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2012 South Carolina

11–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2012, game by game: won at Vanderbilt 17–13; won vs. East Carolina 48–10; won vs. UAB 49–6; won vs. Missouri 31–10; won at Kentucky 38–17; won vs. No. 5 Georgia 35–7; lost at No. 9 LSU 21–23; lost at No. 3 Florida 11–44; won vs. Tennessee 38–35; won vs. Arkansas 38–20; won vs. Wofford 24–7; won at No. 12 Clemson 27–17; won vs. No. 19 Michigan 33–28+43−33Won 17–13 at Vanderbilt+4VanderbiltWon 48–10 vs. East Carolina+38East CarolinaWon 49–6 vs. UAB+43UABWon 31–10 vs. Missouri+21MissouriWon 38–17 at Kentucky+21KentuckyWon 35–7 vs. No. 5 Georgia+28No. 5 GeorgiaLost 21–23 at No. 9 LSU-2No. 9 LSULost 11–44 at No. 3 Florida-33No. 3 FloridaWon 38–35 vs. Tennessee+3TennesseeWon 38–20 vs. Arkansas+18ArkansasWon 24–7 vs. Wofford+17WoffordWon 27–17 at No. 12 Clemson+10No. 12 ClemsonWon 33–28 vs. No. 19 Michigan+5No. 19 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atVanderbiltW 17–⁠1364%
Sep 8vsEast CarolinaW 48–⁠1080%
Sep 15vsUABW 49–⁠689%
Sep 22vsMissouriW 31–⁠1070%
Sep 29atKentuckyW 38–⁠1774%
Oct 6vs5GeorgiaW 35–⁠761%
Oct 13at9LSUL 21–⁠2343%
Oct 20at3FloridaL 11–⁠4448%
Oct 27vsTennesseeW 38–⁠3581%
Nov 10vsArkansasW 38–⁠2071%
Nov 17vsWoffordW 24–⁠785%
Nov 24at12ClemsonW 27–⁠1742%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs19MichiganOutback BowlW 33–⁠2861%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 33–⁠28 in the Outback Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 11
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 13
  14. Wk 14: 11
  15. Wk 15: 11
  16. Final: 8

Ted Hendricks AwardJadeveon Clowney, DE

Consensus All-AmericanJadeveon Clowney, DE

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 3
Points
410–⁠237
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1762 +117 this season
SP+ rating
16.1 No. 21 of 124; offense No. 36, defense No. 10, special teams No. 107
SRS
16.0 No. 9 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinators
Steve Spurrier Jr. and Shawn Elliott
Defensive coordinator
Lorenzo Ward
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense48th of 124
  • Defense9th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted52nd of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted9th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0739%1.1348th of 124
Defense-0.0238%0.949th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.01 def		40% off
38% def		—52nd off
9th 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 312% allowed
Defense-0.4own 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsConnor Shaw QB1,956 yds
Passing touchdownsConnor Shaw QB17 TD
Rushing yardsMarcus Lattimore 662 yds
Rushing touchdownsMarcus Lattimore 11 TD
Receiving yardsBruce Ellington WR600 yds
Receiving touchdownsAce Sanders WR9 TD
InterceptionsDeVonte Holloman 3 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Shaq Roland ATH★★★★No. 41
Mike Davis RB★★★★No. 47
Brock Stadnik OT★★★★No. 161
Kwinton Smith WR★★★★No. 209
Joe Harris OG★★★★No. 247
Darius English WDE★★★★No. 300
Chaz Elder S★★★★No. 309
Kaiwan Lewis ILB★★★★No. 345

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.876
Running backs23.50.921
Receivers24.00.907
Offensive line53.40.879
Defensive line33.30.876
Linebackers23.50.880
Defensive backs53.20.874
Athletes and specialists43.30.888
Whole class243.40.885

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2D.J. Swearinger SHouston Texans
Rd 4Ace Sanders WRJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Marcus Lattimore RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 4Devin Taylor DEDetroit Lions
Rd 6DeVonte Holloman OLBDallas Cowboys
Rd 7T.J. Johnson CCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Justice Cunningham TEIndianapolis Colts

Roster 116

The 2012 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 37 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠112–⁠25
Florida7–⁠111–⁠29
South Carolina6–⁠211–⁠28
Texas A&M6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠314
Vanderbilt5–⁠39–⁠423
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠8
Tennessee1–⁠75–⁠7
Auburn0–⁠83–⁠9
Kentucky0–⁠82–⁠10

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