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2014 South Carolina

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

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2014, game by game: lost vs. No. 21 Texas A&M 28–52; won vs. East Carolina 33–23; won vs. No. 6 Georgia 38–35; won at Vanderbilt 48–34; lost vs. Missouri 20–21; lost at Kentucky 38–45; won vs. Furman 41–10; lost at No. 5 Auburn 35–42; lost vs. Tennessee 42–45; won at Florida 23–20; won vs. South Alabama 37–12; lost at No. 23 Clemson 17–35; won vs. Miami 24–21+31−24Lost 28–52 vs. No. 21 Texas A&M-24No. 21 Texas A&MWon 33–23 vs. East Carolina+10East CarolinaWon 38–35 vs. No. 6 Georgia+3No. 6 GeorgiaWon 48–34 at Vanderbilt+14VanderbiltLost 20–21 vs. Missouri-1MissouriLost 38–45 at Kentucky-7KentuckyWon 41–10 vs. Furman+31FurmanLost 35–42 at No. 5 Auburn-7No. 5 AuburnLost 42–45 vs. Tennessee-3TennesseeWon 23–20 at Florida+3FloridaWon 37–12 vs. South Alabama+25South AlabamaLost 17–35 at No. 23 Clemson-18No. 23 ClemsonWon 24–21 vs. Miami+3Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vs21Texas A&ML 28–⁠5266%
Sep 6vsEast CarolinaW 33–⁠2368%
Sep 13vs6GeorgiaW 38–⁠3561%
Sep 20atVanderbiltW 48–⁠3466%
Sep 27vsMissouriL 20–⁠2158%
Oct 4atKentuckyL 38–⁠4571%
Oct 18vsFurmanW 41–⁠1091%
Oct 25at5AuburnL 35–⁠4235%
Nov 1vsTennesseeL 42–⁠4574%
Nov 15atFloridaW 23–⁠2047%
Nov 22vsSouth AlabamaW 37–⁠1280%
Nov 29at23ClemsonL 17–⁠3538%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsMiamiIndependence BowlW 24–⁠2161%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Miami 24–⁠21 in the Independence Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 6th-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: 21
  3. Wk 3: 24
  4. Wk 4: 14
  5. Wk 5: 13
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 9
Points
424–⁠395
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1633 −59 this season
SP+ rating
17.4 No. 20 of 128; offense No. 8, defense No. 62, special teams No. 50
SRS
7.3 No. 37 of 128 in FBS
Returning
53% of last season’s EPA, No. 83 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 19
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

  • Offense37th of 128
  • Defense103rd of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted25th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted103rd of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2046%1.2337th of 128
Defense0.2248%1.11103rd of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.23 off
0.21 def		48% off
47% def		—25th off
103rd 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
Offense3.9own 291% allowed
Defense3.6own 303% 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 yardsDylan Thompson QB3,564 yds
Passing touchdownsDylan Thompson QB26 TD
Rushing yardsMike Davis RB982 yds
Rushing touchdownsMike Davis RB9 TD
Receiving yardsPharoh Cooper WR1,136 yds
Receiving touchdownsPharoh Cooper WR9 TD
InterceptionsBrison Williams 4 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Bryson Allen-Williams OLB★★★★No. 102
Dante Sawyer WDE★★★★No. 106
Donell Stanley OG★★★★No. 149
Dexter Wideman DT★★★★No. 167
Wesley Green CB★★★★No. 169
Shaq Davidson WR★★★★No. 201
D.J. Smith CB★★★★No. 207
Chris Lammons CB★★★★No. 210

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.801
Receivers43.50.887
Offensive line23.50.900
Defensive line33.70.912
Linebackers23.50.904
Defensive backs34.00.922
Whole class153.60.897

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 3A.J. Cann OGJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Mike Davis RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Corey Robinson OTDetroit Lions
Rd 7Rory Anderson TESan Francisco 49ers

Roster 108

The 2014 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠112–⁠24
Missouri7–⁠111–⁠314
Mississippi State6–⁠210–⁠311
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠417
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠522
LSU4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
Texas A&M3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Tennessee3–⁠57–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠9

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