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2008 Oregon State

9–⁠4 (7–⁠2 Pac-10), coached by Mike Riley, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Oregon State in 2008, game by game: lost at Stanford 28–36; lost at No. 19 Penn State 14–45; won vs. Hawai’i 45–7; won vs. No. 1 USC 27–21; lost at No. 15 Utah 28–31; won vs. Washington State 66–13; won at Washington 34–13; won vs. Arizona State 27–25; won at UCLA 34–6; won vs. California 34–21; won at Arizona 19–17; lost vs. No. 19 Oregon 38–65; won vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh 3–0+53−31Lost 28–36 at Stanford-8StanfordLost 14–45 at No. 19 Penn State-31No. 19 Penn StateWon 45–7 vs. Hawai’i+38Hawai’iWon 27–21 vs. No. 1 USC+6No. 1 USCLost 28–31 at No. 15 Utah-3No. 15 UtahWon 66–13 vs. Washington State+53Washington StateWon 34–13 at Washington+21WashingtonWon 27–25 vs. Arizona State+2Arizona StateWon 34–6 at UCLA+28UCLAWon 34–21 vs. California+13CaliforniaWon 19–17 at Arizona+2ArizonaLost 38–65 vs. No. 19 Oregon-27No. 19 OregonWon 3–0 vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh+3No. 23 Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28atStanfordL 28–⁠3669%
Sep 6at19Penn StateL 14–⁠4535%
Sep 13vsHawai’iW 45–⁠750%
Sep 25vs1USCW 27–⁠2132%
Oct 2at15UtahL 28–⁠3136%
Oct 11vsWashington StateW 66–⁠1383%
Oct 18atWashingtonW 34–⁠1372%
Nov 1vsArizona StateW 27–⁠2574%
Nov 8atUCLAW 34–⁠664%
Nov 15vsCaliforniaW 34–⁠2163%
Nov 22atArizonaW 19–⁠1754%
Nov 29vs19OregonL 38–⁠6561%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs23PittsburghSun BowlW 3–⁠053%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Pittsburgh 3–⁠0 in the Sun Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 23
  2. Wk 13: 21
  3. Wk 14: 17
  4. Wk 15: 25
  5. Final: 18
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Pac-10
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 17
Points
397–⁠300
Coach
Mike Riley
Elo
1655 +56 this season
SP+ rating
14.2 No. 25 of 120; offense No. 28, defense No. 31, special teams No. 69
SRS
10.0 No. 23 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 55
Offensive coordinator
Danny Langsdorf
Defensive coordinator
Mark Banker
Captains
Victor Butler, Brandon Hughes, Andy Levitre and Sammie Stroughter
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense36th of 120
  • Defense31st of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted25th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted33rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0643%0.9136th of 120
Defense-0.0035%0.9731st of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.01 def		44% off
36% def		—25th off
33rd 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
Offense0.0own 342% allowed
Defense0.0own 293% 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

Kevan Walker WR★★★No. 473
Warren Reuland WR★★★No. 938
Jovan Stevenson RB★★★No. 1019
Ryan Katz PRO★★★No. 1164
Colin Lyons OG★★★No. 1174

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.824
Running backs13.00.833
Receivers42.80.818
Offensive line23.00.817
Defensive line12.00.789
Linebackers13.00.822
Defensive backs12.00.767
Whole class112.70.813

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 2Andy Levitre OGBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Keenan Lewis CBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Victor Butler OLBDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Slade Norris OLBOakland Raiders
Rd 5Brandon Hughes CBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Al Afalava SChicago Bears
Rd 7Sammie Stroughter WRTampa Bay Buccaneers

All-Pac-10

6 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 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠112–⁠13
Oregon7–⁠210–⁠310
Oregon State7–⁠29–⁠418
California6–⁠39–⁠4
Arizona5–⁠48–⁠5
Arizona State4–⁠55–⁠7
Stanford4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠64–⁠8
Washington State1–⁠82–⁠11
Washington0–⁠90–⁠12

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