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2008 Mississippi State

4–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Sylvester Croom.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2008, game by game: lost at Louisiana Tech 14–22; won vs. SE Louisiana 34–10; lost vs. No. 9 Auburn 2–3; lost at Georgia Tech 7–38; lost at No. 5 LSU 24–34; won vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt 17–14; lost at Tennessee 3–34; won vs. Middle Tennessee 31–22; lost vs. Kentucky 13–14; lost at No. 1 Alabama 7–32; won vs. Arkansas 31–28; lost at No. 25 Ole Miss 0–45+24−45Lost 14–22 at Louisiana Tech-8Louisiana TechWon 34–10 vs. SE Louisiana+24SE LouisianaLost 2–3 vs. No. 9 Auburn-1No. 9 AuburnLost 7–38 at Georgia Tech-31Georgia TechLost 24–34 at No. 5 LSU-10No. 5 LSUWon 17–14 vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt+3No. 13 VanderbiltLost 3–34 at Tennessee-31TennesseeWon 31–22 vs. Middle Tennessee+9Middle TennesseeLost 13–14 vs. Kentucky-1KentuckyLost 7–32 at No. 1 Alabama-25No. 1 AlabamaWon 31–28 vs. Arkansas+3ArkansasLost 0–45 at No. 25 Ole Miss-45No. 25 Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atLouisiana TechL 14–⁠2257%
Sep 6vsSE LouisianaW 34–⁠1085%
Sep 13vs9AuburnL 2–⁠341%
Sep 20atGeorgia TechL 7–⁠3836%
Sep 27at5LSUL 24–⁠3415%
Oct 11vs13VanderbiltW 17–⁠1446%
Oct 18atTennesseeL 3–⁠3433%
Oct 25vsMiddle TennesseeW 31–⁠2267%
Nov 1vsKentuckyL 13–⁠1445%
Nov 15at1AlabamaL 7–⁠3214%
Nov 22vsArkansasW 31–⁠2852%
Nov 28at25Ole MissL 0–⁠4534%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ole Miss 45–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 80th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Record
4–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
183–⁠296
Coach
Sylvester Croom
Elo
1459 −70 this season
SP+ rating
-8.8 No. 91 of 120; offense No. 110, defense No. 51, special teams No. 120
SRS
−8.2 No. 92 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 53
Offensive coordinator
Woody McCorvey
Defensive coordinator
Charlie Harbison
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense112th of 120
  • Defense57th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted110th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted63rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0632%1.08112th of 120
Defense0.0339%0.9257th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.01 off
0.03 def		35% off
39% def		—110th off
63rd 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 303% allowed
Defense-0.2own 332% 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.

Top recruits in the 2008 class

Charles Mitchell S★★★★No. 138
Templeton Hardy OG★★★★No. 289
John Paul Alford OG★★★No. 877
Terrance Davis ATH★★★No. 877
Rashun Dixon S★★★No. 938

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers23.00.830
Offensive line23.50.873
Defensive line13.00.821
Linebackers22.50.804
Defensive backs23.50.887
Athletes and specialists23.00.842
Whole class113.10.845

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.

All-SEC

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠26
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠313
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠414
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Vanderbilt4–⁠47–⁠6
LSU3–⁠58–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠67–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠65–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠64–⁠8

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