CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Missouri

10–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big 12), coached by Gary Pinkel, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Missouri in 2008, game by game: won vs. No. 20 Illinois 52–42; won vs. Southeast Missouri State 52–3; won vs. Nevada 69–17; won vs. Buffalo 42–21; won at Nebraska 52–17; lost vs. No. 17 Oklahoma State 23–28; lost at No. 1 Texas 31–56; won vs. Colorado 58–0; won at Baylor 31–28; won vs. Kansas State 41–24; won at Iowa State 52–20; lost vs. Kansas 37–40; lost vs. No. 4 Oklahoma 21–62; won vs. No. 24 Northwestern 30–23+58−41Won 52–42 vs. No. 20 Illinois+10No. 20 IllinoisWon 52–3 vs. Southeast Missouri State+49Southeast Misso…Won 69–17 vs. Nevada+52NevadaWon 42–21 vs. Buffalo+21BuffaloWon 52–17 at Nebraska+35NebraskaLost 23–28 vs. No. 17 Oklahoma State-5No. 17 Oklahoma StateLost 31–56 at No. 1 Texas-25No. 1 TexasWon 58–0 vs. Colorado+58ColoradoWon 31–28 at Baylor+3BaylorWon 41–24 vs. Kansas State+17Kansas StateWon 52–20 at Iowa State+32Iowa StateLost 37–40 vs. Kansas-3KansasLost 21–62 vs. No. 4 Oklahoma-41No. 4 OklahomaWon 30–23 vs. No. 24 Northwestern+7No. 24 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vs20IllinoisW 52–⁠4264%
Sep 6vsSoutheast Missouri StateW 52–⁠395%
Sep 13vsNevadaW 69–⁠1781%
Sep 20vsBuffaloW 42–⁠2186%
Oct 4atNebraskaW 52–⁠1764%
Oct 11vs17Oklahoma StateL 23–⁠2867%
Oct 18at1TexasL 31–⁠5637%
Oct 25vsColoradoW 58–⁠080%
Nov 1atBaylorW 31–⁠2878%
Nov 8vsKansas StateW 41–⁠2483%
Nov 15atIowa StateW 52–⁠2086%
Nov 29vsKansasL 37–⁠4069%
Dec 6vs4OklahomaBig 12 Championship GameL 21–⁠6231%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs24NorthwesternAlamo BowlW 30–⁠2362%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 30–⁠23 in the Alamo Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 6
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 16
  10. Wk 10: 14
  11. Wk 11: 13
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 12
  15. Wk 15: 19
  16. Final: 19

Big 12 North champions5–⁠3 in the conference, shared with Nebraska

Led the nationJeff Wolfert: points (133 pts)

John Mackey AwardChase Coffman, TE

2 consensus All-AmericansChase Coffman, TE; Jeremy Maclin, WR/KR

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big 12
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 3
Points
591–⁠381
Coach
Gary Pinkel
Elo
1684 +28 this season
SP+ rating
24.0 No. 7 of 120; offense No. 6, defense No. 49, special teams No. 3
SRS
14.7 No. 10 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 28
Offensive coordinator
Dave Christensen
Defensive coordinator
Matt Eberflus
Captains
Chase Daniel, Ziggy Hood, William Moore and Tommy Saunders
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense14th of 120
  • Defense93rd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted15th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted85th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1151%0.9014th of 120
Defense0.0843%0.9393rd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.05 def		49% off
41% def		—15th off
85th 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 353% allowed
Defense0.0own 292% 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

Blaine Gabbert PRO★★★★No. 35
Andrew Jones TE★★★★No. 234
Dan Hoch OT★★★★No. 277
Zaviar Gooden S★★★No. 473
Gahn McGaffie APB★★★No. 521

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.981
Running backs23.00.863
Receivers33.00.852
Offensive line43.30.858
Defensive line33.00.829
Linebackers13.00.833
Defensive backs13.00.878
Athletes and specialists13.00.857
Whole class163.10.859

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 1Jeremy Maclin WRPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 1Evander Hood DTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 2William Moore SAtlanta Falcons
Rd 3Chase Coffman TECincinnati Bengals
Rd 5Colin Brown OTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Stryker Sulak DEOakland Raiders

All-Big 12

6 first team, 3 second team

First 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 Big 12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠112–⁠14
Oklahoma7–⁠112–⁠25
Texas Tech7–⁠111–⁠212
Missouri5–⁠310–⁠419
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Oklahoma State5–⁠39–⁠416
Kansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Colorado2–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State2–⁠65–⁠7
Baylor2–⁠64–⁠8
Texas A&M2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa State0–⁠82–⁠10

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