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2009 Ole Miss

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 2009, game by game: won at Memphis 45–14; won vs. SE Louisiana 52–6; lost at South Carolina 10–16; won at Vanderbilt 23–7; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 3–22; won vs. UAB 48–13; won vs. Arkansas 30–17; lost at Auburn 20–33; won vs. Northern Arizona 38–14; won vs. Tennessee 42–17; won vs. No. 10 LSU 25–23; lost at Mississippi State 27–41; won vs. No. 21 Oklahoma State 21–7+46−19Won 45–14 at Memphis+31MemphisWon 52–6 vs. SE Louisiana+46SE LouisianaLost 10–16 at South Carolina-6South CarolinaWon 23–7 at Vanderbilt+16VanderbiltLost 3–22 vs. No. 3 Alabama-19No. 3 AlabamaWon 48–13 vs. UAB+35UABWon 30–17 vs. Arkansas+13ArkansasLost 20–33 at Auburn-13AuburnWon 38–14 vs. Northern Arizona+24Northern ArizonaWon 42–17 vs. Tennessee+25TennesseeWon 25–23 vs. No. 10 LSU+2No. 10 LSULost 27–41 at Mississippi State-14Mississippi Sta…Won 21–7 vs. No. 21 Oklahoma State+14No. 21 Oklahoma State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atMemphisW 45–⁠1462%
Sep 19vsSE LouisianaW 52–⁠688%
Sep 24atSouth CarolinaL 10–⁠1649%
Oct 3atVanderbiltW 23–⁠755%
Oct 10vs3AlabamaL 3–⁠2244%
Oct 17vsUABW 48–⁠1377%
Oct 24vsArkansasW 30–⁠1765%
Oct 31atAuburnL 20–⁠3353%
Nov 7vsNorthern ArizonaW 38–⁠1485%
Nov 14vsTennesseeW 42–⁠1759%
Nov 21vs10LSUW 25–⁠2351%
Nov 28atMississippi StateL 27–⁠4165%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs21Oklahoma StateCotton BowlW 21–⁠742%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma State 21–⁠7 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 27th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 4
  5. Wk 5: 21
  6. Wk 6: 20
  7. Wk 9: 24
  8. Wk 13: 20
  9. Final: 20
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 4
Points
384–⁠230
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1634 +59 this season
SP+ rating
16.7 No. 21 of 120; offense No. 35, defense No. 19, special teams No. 41
SRS
11.7 No. 20 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 17
Offensive coordinator
Kent Austin
Defensive coordinator
Tyrone Nix
Offense
Multiple; pro-style, WildRebel
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense76th of 120
  • Defense12th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted58th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted14th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0242%0.9176th of 120
Defense-0.0337%0.9912th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
-0.01 def		43% off
37% def		—58th off
14th 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 335% allowed
Defense0.0own 323% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsJevan Snead QB2,632 yds
Passing touchdownsJevan Snead QB20 TD
Rushing yardsDexter McCluster WR1,169 yds
Rushing touchdownsDexter McCluster WR8 TD
Receiving yardsShay Hodge WR1,135 yds
Receiving touchdownsShay Hodge WR8 TD
InterceptionsCassius Vaughn CB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Patrick Patterson WR★★★★No. 47
Craig Drummond SDE★★★★No. 85
Rodney Scott RB★★★★No. 156
Corey Gaines DT★★★★No. 352
D.T. Shackelford ILB★★★No. 363

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.50.870
Receivers43.30.883
Offensive line43.00.853
Defensive line53.20.855
Linebackers23.00.884
Defensive backs33.00.847
Athletes and specialists22.50.797
Whole class223.10.857

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 2Dexter McCluster RBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 3John Jerry OGMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Kendrick Lewis SKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Greg Hardy DECarolina Panthers

Roster 123

The 2009 roster

123 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 39 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠01
Florida8–⁠013–⁠13
LSU5–⁠39–⁠417
Ole Miss4–⁠49–⁠420
Georgia4–⁠48–⁠5
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠58–⁠5
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠55–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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