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2011 Mississippi State

7–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Dan Mullen.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2011, game by game: won at Memphis 59–14; lost at Auburn 34–41; lost vs. No. 3 LSU 6–19; won vs. Louisiana Tech 26–20; lost at Georgia 10–24; won at UAB 21–3; lost vs. No. 15 South Carolina 12–14; won at Kentucky 28–16; won vs. UT Martin 55–17; lost vs. No. 4 Alabama 7–24; lost at No. 6 Arkansas 17–44; won vs. Ole Miss 31–3; won vs. Wake Forest 23–17+45−27Won 59–14 at Memphis+45MemphisLost 34–41 at Auburn-7AuburnLost 6–19 vs. No. 3 LSU-13No. 3 LSUWon 26–20 vs. Louisiana Tech+6Louisiana TechLost 10–24 at Georgia-14GeorgiaWon 21–3 at UAB+18UABLost 12–14 vs. No. 15 South Carolina-2No. 15 South CarolinaWon 28–16 at Kentucky+12KentuckyWon 55–17 vs. UT Martin+38UT MartinLost 7–24 vs. No. 4 Alabama-17No. 4 AlabamaLost 17–44 at No. 6 Arkansas-27No. 6 ArkansasWon 31–3 vs. Ole Miss+28Ole MissWon 23–17 vs. Wake Forest+6Wake Forest
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atMemphisW 59–⁠1477%
Sep 10atAuburnL 34–⁠4131%
Sep 15vs3LSUL 6–⁠1945%
Sep 24vsLouisiana TechW 26–⁠2071%
Oct 1atGeorgiaL 10–⁠2444%
Oct 8atUABW 21–⁠371%
Oct 15vs15South CarolinaL 12–⁠1447%
Oct 29atKentuckyW 28–⁠1655%
Nov 5vsUT MartinW 55–⁠1784%
Nov 12vs4AlabamaL 7–⁠2430%
Nov 19at6ArkansasL 17–⁠4423%
Nov 26vsOle MissW 31–⁠379%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsWake ForestMusic City BowlW 23–⁠1769%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wake Forest 23–⁠17 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 25
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
329–⁠256
Coach
Dan Mullen
Elo
1588 +1 this season
SP+ rating
8.0 No. 38 of 120; offense No. 71, defense No. 18, special teams No. 55
SRS
5.3 No. 36 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 41
Offensive coordinator
Les Koenning
Defensive coordinators
Chris Wilson and Geoff Collins
Offense
Multiple spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense97th of 120
  • Defense27th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted107th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted37th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0138%0.9197th of 120
Defense0.0140%0.8527th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
0.03 def		40% off
41% def		—107th off
37th 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
Offense-0.2own 302% allowed
Defense-0.3own 303% 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 yardsChris Relf QB1,212 yds
Passing touchdownsChris Relf QB10 TD
Rushing yardsVick Ballard RB1,189 yds
Rushing touchdownsVick Ballard RB10 TD
Receiving yardsArceto Clark DB442 yds
Receiving touchdownsArceto Clark DB4 TD
InterceptionsJohnthan Banks DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Dee Arrington S★★★★No. 166
Joe Morrow WR★★★No. 390
Josh Robinson RB★★★No. 1018
Rufus Warren TE★★★No. 1120
Benardrick McKinney ATH★★★No. 1217

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.828
Receivers23.00.854
Offensive line33.00.812
Defensive line22.50.792
Linebackers13.00.798
Defensive backs23.50.872
Athletes and specialists23.00.816
Whole class143.00.826

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 1Fletcher Cox DTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Vick Ballard RBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Charles Mitchell SAtlanta Falcons

Roster 107

The 2011 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU8–⁠013–⁠12
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠110–⁠419
Arkansas6–⁠211–⁠25
South Carolina6–⁠211–⁠29
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida3–⁠57–⁠6
Mississippi State2–⁠67–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠66–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Tennessee1–⁠75–⁠7
Ole Miss0–⁠82–⁠10

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