2016 LSU

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles, then Ed Orgeron (interim, final 8 games), finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2016, game by game: lost vs. Wisconsin 14–16; won vs. Jacksonville State 34–13; won vs. Mississippi State 23–20; lost at Auburn 13–18; won vs. Missouri 42–7; won vs. Southern Miss 45–10; won vs. No. 23 Ole Miss 38–21; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 0–10; won at Arkansas 38–10; lost vs. No. 21 Florida 10–16; won at No. 22 Texas A&M 54–39; won vs. No. 15 Louisville 29–9+35−10Lost 14–16 vs. Wisconsin-2WisconsinWon 34–13 vs. Jacksonville State+21Jacksonville St…Won 23–20 vs. Mississippi State+3Mississippi Sta…Lost 13–18 at Auburn-5AuburnWon 42–7 vs. Missouri+35MissouriWon 45–10 vs. Southern Miss+35Southern MissWon 38–21 vs. No. 23 Ole Miss+17No. 23 Ole MissLost 0–10 vs. No. 1 Alabama-10No. 1 AlabamaWon 38–10 at Arkansas+28ArkansasLost 10–16 vs. No. 21 Florida-6No. 21 FloridaWon 54–39 at No. 22 Texas A&M+15No. 22 Texas A&MWon 29–9 vs. No. 15 Louisville+20No. 15 Louisville
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Louisville 29–⁠9 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 3: 20
  4. Wk 4: 18
  5. Wk 8: 25
  6. Wk 9: 19
  7. Wk 10: 15
  8. Wk 11: 19
  9. Wk 12: 16
  10. Wk 13: 25
  11. Wk 14: 21
  12. Wk 15: 19
  13. Final: 13
Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 5
Points
340–⁠189
Coach
Les Miles, then Ed Orgeron (interim, final 8 games)
Elo
1730 +115 this season
SP+ rating
25.3 No. 5 of 128; offense No. 40, defense No. 2, special teams No. 56
SRS
17.8 No. 6 of 128 in FBS
Returning
93% of last season’s EPA, No. 11 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 2 roster talent No. 3 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Cam Cameron and Steve Ensminger
Defensive coordinator
Dave Aranda
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense25th of 128
  • Defense11th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted18th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted6th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1845%1.2325th of 128
Defense-0.0436%1.0811th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.21 off
-0.05 def
48% off
34% def
—18th off
6th 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
Offense3.5own 2916% allowed
Defense2.1own 2719% caused

CORE rating 21.9, 7th of 128 (offense 5.5, defense -16.4).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsDanny Etling QB2,123 yds
Passing touchdownsDanny Etling QB11 TD
Rushing yardsDerrius Guice RB1,387 yds
Rushing touchdownsDerrius Guice RB15 TD
Receiving yardsMalachi Dupre WR593 yds
Receiving touchdownsD.J. Chark WR3 TD
TacklesDuke Riley LB92 tkl
SacksArden Key LB12 sacks
InterceptionsDonte Jackson DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Kristian Fulton CB★★★★★No. 22
Rashard Lawrence DT★★★★★No. 23
Saivion Smith CB★★★★No. 47
Eric Monroe S★★★★No. 55
Michael Divinity OLB★★★★No. 64
Ed Alexander DT★★★★No. 68
Stephen Sullivan WR★★★★No. 125
Drake Davis WR★★★★No. 128

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

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.843
Running backs14.00.939
Receivers44.00.930
Offensive line43.50.883
Defensive line73.90.925
Linebackers23.50.904
Defensive backs54.00.948
Athletes and specialists13.00.822
Whole class253.80.915

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 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 1Leonard Fournette RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 1Jamal Adams SNew York Jets
Rd 1Tre’Davious White CBBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Ethan Pocic CSeattle Seahawks
Rd 3Duke Riley ILBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 3Kendell Beckwith ILBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Davon Godchaux DTMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Malachi Dupre WRGreen Bay Packers

Roster 113

The 2016 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 55 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

7 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Florida6–⁠29–⁠414
LSU5–⁠38–⁠413
Auburn5–⁠38–⁠524
Tennessee4–⁠49–⁠422
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Mississippi State3–⁠56–⁠7
South Carolina3–⁠56–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠65–⁠7
Missouri2–⁠64–⁠8

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