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2014 LSU

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles. Officially 0–⁠5: the NCAA vacated eight 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 2014, game by game: won vs. No. 14 Wisconsin 28–24; won vs. Sam Houston 56–0; won vs. UL Monroe 31–0; lost vs. Mississippi State 29–34; won vs. New Mexico State 63–7; lost at No. 5 Auburn 7–41; won at Florida 30–27; won vs. Kentucky 41–3; won vs. No. 3 Ole Miss 10–7; lost vs. No. 4 Alabama 13–20; lost at Arkansas 0–17; won at Texas A&M 23–17; lost vs. Notre Dame 28–31+56−34Won 28–24 vs. No. 14 Wisconsin+4No. 14 WisconsinWon 56–0 vs. Sam Houston+56Sam HoustonWon 31–0 vs. UL Monroe+31UL MonroeLost 29–34 vs. Mississippi State-5Mississippi Sta…Won 63–7 vs. New Mexico State+56New Mexico StateLost 7–41 at No. 5 Auburn-34No. 5 AuburnWon 30–27 at Florida+3FloridaWon 41–3 vs. Kentucky+38KentuckyWon 10–7 vs. No. 3 Ole Miss+3No. 3 Ole MissLost 13–20 vs. No. 4 Alabama-7No. 4 AlabamaLost 0–17 at Arkansas-17ArkansasWon 23–17 at Texas A&M+6Texas A&MLost 28–31 vs. Notre Dame-3Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vs14WisconsinW 28–⁠24vacated57%
Sep 6vsSam HoustonW 56–⁠0vacated87%
Sep 13vsUL MonroeW 31–⁠0vacated83%
Sep 20vsMississippi StateL 29–⁠3470%
Sep 27vsNew Mexico StateW 63–⁠7vacated92%
Oct 4at5AuburnL 7–⁠4139%
Oct 11atFloridaW 30–⁠27vacated58%
Oct 18vsKentuckyW 41–⁠3vacated76%
Oct 25vs3Ole MissW 10–⁠7vacated52%
Nov 8vs4AlabamaL 13–⁠2050%
Nov 15atArkansasL 0–⁠1763%
Nov 27atTexas A&MW 23–⁠17vacated43%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsNotre DameMusic City BowlL 28–⁠3157%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 31–⁠28 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 48th-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: 12
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 17
  6. Wk 6: 15
  7. Wk 9: 24
  8. Wk 10: 16
  9. Wk 11: 14
  10. Wk 12: 20
  11. Wk 15: 23
  12. Wk 16: 22
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
359–⁠228
Coach
Les Miles
Elo
1645 −27 this season
SP+ rating
21.5 No. 11 of 128; offense No. 34, defense No. 5, special teams No. 39
SRS
14.9 No. 14 of 128 in FBS
Returning
12% of last season’s EPA, No. 123 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
Cam Cameron
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense83rd of 128
  • Defense9th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted53rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted4th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1043%1.0783rd of 128
Defense0.0236%1.229th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.17 off
0.01 def		45% off
34% def		—53rd off
4th 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
Offense3.9own 283% allowed
Defense2.6own 282% 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 yardsAnthony Jennings QB1,611 yds
Passing touchdownsAnthony Jennings QB11 TD
Rushing yardsLeonard Fournette RB1,034 yds
Rushing touchdownsLeonard Fournette RB10 TD
Receiving yardsTravin Dural WR758 yds
Receiving touchdownsTravin Dural WR7 TD
InterceptionsRickey Jefferson S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Leonard Fournette RB★★★★★No. 1
Malachi Dupre WR★★★★★No. 17
Clifton Garrett OLB★★★★★No. 29
Jamal Adams S★★★★★No. 32
Ed Paris S★★★★No. 41
Travonte Valentine DT★★★★No. 62
Brandon Harris DUAL★★★★No. 75
Trey Quinn WR★★★★No. 83

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.965
Running backs15.01.000
Receivers44.30.943
Offensive line24.00.931
Defensive line53.60.921
Linebackers15.00.986
Defensive backs44.00.941
Athletes and specialists23.50.860
Whole class204.00.934

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 2Jalen Collins CBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 3Danielle Hunter DEMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Kwon Alexander OLBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Kenny Hilliard RBHouston Texans

Roster 122

The 2014 roster

122 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 27 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠24
Missouri7–⁠111–⁠314
Mississippi State6–⁠210–⁠311
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠417
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠522
LSU4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
Texas A&M3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠57–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠9

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