CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2009 South Carolina

7–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier.

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2009, game by game: won at NC State 7–3; lost at No. 21 Georgia 37–41; won vs. Florida Atlantic 38–16; won vs. No. 4 Ole Miss 16–10; won vs. South Carolina State 38–14; won vs. Kentucky 28–26; lost at No. 2 Alabama 6–20; won vs. Vanderbilt 14–10; lost at Tennessee 13–31; lost at Arkansas 16–33; lost vs. No. 1 Florida 14–24; won vs. No. 15 Clemson 34–17; lost vs. UConn 7–20+24−18Won 7–3 at NC State+4NC StateLost 37–41 at No. 21 Georgia-4No. 21 GeorgiaWon 38–16 vs. Florida Atlantic+22Florida AtlanticWon 16–10 vs. No. 4 Ole Miss+6No. 4 Ole MissWon 38–14 vs. South Carolina State+24South Carolina …Won 28–26 vs. Kentucky+2KentuckyLost 6–20 at No. 2 Alabama-14No. 2 AlabamaWon 14–10 vs. Vanderbilt+4VanderbiltLost 13–31 at Tennessee-18TennesseeLost 16–33 at Arkansas-17ArkansasLost 14–24 vs. No. 1 Florida-10No. 1 FloridaWon 34–17 vs. No. 15 Clemson+17No. 15 ClemsonLost 7–20 vs. UConn-13UConn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atNC StateW 7–⁠344%
Sep 12at21GeorgiaL 37–⁠4132%
Sep 19vsFlorida AtlanticW 38–⁠1668%
Sep 24vs4Ole MissW 16–⁠1051%
Oct 3vsSouth Carolina StateW 38–⁠1472%
Oct 10vsKentuckyW 28–⁠2669%
Oct 17at2AlabamaL 6–⁠2025%
Oct 24vsVanderbiltW 14–⁠1077%
Oct 31atTennesseeL 13–⁠3147%
Nov 7atArkansasL 16–⁠3346%
Nov 14vs1FloridaL 14–⁠2419%
Nov 28vs15ClemsonW 34–⁠1739%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsUConnPapaJohns.com BowlL 7–⁠2047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UConn 20–⁠7 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 25
  2. Wk 7: 22
  3. Wk 8: 23
  4. Wk 9: 21
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
268–⁠265
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1545 +14 this season
SP+ rating
13.9 No. 28 of 120; offense No. 62, defense No. 12, special teams No. 52
SRS
6.0 No. 39 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 14
Defensive coordinator
Ellis Johnson
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense69th of 120
  • Defense16th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted56th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted13th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0338%1.0169th of 120
Defense-0.0237%0.8916th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
-0.01 def		39% off
37% def		—56th off
13th 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 311% allowed
Defense0.0own 322% 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 yardsStephen Garcia QB2,862 yds
Passing touchdownsStephen Garcia QB17 TD
Rushing yardsKenny Miles 626 yds
Rushing touchdownsBrian Maddox 6 TD
Receiving yardsAlshon Jeffery WR763 yds
Receiving touchdownsAlshon Jeffery WR6 TD
InterceptionsEric Norwood LB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Stephon Gilmore CB★★★★No. 34
DeVonte Holloman S★★★★No. 81
Damario Jeffery S★★★★No. 94
Jarvis Giles RB★★★★No. 108
Alshon Jeffery WR★★★★No. 113
Chris Payne S★★★★No. 168
Matt Coffee FB★★★★No. 335

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.850
Running backs24.00.922
Receivers53.20.866
Linebackers13.00.857
Defensive backs63.70.929
Whole class153.50.897

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 4Eric Norwood OLBCarolina Panthers
Rd 6Clifton Geathers DECleveland Browns

Roster 97

The 2009 roster

97 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 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.