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2012 Tennessee

5–⁠7 (1–⁠7 Southeastern Conference), coached by Derek Dooley, then Jim Chaney (interim, final game).

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2012, game by game: won vs. NC State 35–21; won vs. Georgia State 51–13; lost vs. No. 18 Florida 20–37; won vs. Akron 47–26; lost at No. 5 Georgia 44–51; lost at No. 19 Mississippi State 31–41; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 13–44; lost at No. 17 South Carolina 35–38; won vs. Troy 55–48; lost vs. Missouri 48–51; lost at Vanderbilt 18–41; won vs. Kentucky 37–17+38−31Won 35–21 vs. NC State+14NC StateWon 51–13 vs. Georgia State+38Georgia StateLost 20–37 vs. No. 18 Florida-17No. 18 FloridaWon 47–26 vs. Akron+21AkronLost 44–51 at No. 5 Georgia-7No. 5 GeorgiaLost 31–41 at No. 19 Mississippi State-10No. 19 Mississippi Sta…Lost 13–44 vs. No. 1 Alabama-31No. 1 AlabamaLost 35–38 at No. 17 South Carolina-3No. 17 South CarolinaWon 55–48 vs. Troy+7TroyLost 48–51 vs. Missouri-3MissouriLost 18–41 at Vanderbilt-23VanderbiltWon 37–17 vs. Kentucky+20Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsNC StateW 35–⁠2140%
Sep 8vsGeorgia StateW 51–⁠1388%
Sep 15vs18FloridaL 20–⁠3750%
Sep 22vsAkronW 47–⁠2683%
Sep 29at5GeorgiaL 44–⁠5123%
Oct 13at19Mississippi StateL 31–⁠4127%
Oct 20vs1AlabamaL 13–⁠4417%
Oct 27at17South CarolinaL 35–⁠3819%
Nov 3vsTroyW 55–⁠4869%
Nov 10vsMissouriL 48–⁠5151%
Nov 17atVanderbiltL 18–⁠4136%
Nov 24vsKentuckyW 37–⁠1768%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kentucky 37–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; 12th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 107th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 23
Record
5–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠7 12th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 23
Points
434–⁠428
Coach
Derek Dooley, then Jim Chaney (interim, final game)
Elo
1482 −19 this season
SP+ rating
15.1 No. 23 of 124; offense No. 9, defense No. 66, special teams No. 40
SRS
3.1 No. 55 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 19
Offensive coordinator
Jim Chaney
Defensive coordinator
Sal Sunseri
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
Multiple

How good, play by play

  • Offense46th of 124
  • Defense59th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted35th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted57th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0845%0.9546th of 124
Defense0.0641%0.9359th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.06 def		46% off
40% def		—35th off
57th 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
Offense0.1own 313% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsTyler Bray QB3,612 yds
Passing touchdownsTyler Bray QB34 TD
Rushing yardsRajion Neal RB708 yds
Rushing touchdownsA.J. Johnson LB6 TD
Receiving yardsJustin Hunter WR1,083 yds
Receiving touchdownsJustin Hunter WR9 TD
InterceptionsByron Moore DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Omari Phillips DT★★★★No. 162
Danny O’Brien DT★★★★No. 205
Drae Bowles WR★★★★No. 235
Jason Croom WR★★★★No. 238
Pig Howard WR★★★★No. 268
Davante Bourque APB★★★★No. 315
Nathan Peterman PRO★★★★No. 369

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.891
Running backs33.30.873
Receivers43.80.898
Defensive line43.50.906
Linebackers13.00.846
Defensive backs23.00.860
Athletes and specialists33.00.830
Whole class183.40.877

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 1Cordarrelle Patterson WRMinnesota Vikings
Rd 2Justin Hunter WRTennessee Titans
Rd 3Dallas Thomas OGMiami Dolphins
Rd 6Mychal Rivera TEOakland Raiders

Roster 113

The 2012 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 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.