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2008 North Carolina

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Butch Davis. Officially 0–⁠5: the NCAA vacated eight regular-season wins.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In 2011, North Carolina vacated all its wins from the 2008 and 2009 seasons.”

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 2008, game by game: won vs. McNeese 35–27; won at Rutgers 44–12; lost vs. Virginia Tech 17–20; won at Miami 28–24; won vs. No. 24 UConn 38–12; won vs. Notre Dame 29–24; lost at Virginia 13–16; won vs. No. 23 Boston College 45–24; won vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech 28–7; lost at Maryland 15–17; lost vs. NC State 10–41; won at Duke 28–20; lost vs. West Virginia 30–31+32−31Won 35–27 vs. McNeese+8McNeeseWon 44–12 at Rutgers+32RutgersLost 17–20 vs. Virginia Tech-3Virginia TechWon 28–24 at Miami+4MiamiWon 38–12 vs. No. 24 UConn+26No. 24 UConnWon 29–24 vs. Notre Dame+5Notre DameLost 13–16 at Virginia-3VirginiaWon 45–24 vs. No. 23 Boston College+21No. 23 Boston CollegeWon 28–7 vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech+21No. 22 Georgia TechLost 15–17 at Maryland-2MarylandLost 10–41 vs. NC State-31NC StateWon 28–20 at Duke+8DukeLost 30–31 vs. West Virginia-1West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsMcNeeseW 35–⁠27vacated65%
Sep 11atRutgersW 44–⁠12vacated34%
Sep 20vsVirginia TechL 17–⁠2038%
Sep 27atMiamiW 28–⁠24vacated39%
Oct 4vs24UConnW 38–⁠12vacated46%
Oct 11vsNotre DameW 29–⁠24vacated60%
Oct 18atVirginiaL 13–⁠1648%
Oct 25vs23Boston CollegeW 45–⁠24vacated44%
Nov 8vs22Georgia TechW 28–⁠7vacated59%
Nov 15atMarylandL 15–⁠1751%
Nov 22vsNC StateL 10–⁠4177%
Nov 29atDukeW 28–⁠20vacated69%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsWest VirginiaMeineke Car Care BowlL 30–⁠3133%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to West Virginia 31–⁠30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 22
  2. Wk 8: 18
  3. Wk 10: 21
  4. Wk 11: 19
  5. Wk 12: 17
  6. Wk 13: 25
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
360–⁠275
Coach
Butch Davis
Elo
1564 +108 this season
SP+ rating
10.2 No. 32 of 120; offense No. 56, defense No. 19, special teams No. 38
SRS
9.8 No. 24 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 30
Offensive coordinator
John Shoop
Defensive coordinator
Everett Withers
Captains
Ryan Taylor, Matt Merletti, Garrett Reynolds, Hakeem Nicks, Trimane Goddard and Mark Paschal
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense90th of 120
  • Defense69th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted95th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted84th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0237%0.9890th of 120
Defense0.0441%0.8769th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
0.05 def		38% off
42% def		—95th off
84th 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 362% allowed
Defense-0.3own 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

Christian Wilson ATH★★★★No. 127
Quinton Coples SDE★★★★No. 204
Jamal Womble RB★★★★No. 231
Zach Brown OLB★★★★No. 262
Robert Quinn WDE★★★★No. 267

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.841
Running backs14.00.911
Receivers13.00.832
Defensive line24.00.910
Linebackers33.00.828
Athletes and specialists14.00.938
Whole class103.40.867

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 1Hakeem Nicks WRNew York Giants
Rd 2Richard Quinn TEDenver Broncos
Rd 3Brandon Tate WRNew England Patriots
Rd 5Garrett Reynolds OTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Brooks Foster WRSt. Louis Rams

2008 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech5–⁠310–⁠415
Georgia Tech5–⁠39–⁠422
Florida State5–⁠39–⁠421
Boston College5–⁠39–⁠5
Maryland4–⁠48–⁠5
North Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Wake Forest4–⁠48–⁠5
Miami4–⁠47–⁠6
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
NC State4–⁠46–⁠7
Virginia3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke1–⁠74–⁠8

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