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2009 LSU

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2009, game by game: won at Washington 31–23; won vs. Vanderbilt 23–9; won vs. Louisiana 31–3; won at Mississippi State 30–26; won at No. 18 Georgia 20–13; lost vs. No. 1 Florida 3–13; won vs. Auburn 31–10; won vs. Tulane 42–0; lost at No. 3 Alabama 15–24; won vs. Louisiana Tech 24–16; lost at Ole Miss 23–25; won vs. Arkansas 33–30; lost vs. No. 11 Penn State 17–19+42−10Won 31–23 at Washington+8WashingtonWon 23–9 vs. Vanderbilt+14VanderbiltWon 31–3 vs. Louisiana+28LouisianaWon 30–26 at Mississippi State+4Mississippi Sta…Won 20–13 at No. 18 Georgia+7No. 18 GeorgiaLost 3–13 vs. No. 1 Florida-10No. 1 FloridaWon 31–10 vs. Auburn+21AuburnWon 42–0 vs. Tulane+42TulaneLost 15–24 at No. 3 Alabama-9No. 3 AlabamaWon 24–16 vs. Louisiana Tech+8Louisiana TechLost 23–25 at Ole Miss-2Ole MissWon 33–30 vs. Arkansas+3ArkansasLost 17–19 vs. No. 11 Penn State-2No. 11 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atWashingtonW 31–⁠2375%
Sep 12vsVanderbiltW 23–⁠972%
Sep 19vsLouisianaW 31–⁠377%
Sep 26atMississippi StateW 30–⁠2663%
Oct 3at18GeorgiaW 20–⁠1341%
Oct 10vs1FloridaL 3–⁠1341%
Oct 24vsAuburnW 31–⁠1071%
Oct 31vsTulaneW 42–⁠093%
Nov 7at3AlabamaL 15–⁠2433%
Nov 14vsLouisiana TechW 24–⁠1682%
Nov 21atOle MissL 23–⁠2549%
Nov 28vsArkansasW 33–⁠3064%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11Penn StateCapital One BowlL 17–⁠1942%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 19–⁠17 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 9
  12. Wk 12: 10
  13. Wk 13: 17
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Wk 15: 13
  16. Final: 17
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 4
Points
323–⁠211
Coach
Les Miles
Elo
1666 +60 this season
SP+ rating
23.0 No. 8 of 120; offense No. 41, defense No. 8, special teams No. 2
SRS
12.8 No. 15 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 1
Offensive coordinator
Gary Crowton
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense52nd of 120
  • Defense13th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted41st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted11th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0541%0.9152nd of 120
Defense-0.0338%0.9313th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
-0.01 def		41% off
38% def		—41st off
11th 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 322% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsJordan Jefferson QB2,166 yds
Passing touchdownsJordan Jefferson QB17 TD
Rushing yardsCharles Scott RB542 yds
Rushing touchdownsCharles Scott RB4 TD
Receiving yardsBrandon LaFell WR792 yds
Receiving touchdownsBrandon LaFell WR11 TD
InterceptionsChad Jones S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Russell Shepard DUAL★★★★★No. 3
Rueben Randle WR★★★★★No. 8
Craig Loston S★★★★★No. 9
Chris Davenport DT★★★★★No. 29
Michael Ford RB★★★★No. 44
Sam Montgomery WDE★★★★No. 50
Josh Downs DT★★★★No. 71
Kevin Minter ILB★★★★No. 127

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.999
Running backs24.00.955
Receivers15.00.997
Offensive line43.80.895
Defensive line44.30.962
Linebackers24.00.933
Defensive backs15.00.996
Whole class154.20.946

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 3Chad Jones SNew York Giants
Rd 3Brandon LaFell WRCarolina Panthers
Rd 4Perry Riley OLBWashington Redskins
Rd 4Al Woods DTNew Orleans Saints
Rd 6Trindon Holliday KRHouston Texans
Rd 6Charles Scott RBPhiladelphia Eagles

Roster 129

The 2009 roster

129 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠01
Florida8–⁠013–⁠13
LSU5–⁠39–⁠417
Ole Miss4–⁠49–⁠420
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠58–⁠5
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠55–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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