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2014 Mississippi State

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Dan Mullen, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2014, game by game: won vs. Southern Miss 49–0; won vs. UAB 47–34; won at South Alabama 35–3; won at No. 8 LSU 34–29; won vs. No. 6 Texas A&M 48–31; won vs. No. 2 Auburn 38–23; won at Kentucky 45–31; won vs. Arkansas 17–10; won vs. UT Martin 45–16; lost at No. 4 Alabama 20–25; won vs. Vanderbilt 51–0; lost at No. 18 Ole Miss 17–31; lost vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech 34–49+51−15Won 49–0 vs. Southern Miss+49Southern MissWon 47–34 vs. UAB+13UABWon 35–3 at South Alabama+32South AlabamaWon 34–29 at No. 8 LSU+5No. 8 LSUWon 48–31 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M+17No. 6 Texas A&MWon 38–23 vs. No. 2 Auburn+15No. 2 AuburnWon 45–31 at Kentucky+14KentuckyWon 17–10 vs. Arkansas+7ArkansasWon 45–16 vs. UT Martin+29UT MartinLost 20–25 at No. 4 Alabama-5No. 4 AlabamaWon 51–0 vs. Vanderbilt+51VanderbiltLost 17–31 at No. 18 Ole Miss-14No. 18 Ole MissLost 34–49 vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech-15No. 10 Georgia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSouthern MissW 49–⁠082%
Sep 6vsUABW 47–⁠3482%
Sep 13atSouth AlabamaW 35–⁠356%
Sep 20at8LSUW 34–⁠2930%
Oct 4vs6Texas A&MW 48–⁠3145%
Oct 11vs2AuburnW 38–⁠2349%
Oct 25atKentuckyW 45–⁠3169%
Nov 1vsArkansasW 17–⁠1079%
Nov 8vsUT MartinW 45–⁠1692%
Nov 15at4AlabamaL 20–⁠2535%
Nov 22vsVanderbiltW 51–⁠087%
Nov 29at18Ole MissL 17–⁠3152%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs10Georgia TechOrange BowlL 34–⁠4950%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia Tech 49–⁠34 in the Orange Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 14
  2. Wk 6: 12
  3. Wk 7: 3
  4. Wk 8: 1
  5. Wk 9: 1
  6. Wk 10: 1
  7. Wk 11: 1
  8. Wk 12: 1
  9. Wk 13: 4
  10. Wk 14: 4
  11. Wk 15: 10
  12. Wk 16: 8
  13. Final: 11
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 1
Points
480–⁠282
Coach
Dan Mullen
Elo
1665 +107 this season
SP+ rating
22.2 No. 10 of 128; offense No. 10, defense No. 26, special teams No. 72
SRS
16.6 No. 11 of 128 in FBS
Returning
91% of last season’s EPA, No. 10 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 36
Offensive coordinators
Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy
Defensive coordinator
Geoff Collins
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense27th of 128
  • Defense23rd of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted13th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted18th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2251%1.0827th of 128
Defense0.0740%1.2323rd of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.26 off
0.07 def		52% off
37% def		—13th off
18th 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
Offense3.9own 302% allowed
Defense2.4own 302% 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 yardsDak Prescott QB3,449 yds
Passing touchdownsDak Prescott QB27 TD
Rushing yardsJosh Robinson RB1,203 yds
Rushing touchdownsDak Prescott QB14 TD
Receiving yardsDe’Runnya Wilson WR680 yds
Receiving touchdownsDe’Runnya Wilson WR9 TD
InterceptionsRichie Brown LB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Jamoral Graham ATH★★★★No. 214
Aeris Williams RB★★★★No. 255
Gerri Green ATH★★★★No. 274
Ravian Pierce TE★★★No. 345
Jesse Jackson WR★★★No. 353

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.813
Running backs23.50.872
Receivers23.00.889
Offensive line42.50.806
Defensive line23.00.832
Linebackers13.00.857
Defensive backs13.00.853
Athletes and specialists43.30.844
Whole class173.00.842

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 2Preston Smith DEWashington Redskins
Rd 2Benardrick McKinney ILBHouston Texans
Rd 6Matt Wells OLBNew England Patriots
Rd 6Malcolm Johnson TECleveland Browns
Rd 6Josh Robinson RBIndianapolis Colts

Roster 107

The 2014 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠24
Missouri7–⁠111–⁠314
Mississippi State6–⁠210–⁠311
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠417
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠522
LSU4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
Texas A&M3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠57–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠9

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