CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Ole Miss

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 2008, game by game: won vs. Memphis 41–24; lost at No. 20 Wake Forest 28–30; won vs. Samford 34–10; lost vs. Vanderbilt 17–23; won at No. 4 Florida 31–30; lost vs. South Carolina 24–31; lost at No. 2 Alabama 20–24; won at Arkansas 23–21; won vs. Auburn 17–7; won vs. UL Monroe 59–0; won at No. 18 LSU 31–13; won vs. Mississippi State 45–0; won vs. No. 8 Texas Tech 47–34+59−7Won 41–24 vs. Memphis+17MemphisLost 28–30 at No. 20 Wake Forest-2No. 20 Wake ForestWon 34–10 vs. Samford+24SamfordLost 17–23 vs. Vanderbilt-6VanderbiltWon 31–30 at No. 4 Florida+1No. 4 FloridaLost 24–31 vs. South Carolina-7South CarolinaLost 20–24 at No. 2 Alabama-4No. 2 AlabamaWon 23–21 at Arkansas+2ArkansasWon 17–7 vs. Auburn+10AuburnWon 59–0 vs. UL Monroe+59UL MonroeWon 31–13 at No. 18 LSU+18No. 18 LSUWon 45–0 vs. Mississippi State+45Mississippi Sta…Won 47–34 vs. No. 8 Texas Tech+13No. 8 Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsMemphisW 41–⁠2455%
Sep 6at20Wake ForestL 28–⁠3020%
Sep 13vsSamfordW 34–⁠1079%
Sep 20vsVanderbiltL 17–⁠2345%
Sep 27at4FloridaW 31–⁠3012%
Oct 4vsSouth CarolinaL 24–⁠3144%
Oct 18at2AlabamaL 20–⁠2415%
Oct 25atArkansasW 23–⁠2130%
Nov 1vsAuburnW 17–⁠737%
Nov 15vsUL MonroeW 59–⁠068%
Nov 22at18LSUW 31–⁠1319%
Nov 28vsMississippi StateW 45–⁠066%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs8Texas TechCotton BowlW 47–⁠3426%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 47–⁠34 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 14: 25
  2. Wk 15: 22
  3. Final: 14

Consensus All-AmericanMichael Oher, OT

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 14
Points
417–⁠247
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1612 +202 this season
SP+ rating
17.1 No. 21 of 120; offense No. 21, defense No. 36, special teams No. 15
SRS
12.5 No. 16 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 31
Offensive coordinator
Kent Austin
Defensive coordinator
Tyrone Nix
Offense
Pro-style, Wild Rebel
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense31st of 120
  • Defense32nd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted27th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted26th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0743%0.8931st of 120
Defense-0.0039%0.9632nd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.00 def		43% off
38% def		—27th off
26th 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 342% allowed
Defense-0.1own 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.

Top recruits in the 2008 class

Darius Barksdale RB★★★★No. 122
Enrique Davis RB★★★★No. 222
Andrew Harris WR★★★No. 492
Devin Thomas RB★★★No. 502
Lekenwic Haynes OLB★★★No. 877

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.821
Running backs53.20.860
Receivers42.80.818
Offensive line12.00.789
Defensive line13.00.839
Linebackers13.00.846
Defensive backs52.80.802
Whole class182.90.826

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 1Michael Oher OTBaltimore Ravens
Rd 1Peria Jerry DTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 3Mike Wallace WRPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Jamarca Sanford SMinnesota Vikings

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠26
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠313
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠414
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Vanderbilt4–⁠47–⁠6
LSU3–⁠58–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠67–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠65–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠64–⁠8

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