CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2012 Syracuse

8–⁠5 (5–⁠2 Big East), coached by Doug Marrone.

Schedule and results

Syracuse in 2012, game by game: lost vs. Northwestern 41–42; lost vs. No. 2 USC 29–42; won vs. Stony Brook 28–17; lost at Minnesota 10–17; won vs. Pittsburgh 14–13; lost at No. 20 Rutgers 15–23; won vs. UConn 40–10; won at South Florida 37–36; lost at Cincinnati 24–35; won vs. No. 11 Louisville 45–26; won at Missouri 31–27; won at Temple 38–20; won vs. West Virginia 38–14+30−13Lost 41–42 vs. Northwestern-1NorthwesternLost 29–42 vs. No. 2 USC-13No. 2 USCWon 28–17 vs. Stony Brook+11Stony BrookLost 10–17 at Minnesota-7MinnesotaWon 14–13 vs. Pittsburgh+1PittsburghLost 15–23 at No. 20 Rutgers-8No. 20 RutgersWon 40–10 vs. UConn+30UConnWon 37–36 at South Florida+1South FloridaLost 24–35 at Cincinnati-11CincinnatiWon 45–26 vs. No. 11 Louisville+19No. 11 LouisvilleWon 31–27 at Missouri+4MissouriWon 38–20 at Temple+18TempleWon 38–14 vs. West Virginia+24West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsNorthwesternL 41–⁠4252%
Sep 8vs2USCL 29–⁠4223%
Sep 15vsStony BrookW 28–⁠1761%
Sep 22atMinnesotaL 10–⁠1738%
Oct 5vsPittsburghW 14–⁠1348%
Oct 13at20RutgersL 15–⁠2320%
Oct 19vsUConnW 40–⁠1052%
Oct 27atSouth FloridaW 37–⁠3644%
Nov 3atCincinnatiL 24–⁠3526%
Nov 10vs11LouisvilleW 45–⁠2631%
Nov 17atMissouriW 31–⁠2735%
Nov 23atTempleW 38–⁠2049%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsWest VirginiaPinstripe BowlW 38–⁠1444%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat West Virginia 38–⁠14 in the Pinstripe Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 40th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Big East champions5–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Cincinnati, Louisville and Rutgers

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠2 shared first in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
390–⁠322
Coach
Doug Marrone
Elo
1597 +146 this season
SP+ rating
5.8 No. 51 of 124; offense No. 33, defense No. 60, special teams No. 110
SRS
6.4 No. 38 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 60
Offensive coordinator
Nathaniel Hackett
Defensive coordinator
Scott Shafer
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense16th of 124
  • Defense64th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted14th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted68th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1244%0.9416th of 124
Defense0.0741%0.9364th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.07 def		44% off
42% def		—14th off
68th 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
Offense-0.1own 302% allowed
Defense-0.1own 292% 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.

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for Syracuse are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Wayne Morgan CB★★★★No. 301
Ronald Thompson TE★★★★No. 341
Myles Hilliard WDE★★★No. 654
Devante McFarland ATH★★★No. 728
George Morris APB★★★No. 737

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs33.00.835
Receivers53.00.828
Offensive line32.70.825
Defensive line42.50.792
Linebackers13.00.824
Defensive backs14.00.902
Athletes and specialists32.70.799
Whole class202.90.821

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 1Justin Pugh OTNew York Giants
Rd 4Ryan Nassib QBNew York Giants
Rd 4Shamarko Thomas SPittsburgh Steelers

Roster 101

The 2012 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

2012 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Louisville5–⁠211–⁠213
Cincinnati5–⁠210–⁠3
Rutgers5–⁠29–⁠4
Syracuse5–⁠28–⁠5
Pittsburgh3–⁠46–⁠7
UConn2–⁠55–⁠7
Temple2–⁠54–⁠7
South Florida1–⁠63–⁠9

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