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2008 South Carolina

7–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier.

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2008, game by game: won vs. NC State 34–0; lost at Vanderbilt 17–24; lost vs. No. 2 Georgia 7–14; won vs. Wofford 23–13; won vs. UAB 26–13; won at Ole Miss 31–24; won at Kentucky 24–17; lost vs. No. 13 LSU 17–24; won vs. Tennessee 27–6; won vs. Arkansas 34–21; lost at No. 3 Florida 6–56; lost at Clemson 14–31; lost vs. Iowa 10–31+34−50Won 34–0 vs. NC State+34NC StateLost 17–24 at Vanderbilt-7VanderbiltLost 7–14 vs. No. 2 Georgia-7No. 2 GeorgiaWon 23–13 vs. Wofford+10WoffordWon 26–13 vs. UAB+13UABWon 31–24 at Ole Miss+7Ole MissWon 24–17 at Kentucky+7KentuckyLost 17–24 vs. No. 13 LSU-7No. 13 LSUWon 27–6 vs. Tennessee+21TennesseeWon 34–21 vs. Arkansas+13ArkansasLost 6–56 at No. 3 Florida-50No. 3 FloridaLost 14–31 at Clemson-17ClemsonLost 10–31 vs. Iowa-21Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vsNC StateW 34–⁠067%
Sep 4atVanderbiltL 17–⁠2450%
Sep 13vs2GeorgiaL 7–⁠1434%
Sep 20vsWoffordW 23–⁠1371%
Sep 27vsUABW 26–⁠1381%
Oct 4atOle MissW 31–⁠2456%
Oct 11atKentuckyW 24–⁠1735%
Oct 18vs13LSUL 17–⁠2440%
Nov 1vsTennesseeW 27–⁠659%
Nov 8vsArkansasW 34–⁠2167%
Nov 15at3FloridaL 6–⁠5618%
Nov 29atClemsonL 14–⁠3142%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsIowaOutback BowlL 10–⁠3144%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 31–⁠10 in the Outback Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 24
  2. Wk 12: 24
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 24
Points
270–⁠274
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1546 +19 this season
SP+ rating
7.8 No. 39 of 120; offense No. 75, defense No. 17, special teams No. 47
SRS
5.9 No. 36 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 35
Defensive coordinator
Ellis Johnson
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense78th of 120
  • Defense39th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted75th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0040%0.9178th of 120
Defense0.0039%0.8539th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
0.01 def		41% off
39% def		—75th off
32nd 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 333% allowed
Defense0.0own 313% 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

C.C. Whitlock CB★★★★No. 76
Chaz Sutton WDE★★★★No. 280
Eric Baker RB★★★★No. 283
Darrell Simmons S★★★No. 452
Kenny Davis DT★★★No. 502

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.836
Running backs14.00.901
Receivers22.50.821
Offensive line13.00.833
Defensive line43.30.858
Defensive backs33.30.898
Whole class133.20.859

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 3Jared Cook TETennessee Titans
Rd 5Kenny McKinley WRDenver Broncos
Rd 5Jasper Brinkley ILBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Jamon Meredith OTGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Captain Munnerlyn CBCarolina Panthers
Rd 7Stoney Woodson CBNew York Giants
Rd 7Ryan Succop KKansas City Chiefs

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 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.