CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 UCF

4–⁠8 (3–⁠5 Conference USA), coached by George O’Leary.

Schedule and results

UCF in 2008, game by game: won vs. South Carolina State 17–0; lost vs. No. 17 South Florida 24–31; lost at Boston College 7–34; lost at UTEP 13–58; won vs. SMU 31–17; lost at Miami 14–20; lost at No. 22 Tulsa 19–49; lost vs. East Carolina 10–13; lost vs. Southern Miss 6–17; won at Marshall 30–14; won at Memphis 28–21; lost vs. UAB 0–15+17−45Won 17–0 vs. South Carolina State+17South Carolina …Lost 24–31 vs. No. 17 South Florida-7No. 17 South FloridaLost 7–34 at Boston College-27Boston CollegeLost 13–58 at UTEP-45UTEPWon 31–17 vs. SMU+14SMULost 14–20 at Miami-6MiamiLost 19–49 at No. 22 Tulsa-30No. 22 TulsaLost 10–13 vs. East Carolina-3East CarolinaLost 6–17 vs. Southern Miss-11Southern MissWon 30–14 at Marshall+16MarshallWon 28–21 at Memphis+7MemphisLost 0–15 vs. UAB-15UAB
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSouth Carolina StateW 17–⁠077%
Sep 6vs17South FloridaL 24–⁠3154%
Sep 20atBoston CollegeL 7–⁠3433%
Sep 27atUTEPL 13–⁠5866%
Oct 4vsSMUW 31–⁠1775%
Oct 11atMiamiL 14–⁠2039%
Oct 26at22TulsaL 19–⁠4919%
Nov 2vsEast CarolinaL 10–⁠1348%
Nov 8vsSouthern MissL 6–⁠1756%
Nov 15atMarshallW 30–⁠1436%
Nov 22atMemphisW 28–⁠2144%
Nov 29vsUABL 0–⁠1576%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UAB 15–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Conference USA.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 40 on file).

Record
4–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Conference USA
AP final
Unranked
Points
199–⁠289
Coach
George O’Leary
Elo
1423 −125 this season
SP+ rating
-15.8 No. 105 of 120; offense No. 120, defense No. 49, special teams No. 85
SRS
−10.4 No. 98 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 54
Offensive coordinator
Tim Salem
Defensive coordinator
Dave Huxtable

How good, play by play

  • Offense120th of 120
  • Defense17th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted128th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted16th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.1629%0.93120th of 120
Defense-0.0235%0.9617th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.10 off
-0.01 def		31% off
36% def		—128th off
16th 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-0.2own 354% allowed
Defense-0.2own 312% 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

Chris Martin DT★★★No. 502
Brandon Davis APB★★★No. 521
Rob Calabrese PRO★★★No. 938
Latavius Murray RB★★★No. 1019
Robert Pritchard WDE★★★No. 1095

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.770
Running backs33.00.837
Receivers13.00.820
Offensive line22.50.788
Defensive line32.70.825
Linebackers12.00.767
Whole class122.70.807

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 5Joe Burnett CBPittsburgh Steelers

2008 Conference USA standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tulsa7–⁠111–⁠3
Rice7–⁠110–⁠3
East Carolina6–⁠29–⁠5
Houston6–⁠28–⁠5
Southern Miss4–⁠47–⁠6
Memphis4–⁠46–⁠7
UTEP4–⁠45–⁠7
UAB3–⁠54–⁠8
UCF3–⁠54–⁠8
Marshall3–⁠54–⁠8
Tulane1–⁠72–⁠10
SMU0–⁠81–⁠11

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