CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2007 Tennessee

10–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Phillip Fulmer, finished No. 12 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2007, game by game: lost at No. 12 California 31–45; won vs. Southern Miss 39–19; lost at No. 5 Florida 20–59; won vs. Arkansas State 48–27; won vs. No. 12 Georgia 35–14; won at Mississippi State 33–21; lost at Alabama 17–41; won vs. No. 15 South Carolina 27–24; won vs. Louisiana 59–7; won vs. Arkansas 34–13; won vs. Vanderbilt 25–24; won at Kentucky 52–50; lost vs. No. 5 LSU 14–21; won vs. No. 19 Wisconsin 21–17+52−39Lost 31–45 at No. 12 California-14No. 12 CaliforniaWon 39–19 vs. Southern Miss+20Southern MissLost 20–59 at No. 5 Florida-39No. 5 FloridaWon 48–27 vs. Arkansas State+21Arkansas StateWon 35–14 vs. No. 12 Georgia+21No. 12 GeorgiaWon 33–21 at Mississippi State+12Mississippi Sta…Lost 17–41 at Alabama-24AlabamaWon 27–24 vs. No. 15 South Carolina+3No. 15 South CarolinaWon 59–7 vs. Louisiana+52LouisianaWon 34–13 vs. Arkansas+21ArkansasWon 25–24 vs. Vanderbilt+1VanderbiltWon 52–50 at Kentucky+2KentuckyLost 14–21 vs. No. 5 LSU-7No. 5 LSUWon 21–17 vs. No. 19 Wisconsin+4No. 19 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1at12CaliforniaL 31–⁠4535%
Sep 8vsSouthern MissW 39–⁠1959%
Sep 15at5FloridaL 20–⁠5928%
Sep 22vsArkansas StateW 48–⁠2775%
Oct 6vs12GeorgiaW 35–⁠1450%
Oct 13atMississippi StateW 33–⁠2161%
Oct 20atAlabamaL 17–⁠4155%
Oct 27vs15South CarolinaW 27–⁠2458%
Nov 3vsLouisianaW 59–⁠790%
Nov 10vsArkansasW 34–⁠1360%
Nov 17vsVanderbiltW 25–⁠2480%
Nov 24atKentuckyW 52–⁠5055%
Dec 1vs5LSUSEC Championship GameL 14–⁠2137%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs19WisconsinOutback BowlW 21–⁠1745%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 21–⁠17 in the Outback Bowl; No. 12 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 24
  3. Wk 3: 22
  4. Wk 7: 25
  5. Wk 8: 20
  6. Wk 10: 24
  7. Wk 11: 22
  8. Wk 12: 19
  9. Wk 13: 19
  10. Wk 14: 14
  11. Final: 12

SEC East champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Georgia

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 12 peak No. 12
Points
455–⁠382
Coach
Phillip Fulmer
Elo
1667 +73 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 14 of 120; offense No. 17, defense No. 33, special teams No. 26
SRS
9.5 No. 22 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 4
Offensive coordinator
David Cutcliffe
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense75th of 119
  • Defense81st of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0140%0.9475th of 119
Defense0.0741%0.9581st of 119
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.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 323% allowed
Defense-0.3own 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.

Top recruits in the 2007 class

Eric Berry CB★★★★★No. 3
Ben Martin SDE★★★★★No. 22
Chris Donald OLB★★★★No. 39
Lennon Creer RB★★★★No. 52
Gerald Jones WR★★★★No. 68
Rolando Melancon DT★★★★No. 137
Ahmad Paige WR★★★★No. 148

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.50.923
Receivers33.70.912
Defensive line34.00.910
Linebackers14.00.981
Defensive backs15.00.999
Whole class103.90.929

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 1Jerod Mayo OLBNew England Patriots
Rd 3Brad Cottam TEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Erik Ainge QBNew York Jets

All-SEC

3 first team, 7 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU6–⁠212–⁠21
Georgia6–⁠211–⁠22
Tennessee6–⁠210–⁠412
Florida5–⁠39–⁠413
Auburn5–⁠39–⁠415
Arkansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠58–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠56–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Ole Miss0–⁠83–⁠9

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