucky 21–0; won vs. Ole Miss 30–8; lost at No. 3 Alabama 10–31; lost at Mississippi State 14–16; won vs. Tulane 40–21; won vs. Wyoming 24–17; lost vs. No. 18 Missouri 15–20+30−21Won 24–17 vs. Indiana+7IndianaWon 13–11 vs. Wake Forest+2Wake ForestWon 37–7 at Rice+30RiceWon 34–21 at Florida+13FloridaLost 17–24 vs. Georgia-7GeorgiaWon 21–0 at Kentucky+21KentuckyWon 30–8 vs. Ole Miss+22Ole MissLost 10–31 at No. 3 Alabama-21No. 3 AlabamaLost 14–16 at Mississippi State-2Mississippi Sta…Won 40–21 vs. Tulane+19TulaneWon 24–17 vs. Wyoming+7WyomingLost 15–20 vs. No. 18 Missouri-5No. 18 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsIndianaW 24–⁠1766%
Sep 23vsWake ForestW 13–⁠1182%
Sep 30atRiceW 37–⁠776%
Oct 7atFloridaW 34–⁠2147%
Oct 14vsGeorgiaL 17–⁠2466%
Oct 21atKentuckyW 21–⁠037%
Nov 4vsOle MissW 30–⁠876%
Nov 11at3AlabamaL 10–⁠3126%
Nov 18atMississippi StateL 14–⁠1650%
Nov 25vsTulaneW 40–⁠2180%
Dec 2vsWyomingW 24–⁠1779%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvs18MissouriLiberty BowlL 15–⁠2054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 20–⁠15 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 11
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 16
  8. Wk 8: 14
  9. Wk 9: 12
  10. Wk 10: 10
  11. Wk 11: 17

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

Heisman voteCharles Alexander, fifth

Consensus All-AmericanCharles Alexander, RB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
3–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 10
Points
279–⁠193
Coach
Charles McClendon
Elo
1613 +59 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 32 of 133; offense No. 40, defense No. 29
SRS
14.0 No. 21 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Charles Alexander RBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Clinton Burrell DBCleveland Browns

All-SEC

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama6–⁠011–⁠11
Georgia5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠116
Auburn3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
LSU3–⁠38–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠35–⁠5–⁠1
Florida3–⁠34–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠46–⁠5
Ole Miss2–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠44–⁠6–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠62–⁠9

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