CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Texas

12–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Big 12), coached by Mack Brown, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 2008, game by game: won vs. Florida Atlantic 52–10; won at UTEP 42–13; won vs. Rice 52–10; won vs. Arkansas 52–10; won at Colorado 38–14; won vs. No. 1 Oklahoma 45–35; won vs. No. 11 Missouri 56–31; won vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State 28–24; lost at No. 6 Texas Tech 33–39; won vs. Baylor 45–21; won at Kansas 35–7; won vs. Texas A&M 49–9; won vs. No. 10 Ohio State 24–21+42−6Won 52–10 vs. Florida Atlantic+42Florida AtlanticWon 42–13 at UTEP+29UTEPWon 52–10 vs. Rice+42RiceWon 52–10 vs. Arkansas+42ArkansasWon 38–14 at Colorado+24ColoradoWon 45–35 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma+10No. 1 OklahomaWon 56–31 vs. No. 11 Missouri+25No. 11 MissouriWon 28–24 vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State+4No. 7 Oklahoma StateLost 33–39 at No. 6 Texas Tech-6No. 6 Texas TechWon 45–21 vs. Baylor+24BaylorWon 35–7 at Kansas+28KansasWon 49–9 vs. Texas A&M+40Texas A&MWon 24–21 vs. No. 10 Ohio State+3No. 10 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsFlorida AtlanticW 52–⁠1075%
Sep 6atUTEPW 42–⁠1379%
Sep 20vsRiceW 52–⁠1085%
Sep 27vsArkansasW 52–⁠1075%
Oct 4atColoradoW 38–⁠1468%
Oct 11vs1OklahomaW 45–⁠3546%
Oct 18vs11MissouriW 56–⁠3163%
Oct 25vs7Oklahoma StateW 28–⁠2468%
Nov 1at6Texas TechL 33–⁠3947%
Nov 8vsBaylorW 45–⁠2191%
Nov 15atKansasW 35–⁠764%
Nov 27vsTexas A&MW 49–⁠991%
Jan 5Bowls & playoffvs10Ohio StateFiesta BowlW 24–⁠2152%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ohio State 24–⁠21 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Big 12.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 5
  8. Wk 8: 1
  9. Wk 9: 1
  10. Wk 10: 1
  11. Wk 11: 5
  12. Wk 12: 4
  13. Wk 13: 4
  14. Wk 14: 4
  15. Wk 15: 3
  16. Final: 4

Big 12 South champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Oklahoma and Texas Tech

Heisman voteColt McCoy, second

Walter Camp AwardColt McCoy, QB

Lombardi AwardBrian Orakpo, DE; also the Hendricks and Nagurski

2 consensus All-AmericansColt McCoy, QB; Brian Orakpo, DE

Bobby Dodd Coach of the YearMack Brown, coach

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big 12
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
551–⁠244
Coach
Mack Brown
Elo
1798 +166 this season
SP+ rating
36.0 No. 2 of 120; offense No. 2, defense No. 16, special teams No. 16
SRS
25.7 No. 3 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 8
Offensive coordinator
Greg Davis
Defensive coordinator
Will Muschamp
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense3rd of 120
  • Defense66th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted3rd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted37th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1849%0.933rd of 120
Defense0.0439%1.1966th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
0.01 def		47% off
37% def		—3rd off
37th 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 313% allowed
Defense-0.1own 282% 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

Dan Buckner WR★★★★No. 38
DeSean Hales WR★★★★No. 53
Jarvis Humphrey DT★★★★No. 62
Aaron Williams CB★★★★No. 93
David Snow OG★★★★No. 95
D.J. Grant WR★★★★No. 108
Nolan Brewster S★★★★No. 113
Dravannti Johnson OLB★★★★No. 121

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs33.70.884
Receivers34.00.967
Offensive line24.00.933
Defensive line24.00.934
Linebackers24.00.932
Defensive backs43.80.919
Athletes and specialists14.00.926
Whole class173.90.927

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 1Brian Orakpo DEWashington Redskins
Rd 3Roy Miller DTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Henry Melton DEChicago Bears
Rd 7Chris Ogbonnaya RBSt. Louis Rams

All-Big 12

4 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

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

2008 Big 12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠112–⁠14
Oklahoma7–⁠112–⁠25
Texas Tech7–⁠111–⁠212
Missouri5–⁠310–⁠419
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Oklahoma State5–⁠39–⁠416
Kansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Colorado2–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State2–⁠65–⁠7
Baylor2–⁠64–⁠8
Texas A&M2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa State0–⁠82–⁠10

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