2020 LSU

5–⁠5 (5–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ed Orgeron.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2020, game by game: lost vs. Mississippi State 34–44; won at Vanderbilt 41–7; lost vs. Missouri 41–45; won vs. South Carolina 52–24; lost at Auburn 11–48; won at Arkansas 27–24; lost at No. 5 Texas A&M 7–20; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 17–55; won at No. 6 Florida 37–34; won vs. Ole Miss 53–48+34−38Lost 34–44 vs. Mississippi State-10Mississippi Sta…Won 41–7 at Vanderbilt+34VanderbiltLost 41–45 vs. Missouri-4MissouriWon 52–24 vs. South Carolina+28South CarolinaLost 11–48 at Auburn-37AuburnWon 27–24 at Arkansas+3ArkansasLost 7–20 at No. 5 Texas A&M-13No. 5 Texas A&MLost 17–55 vs. No. 1 Alabama-38No. 1 AlabamaWon 37–34 at No. 6 Florida+3No. 6 FloridaWon 53–48 vs. Ole Miss+5Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ole Miss 53–⁠48; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 3: 6
  3. Wk 4: 6
  4. Wk 5: 20
  5. Wk 6: 17
Record
5–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
320–⁠349
Coach
Ed Orgeron
Elo
1667 −114 this season
SP+ rating
6.0 No. 41 of 130; offense No. 27, defense No. 69
SRS
4.2 No. 26 of 77 in FBS
Returning
25% of last season’s EPA, No. 124 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 4 roster talent No. 7 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Steve Ensminger
Defensive coordinator
Bo Pelini
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense48th of 127
  • Defense98th of 127
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted62nd of 127
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted88th of 127
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1444%1.2048th of 127
Defense0.2047%1.4298th of 127
Opponent-adjusted0.12 off
0.15 def
42% off
45% def
—62nd off
88th 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
Offense3.2own 2814% allowed
Defense3.6own 2619% caused

CORE rating -3.2, 80th of 127 (offense -0.3, defense 3.0).

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 yardsMax Johnson QB1,069 yds
Passing touchdownsMyles Brennan QB11 TD
Rushing yardsTyrion Davis-Price RB446 yds
Rushing touchdownsTyrion Davis-Price RB3 TD
Receiving yardsTerrace Marshall Jr. WR731 yds
Receiving touchdownsTerrace Marshall Jr. WR10 TD
TacklesDamone Clark LB63 tkl
SacksAndre Anthony LB5.5 sacks
InterceptionsEli Ricks DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2020 class

Arik Gilbert TE★★★★★No. 5
Eli Ricks CB★★★★★No. 14
Kayshon Boutte WR★★★★★No. 24
Jaquelin Roy DT★★★★No. 41
Phillip Webb OLB★★★★No. 57
Jordan Toles S★★★★No. 80
B.J. Ojulari WDE★★★★No. 84
Jacobian Guillory II DT★★★★No. 96

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

The 2020 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.896
Running backs14.00.940
Receivers54.20.934
Offensive line33.30.908
Defensive line44.00.951
Linebackers34.00.955
Defensive backs34.30.955
Whole class214.00.936

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 2021

The 2021 draft
Rd 1Ja’Marr Chase WRCincinnati Bengals
Rd 2Terrace Marshall Jr. WRCarolina Panthers
Rd 4Jabril Cox ILBDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Tyler Shelvin DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Racey McMath WRTennessee Titans
Rd 6JaCoby Stevens SPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Kary Vincent Jr. CBDenver Broncos

Roster 111

The 2020 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2020 line; 54 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2020 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2020 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama10–⁠013–⁠01
Texas A&M8–⁠19–⁠14
Florida8–⁠28–⁠413
Georgia7–⁠28–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠46–⁠5
LSU5–⁠55–⁠5
Missouri5–⁠55–⁠5
Ole Miss4–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠65–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠74–⁠7
Arkansas3–⁠73–⁠7
Tennessee3–⁠73–⁠7
South Carolina2–⁠82–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠90–⁠9

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