CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2018 LSU

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ed Orgeron, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2018, game by game: won vs. No. 8 Miami 33–17; won vs. SE Louisiana 31–0; won at No. 7 Auburn 22–21; won vs. Louisiana Tech 38–21; won vs. Ole Miss 45–16; lost at No. 22 Florida 19–27; won vs. No. 2 Georgia 36–16; won vs. No. 22 Mississippi State 19–3; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 0–29; won at Arkansas 24–17; won vs. Rice 42–10; lost at Texas A&M 72–74; won vs. No. 7 UCF 40–32+32−29Won 33–17 vs. No. 8 Miami+16No. 8 MiamiWon 31–0 vs. SE Louisiana+31SE LouisianaWon 22–21 at No. 7 Auburn+1No. 7 AuburnWon 38–21 vs. Louisiana Tech+17Louisiana TechWon 45–16 vs. Ole Miss+29Ole MissLost 19–27 at No. 22 Florida-8No. 22 FloridaWon 36–16 vs. No. 2 Georgia+20No. 2 GeorgiaWon 19–3 vs. No. 22 Mississippi State+16No. 22 Mississippi Sta…Lost 0–29 vs. No. 1 Alabama-29No. 1 AlabamaWon 24–17 at Arkansas+7ArkansasWon 42–10 vs. Rice+32RiceLost 72–74 at Texas A&M-2Texas A&MWon 40–32 vs. No. 7 UCF+8No. 7 UCF
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vs8MiamiW 33–⁠1752%
Sep 8vsSE LouisianaW 31–⁠090%
Sep 15at7AuburnW 22–⁠2142%
Sep 22vsLouisiana TechW 38–⁠2173%
Sep 29vsOle MissW 45–⁠1675%
Oct 6at22FloridaL 19–⁠2759%
Oct 13vs2GeorgiaW 36–⁠1644%
Oct 20vs22Mississippi StateW 19–⁠369%
Nov 3vs1AlabamaL 0–⁠2942%
Nov 10atArkansasW 24–⁠1782%
Nov 17vsRiceW 42–⁠1096%
Nov 24atTexas A&ML 72–⁠7456%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7UCFFiesta BowlW 40–⁠3238%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCF 40–⁠32 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 13
  8. Wk 8: 5
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 4
  11. Wk 11: 9
  12. Wk 12: 10
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 12
  15. Wk 15: 11
  16. Final: 6

Butkus AwardDevin White, ILB

3 consensus All-AmericansDevin White, ILB; Grant Delpit, DB; Greedy Williams, DB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 4
Points
421–⁠283
Coach
Ed Orgeron
Elo
1728 +93 this season
SP+ rating
24.2 No. 5 of 130; offense No. 30, defense No. 5, special teams No. 3
SRS
15.5 No. 10 of 130 in FBS
Returning
17% of last season’s EPA, No. 127 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 15 roster talent No. 6 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Steve Ensminger
Defensive coordinator
Dave Aranda
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense49th of 130
  • Defense25th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted28th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted11th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1343%1.1149th of 130
Defense0.0139%1.1925th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.16 off
-0.02 def		45% off
36% def		—28th 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
Offense3.7own 3116% allowed
Defense2.9own 2619% caused

CORE rating 14.1, 11th of 130 (offense -0.1, defense -14.3).

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 yardsJoe Burrow QB2,893 yds
Passing touchdownsJoe Burrow QB16 TD
Rushing yardsNick Brossette RB1,039 yds
Rushing touchdownsNick Brossette RB14 TD
Receiving yardsJustin Jefferson WR874 yds
Receiving touchdownsJustin Jefferson WR6 TD
TacklesDevin White LB123 tkl
SacksGrant Delpit S5 sacks
InterceptionsGrant Delpit S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Terrace Marshall WR★★★★★No. 13
Kelvin Joseph S★★★★No. 42
Ja’Marr Chase WR★★★★No. 84
Jarell Cherry WDE★★★★No. 198
Chasen Hines DT★★★★No. 243
Micah Baskerville ILB★★★★No. 277
Davin Cotton DT★★★★No. 284
Dare Rosenthal DT★★★★No. 305

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.790
Running backs14.00.892
Receivers53.80.920
Offensive line23.00.885
Defensive line63.70.898
Linebackers24.00.898
Defensive backs14.00.978
Athletes and specialists23.00.862
Whole class203.60.897

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 1Devin White ILBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 2Greedy Williams CBCleveland Browns
Rd 4Foster Moreau TEOakland Raiders

Roster 110

The 2018 roster

110 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Georgia7–⁠111–⁠37
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠312
Florida5–⁠310–⁠37
LSU5–⁠310–⁠36
Texas A&M5–⁠39–⁠416
Missouri4–⁠48–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Tennessee2–⁠65–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠75–⁠7
Arkansas0–⁠82–⁠10

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