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2012 Mississippi State

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Dan Mullen.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2012, game by game: won vs. Jackson State 56–9; won vs. Auburn 28–10; won at Troy 30–24; won vs. South Alabama 30–10; won at Kentucky 27–14; won vs. Tennessee 41–31; won vs. Middle Tennessee 45–3; lost at No. 1 Alabama 7–38; lost vs. No. 16 Texas A&M 13–38; lost at No. 9 LSU 17–37; won vs. Arkansas 45–14; lost at Ole Miss 24–41; lost vs. No. 21 Northwestern 20–34+47−31Won 56–9 vs. Jackson State+47Jackson StateWon 28–10 vs. Auburn+18AuburnWon 30–24 at Troy+6TroyWon 30–10 vs. South Alabama+20South AlabamaWon 27–14 at Kentucky+13KentuckyWon 41–31 vs. Tennessee+10TennesseeWon 45–3 vs. Middle Tennessee+42Middle TennesseeLost 7–38 at No. 1 Alabama-31No. 1 AlabamaLost 13–38 vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-25No. 16 Texas A&MLost 17–37 at No. 9 LSU-20No. 9 LSUWon 45–14 vs. Arkansas+31ArkansasLost 24–41 at Ole Miss-17Ole MissLost 20–34 vs. No. 21 Northwestern-14No. 21 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsJackson StateW 56–⁠977%
Sep 8vsAuburnW 28–⁠1058%
Sep 15atTroyW 30–⁠2469%
Sep 22vsSouth AlabamaW 30–⁠1090%
Oct 6atKentuckyW 27–⁠1467%
Oct 13vsTennesseeW 41–⁠3173%
Oct 20vsMiddle TennesseeW 45–⁠383%
Oct 27at1AlabamaL 7–⁠3820%
Nov 3vs16Texas A&ML 13–⁠3854%
Nov 10at9LSUL 17–⁠3725%
Nov 17vsArkansasW 45–⁠1459%
Nov 24atOle MissL 24–⁠4162%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs21NorthwesternGator BowlL 20–⁠3449%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 34–⁠20 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 23
  2. Wk 5: 21
  3. Wk 6: 20
  4. Wk 7: 19
  5. Wk 8: 15
  6. Wk 9: 13
  7. Wk 10: 17
  8. Wk 11: 22
  9. Wk 13: 25

Jim Thorpe AwardJohnthan Banks, CB

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
383–⁠303
Coach
Dan Mullen
Elo
1557 −2 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 45 of 124; offense No. 38, defense No. 52, special teams No. 49
SRS
6.0 No. 41 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 22
Offensive coordinator
Les Koenning
Defensive coordinators
Chris Wilson and Geoff Collins
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense82nd of 124
  • Defense73rd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted83rd of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted65th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0444%0.8482nd of 124
Defense0.0845%0.8073rd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.06 def		44% off
43% def		—83rd off
65th 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-0.1own 334% allowed
Defense0.2own 263% 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 yardsTyler Russell QB2,897 yds
Passing touchdownsTyler Russell QB24 TD
Rushing yardsLaDarius Perkins RB1,016 yds
Rushing touchdownsLaDarius Perkins RB8 TD
Receiving yardsChad Bumphis WR922 yds
Receiving touchdownsChad Bumphis WR12 TD
InterceptionsDarius Slay DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Quay Evans DT★★★★No. 121
Nick James DT★★★★No. 180
Beniquez Brown OLB★★★★No. 239
Will Redmond ATH★★★★No. 302
A.J. Jefferson SDE★★★★No. 372

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.788
Running backs13.00.875
Receivers43.00.835
Offensive line23.00.853
Defensive line73.40.880
Linebackers23.50.902
Defensive backs13.00.859
Athletes and specialists43.30.854
Whole class233.20.858

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2Darius Slay CBDetroit Lions
Rd 2Johnthan Banks CBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Josh Boyd DTGreen Bay Packers

Roster 114

The 2012 roster

114 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠112–⁠25
Florida7–⁠111–⁠29
South Carolina6–⁠211–⁠28
Texas A&M6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠314
Vanderbilt5–⁠39–⁠423
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠8
Tennessee1–⁠75–⁠7
Auburn0–⁠83–⁠9
Kentucky0–⁠82–⁠10

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