CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2012 LSU

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles, finished No. 14 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠3: the NCAA vacated 10 regular-season wins.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In 2023, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) vacated all of LSU’s wins from the 2012 through 2015 seasons due to an ineligible player.”

Schedule and results

LSU in 2012, game by game: won vs. North Texas 41–14; won vs. Washington 41–3; won vs. Idaho 63–14; won at Auburn 12–10; won vs. Towson 38–22; lost at No. 10 Florida 6–14; won vs. No. 3 South Carolina 23–21; won at No. 20 Texas A&M 24–19; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 17–21; won vs. No. 22 Mississippi State 37–17; won vs. Ole Miss 41–35; won at Arkansas 20–13; lost vs. No. 14 Clemson 24–25+49−8Won 41–14 vs. North Texas+27North TexasWon 41–3 vs. Washington+38WashingtonWon 63–14 vs. Idaho+49IdahoWon 12–10 at Auburn+2AuburnWon 38–22 vs. Towson+16TowsonLost 6–14 at No. 10 Florida-8No. 10 FloridaWon 23–21 vs. No. 3 South Carolina+2No. 3 South CarolinaWon 24–19 at No. 20 Texas A&M+5No. 20 Texas A&MLost 17–21 vs. No. 1 Alabama-4No. 1 AlabamaWon 37–17 vs. No. 22 Mississippi State+20No. 22 Mississippi Sta…Won 41–35 vs. Ole Miss+6Ole MissWon 20–13 at Arkansas+7ArkansasLost 24–25 vs. No. 14 Clemson-1No. 14 Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsNorth TexasW 41–⁠14vacated89%
Sep 8vsWashingtonW 41–⁠3vacated81%
Sep 15vsIdahoW 63–⁠14vacated94%
Sep 22atAuburnW 12–⁠10vacated68%
Sep 29vsTowsonW 38–⁠22vacated92%
Oct 6at10FloridaL 6–⁠1459%
Oct 13vs3South CarolinaW 23–⁠21vacated57%
Oct 20at20Texas A&MW 24–⁠19vacated53%
Nov 3vs1AlabamaL 17–⁠2144%
Nov 10vs22Mississippi StateW 37–⁠17vacated75%
Nov 17vsOle MissW 41–⁠35vacated87%
Nov 23atArkansasW 20–⁠13vacated70%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs14ClemsonChick-fil-A BowlL 24–⁠2561%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 25–⁠24 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Wk 9: 6
  10. Wk 10: 5
  11. Wk 11: 9
  12. Wk 12: 8
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 9
  15. Wk 15: 9
  16. Final: 14

Consensus All-AmericanEric Reid, DB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 2
Points
387–⁠228
Coach
Les Miles
Elo
1764 +40 this season
SP+ rating
23.7 No. 10 of 124; offense No. 32, defense No. 4, special teams No. 19
SRS
15.1 No. 12 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 13
Offensive coordinator
Greg Studrawa
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense65th of 124
  • Defense20th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted55th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted11th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0542%0.8265th of 124
Defense0.0037%0.8720th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.01 def		43% off
37% def		—55th 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
Offense0.0own 332% allowed
Defense-0.5own 264% 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 yardsZach Mettenberger QB2,609 yds
Passing touchdownsZach Mettenberger QB12 TD
Rushing yardsJeremy Hill RB755 yds
Rushing touchdownsJeremy Hill RB12 TD
Receiving yardsOdell Beckham Jr. WR713 yds
Receiving touchdownsJarvis Landry WR5 TD
InterceptionsTharold Simon CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Kwon Alexander OLB★★★★No. 91
Vadal Alexander OG★★★★No. 167
Danielle Hunter WDE★★★★No. 195
Dwayne Thomas CB★★★★No. 214
Lorenzo Phillips OLB★★★★No. 228
John Thomas TE★★★★No. 233
Avery Peterson WR★★★★No. 236
Corey Thompson S★★★★No. 257

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.902
Receivers43.80.896
Offensive line43.80.902
Defensive line14.00.924
Linebackers63.70.910
Defensive backs34.00.912
Athletes and specialists23.00.851
Whole class213.70.901

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 1Barkevious Mingo DECleveland Browns
Rd 1Eric Reid SSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Kevin Minter ILBArizona Cardinals
Rd 3Bennie Logan DTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 3Tyrann Mathieu CBArizona Cardinals
Rd 3Sam Montgomery DEHouston Texans
Rd 5Tharold Simon CBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 5Lavar Edwards DETennessee Titans
Rd 6Spencer Ware RBSeattle Seahawks

Roster 122

The 2012 roster

122 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second 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.