CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Tennessee

5–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Phillip Fulmer.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2008, game by game: lost at UCLA 24–27; won vs. UAB 35–3; lost vs. No. 4 Florida 6–30; lost at No. 15 Auburn 12–14; won vs. Northern Illinois 13–9; lost at No. 10 Georgia 14–26; won vs. Mississippi State 34–3; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 9–29; lost at South Carolina 6–27; lost vs. Wyoming 7–13; won at Vanderbilt 20–10; won vs. Kentucky 28–10+32−24Lost 24–27 at UCLA-3UCLAWon 35–3 vs. UAB+32UABLost 6–30 vs. No. 4 Florida-24No. 4 FloridaLost 12–14 at No. 15 Auburn-2No. 15 AuburnWon 13–9 vs. Northern Illinois+4Northern Illino…Lost 14–26 at No. 10 Georgia-12No. 10 GeorgiaWon 34–3 vs. Mississippi State+31Mississippi Sta…Lost 9–29 vs. No. 2 Alabama-20No. 2 AlabamaLost 6–27 at South Carolina-21South CarolinaLost 7–13 vs. Wyoming-6WyomingWon 20–10 at Vanderbilt+10VanderbiltWon 28–10 vs. Kentucky+18Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atUCLAL 24–⁠2753%
Sep 13vsUABW 35–⁠387%
Sep 20vs4FloridaL 6–⁠3046%
Sep 27at15AuburnL 12–⁠1436%
Oct 4vsNorthern IllinoisW 13–⁠975%
Oct 11at10GeorgiaL 14–⁠2627%
Oct 18vsMississippi StateW 34–⁠367%
Oct 25vs2AlabamaL 9–⁠2944%
Nov 1atSouth CarolinaL 6–⁠2741%
Nov 8vsWyomingL 7–⁠1377%
Nov 22atVanderbiltW 20–⁠1038%
Nov 29vsKentuckyW 28–⁠1057%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kentucky 28–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 84th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18

Consensus All-AmericanEric Berry, DB

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
208–⁠201
Coach
Phillip Fulmer
Elo
1555 −56 this season
SP+ rating
12.0 No. 28 of 120; offense No. 95, defense No. 1, special teams No. 73
SRS
1.9 No. 50 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 33
Offensive coordinator
Dave Clawson
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Multiple
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense92nd of 120
  • Defense6th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted90th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted8th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0237%0.9392nd of 120
Defense-0.0636%0.826th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
-0.03 def		39% off
37% def		—90th off
8th 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 322% allowed
Defense-0.2own 304% 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 2008 class

E.J. Abrams-Ward ATH★★★★No. 147
Aaron Douglas TE★★★★No. 232
Rod Wilks S★★★★No. 341
Preston Bailey OT★★★No. 452
Prentiss Waggner S★★★No. 502

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers14.00.911
Offensive line23.00.845
Defensive line23.00.847
Linebackers13.00.837
Defensive backs23.50.885
Athletes and specialists23.50.892
Whole class103.30.869

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 1Robert Ayers DEDenver Broncos

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Anthony ParkerOTAP-2; Coaches-2
  • Rico McCoyLBCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠26
Florida7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠313
Ole Miss5–⁠39–⁠414
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Vanderbilt4–⁠47–⁠6
LSU3–⁠58–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠7
Kentucky2–⁠67–⁠6
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠65–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠64–⁠8

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