CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 LSU

8–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2008, game by game: won vs. App State 41–13; won vs. North Texas 41–3; won at No. 10 Auburn 26–21; won vs. Mississippi State 34–24; lost at No. 11 Florida 21–51; won at South Carolina 24–17; lost vs. No. 9 Georgia 38–52; won vs. Tulane 35–10; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 21–27; won vs. Troy 40–31; lost vs. Ole Miss 13–31; lost at Arkansas 30–31; won vs. No. 15 Georgia Tech 38–3+38−30Won 41–13 vs. App State+28App StateWon 41–3 vs. North Texas+38North TexasWon 26–21 at No. 10 Auburn+5No. 10 AuburnWon 34–24 vs. Mississippi State+10Mississippi Sta…Lost 21–51 at No. 11 Florida-30No. 11 FloridaWon 24–17 at South Carolina+7South CarolinaLost 38–52 vs. No. 9 Georgia-14No. 9 GeorgiaWon 35–10 vs. Tulane+25TulaneLost 21–27 vs. No. 1 Alabama-6No. 1 AlabamaWon 40–31 vs. Troy+9TroyLost 13–31 vs. Ole Miss-18Ole MissLost 30–31 at Arkansas-1ArkansasWon 38–3 vs. No. 15 Georgia Tech+35No. 15 Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsApp StateW 41–⁠1384%
Sep 13vsNorth TexasW 41–⁠394%
Sep 20at10AuburnW 26–⁠2153%
Sep 27vsMississippi StateW 34–⁠2485%
Oct 11at11FloridaL 21–⁠5144%
Oct 18atSouth CarolinaW 24–⁠1760%
Oct 25vs9GeorgiaL 38–⁠5259%
Nov 1vsTulaneW 35–⁠1092%
Nov 8vs1AlabamaL 21–⁠2755%
Nov 15vsTroyW 40–⁠3172%
Nov 22vsOle MissL 13–⁠3181%
Nov 28atArkansasL 30–⁠3161%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs15Georgia TechChick-fil-A BowlW 38–⁠350%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Georgia Tech 38–⁠3 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 7
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 4
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 11
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 15
  12. Wk 12: 19
  13. Wk 13: 18
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 3
Points
402–⁠314
Coach
Les Miles
Elo
1659 −41 this season
SP+ rating
20.8 No. 13 of 120; offense No. 18, defense No. 19, special teams No. 1
SRS
8.1 No. 26 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 13
Offensive coordinator
Gary Crowton
Defensive coordinators
Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense60th of 120
  • Defense33rd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted42nd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted18th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0344%0.8960th of 120
Defense-0.0038%0.9533rd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
-0.01 def		44% off
37% def		—42nd off
18th 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 312% 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

Patrick Peterson CB★★★★★No. 6
Chancey Aghayere SDE★★★★No. 58
Ryan Baker OLB★★★★No. 125
Chase Clement SDE★★★★No. 151
Chris Tolliver WR★★★★No. 156
Brandon Taylor S★★★★No. 163
Karnell Hatcher S★★★★No. 174
DeAngelo Peterson ATH★★★★No. 180

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.908
Receivers24.00.915
Offensive line33.70.897
Defensive line33.70.913
Linebackers24.00.917
Defensive backs53.80.920
Athletes and specialists23.50.899
Whole class183.80.911

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 1Tyson Jackson DEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Quinn Johnson FBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 5Herman Johnson OGArizona Cardinals
Rd 7Curtis Taylor SSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Demetrius Byrd WRSan Diego Chargers
Rd 7Ricky Jean-Francois DTSan Francisco 49ers

All-SEC

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

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 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.