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2008 Ohio State

10–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Jim Tressel, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2008, game by game: won vs. Youngstown State 43–0; won vs. Ohio 26–14; lost at No. 1 USC 3–35; won vs. Troy 28–10; won vs. Minnesota 34–21; won at No. 18 Wisconsin 20–17; won vs. Purdue 16–3; won at No. 20 Michigan State 45–7; lost vs. No. 3 Penn State 6–13; won at Northwestern 45–10; won at Illinois 30–20; won vs. Michigan 42–7; lost vs. No. 3 Texas 21–24+43−32Won 43–0 vs. Youngstown State+43Youngstown StateWon 26–14 vs. Ohio+12OhioLost 3–35 at No. 1 USC-32No. 1 USCWon 28–10 vs. Troy+18TroyWon 34–21 vs. Minnesota+13MinnesotaWon 20–17 at No. 18 Wisconsin+3No. 18 WisconsinWon 16–3 vs. Purdue+13PurdueWon 45–7 at No. 20 Michigan State+38No. 20 Michigan StateLost 6–13 vs. No. 3 Penn State-7No. 3 Penn StateWon 45–10 at Northwestern+35NorthwesternWon 30–20 at Illinois+10IllinoisWon 42–7 vs. Michigan+35MichiganLost 21–24 vs. No. 3 Texas-3No. 3 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsYoungstown StateW 43–⁠087%
Sep 6vsOhioW 26–⁠1484%
Sep 13at1USCL 3–⁠3536%
Sep 20vsTroyW 28–⁠1072%
Sep 27vsMinnesotaW 34–⁠2179%
Oct 4at18WisconsinW 20–⁠1751%
Oct 11vsPurdueW 16–⁠383%
Oct 18at20Michigan StateW 45–⁠754%
Oct 25vs3Penn StateL 6–⁠1360%
Nov 8atNorthwesternW 45–⁠1065%
Nov 15atIllinoisW 30–⁠2071%
Nov 22vsMichiganW 42–⁠787%
Jan 5Bowls & playoffvs3TexasFiesta BowlL 21–⁠2448%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas 24–⁠21 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Penn State

Jim Thorpe AwardMalcolm Jenkins, CB

2 consensus All-AmericansJames Laurinaitis, LB; Malcolm Jenkins, CB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 2
Points
359–⁠181
Coach
Jim Tressel
Elo
1761 +79 this season
SP+ rating
22.7 No. 11 of 120; offense No. 30, defense No. 8, special teams No. 5
SRS
14.5 No. 11 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 10
Offensive coordinator
Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell
Captains
Malcolm Jenkins, Todd Boeckman and Brian Robiskie
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense49th of 120
  • Defense54th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted31st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted40th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0439%1.0349th of 120
Defense0.0241%0.9254th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.01 def		41% off
40% def		—31st off
40th 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 332% allowed
Defense-0.1own 262% 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

Terrelle Pryor DUAL★★★★★No. 2
Michael Brewster OC★★★★★No. 15
Mike Adams OT★★★★★No. 21
Etienne Sabino OLB★★★★★No. 24
J.B. Shugarts OT★★★★No. 44
DeVier Posey WR★★★★No. 49
Jake Stoneburner TE★★★★No. 78
Garrett Goebel DT★★★★No. 80

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.01.000
Receivers33.70.938
Offensive line34.70.986
Defensive line34.00.929
Linebackers24.50.968
Defensive backs23.50.903
Athletes and specialists23.50.902
Whole class164.10.944

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 1Malcolm Jenkins CBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 1Chris Wells RBArizona Cardinals
Rd 2James Laurinaitis ILBSt. Louis Rams
Rd 2Brian Robiskie WRCleveland Browns
Rd 4Donald Washington CBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 4Brian Hartline WRMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Marcus Freeman OLBChicago Bears

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Beanie WellsRBCoaches-2; Media-2
  • Marcus FreemanLBCoaches-2; Media-2
  • Kurt ColemanDBMedia-2

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 Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠39
Michigan State6–⁠29–⁠424
Northwestern5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠420
Wisconsin3–⁠57–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠55–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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