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2002 Ole Miss

7–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by David Cutcliffe.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 2002, game by game: won vs. UL Monroe 31–3; won vs. Memphis 38–16; lost at Texas Tech 28–42; won vs. Vanderbilt 45–38; won vs. No. 6 Florida 17–14; won vs. Arkansas State 52–17; lost at No. 24 Alabama 7–42; lost at Arkansas 28–48; lost vs. Auburn 24–31; lost at No. 7 Georgia 17–31; lost at No. 21 LSU 13–14; won vs. Mississippi State 24–12; won vs. Nebraska 27–23+35−35Won 31–3 vs. UL Monroe+28UL MonroeWon 38–16 vs. Memphis+22MemphisLost 28–42 at Texas Tech-14Texas TechWon 45–38 vs. Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 17–14 vs. No. 6 Florida+3No. 6 FloridaWon 52–17 vs. Arkansas State+35Arkansas StateLost 7–42 at No. 24 Alabama-35No. 24 AlabamaLost 28–48 at Arkansas-20ArkansasLost 24–31 vs. Auburn-7AuburnLost 17–31 at No. 7 Georgia-14No. 7 GeorgiaLost 13–14 at No. 21 LSU-1No. 21 LSUWon 24–12 vs. Mississippi State+12Mississippi Sta…Won 27–23 vs. Nebraska+4Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsUL MonroeW 31–⁠383%
Sep 7vsMemphisW 38–⁠1666%
Sep 14atTexas TechL 28–⁠4245%
Sep 21vsVanderbiltW 45–⁠3877%
Oct 5vs6FloridaW 17–⁠1434%
Oct 12vsArkansas StateW 52–⁠1783%
Oct 19at24AlabamaL 7–⁠4236%
Oct 26atArkansasL 28–⁠4842%
Nov 2vsAuburnL 24–⁠3152%
Nov 9at7GeorgiaL 17–⁠3122%
Nov 23at21LSUL 13–⁠1424%
Nov 28vsMississippi StateW 24–⁠1271%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsNebraskaIndependence BowlW 27–⁠2340%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Nebraska 27–⁠23 in the Independence Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 60th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 25
  2. Wk 9: 21

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
351–⁠331
Coach
David Cutcliffe
Elo
1527 −6 this season
SP+ rating
5.4 No. 52 of 117; offense No. 60, defense No. 49
SRS
3.9 No. 51 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 23
Offensive coordinator
John Latina
Defensive coordinator
Chuck Driesbach
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 30— allowed
Defense0.0own 29— 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 2002 class

Ethan Flatt PRO★★No. 898

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

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.767

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 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 5Ben Claxton CDenver Broncos

All-SEC

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Eddie StrongLBCoaches-1
  • Matt GrierDBAP-2; Coaches-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia7–⁠113–⁠13
Alabama6–⁠210–⁠311
Florida6–⁠28–⁠5
Auburn5–⁠39–⁠414
Arkansas5–⁠39–⁠5
LSU5–⁠38–⁠5
Tennessee5–⁠38–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠7
Mississippi State0–⁠83–⁠9
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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