CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 UCLA

4–⁠8 (3–⁠6 Pac-10), coached by Rick Neuheisel.

Schedule and results

UCLA in 2008, game by game: won vs. No. 18 Tennessee 27–24; lost at No. 18 BYU 0–59; lost vs. Arizona 10–31; lost vs. No. 25 Fresno State 31–36; won vs. Washington State 28–3; lost at Oregon 24–31; won vs. Stanford 23–20; lost at California 20–41; lost vs. Oregon State 6–34; won at Washington 27–7; lost at Arizona State 9–34; lost vs. No. 5 USC 7–28+25−59Won 27–24 vs. No. 18 Tennessee+3No. 18 TennesseeLost 0–59 at No. 18 BYU-59No. 18 BYULost 10–31 vs. Arizona-21ArizonaLost 31–36 vs. No. 25 Fresno State-5No. 25 Fresno StateWon 28–3 vs. Washington State+25Washington StateLost 24–31 at Oregon-7OregonWon 23–20 vs. Stanford+3StanfordLost 20–41 at California-21CaliforniaLost 6–34 vs. Oregon State-28Oregon StateWon 27–7 at Washington+20WashingtonLost 9–34 at Arizona State-25Arizona StateLost 7–28 vs. No. 5 USC-21No. 5 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vs18TennesseeW 27–⁠2447%
Sep 13at18BYUL 0–⁠5928%
Sep 20vsArizonaL 10–⁠3157%
Sep 27vs25Fresno StateL 31–⁠3645%
Oct 4vsWashington StateW 28–⁠369%
Oct 11atOregonL 24–⁠3126%
Oct 18vsStanfordW 23–⁠2061%
Oct 25atCaliforniaL 20–⁠4130%
Nov 8vsOregon StateL 6–⁠3436%
Nov 15atWashingtonW 27–⁠760%
Nov 28atArizona StateL 9–⁠3436%
Dec 6vs5USCL 7–⁠2814%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 28–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 83rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 23
Record
4–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠6 8th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 23
Points
212–⁠348
Coach
Rick Neuheisel
Elo
1449 −86 this season
SP+ rating
-0.1 No. 66 of 120; offense No. 101, defense No. 36, special teams No. 32
SRS
−5.6 No. 77 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 14
Offensive coordinator
Norm Chow
Defensive coordinator
DeWayne Walker
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense103rd of 120
  • Defense19th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted114th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted15th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0438%0.78103rd of 120
Defense-0.0238%0.9219th of 120
Opponent-adjusted-0.01 off
-0.01 def		39% off
38% def		—114th off
15th 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 283% allowed
Defense-0.1own 362% 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

Aundre Dean RB★★★★No. 77
E.J. Woods S★★★★No. 98
Rahim Moore S★★★★No. 101
Tony Dye CB★★★★No. 124
Nick Crissman PRO★★★★No. 162
Aaron Hester CB★★★★No. 175
Damien Holmes SDE★★★★No. 182
Datone Jones SDE★★★★No. 209

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.930
Running backs34.00.923
Receivers33.70.893
Offensive line13.00.833
Defensive line24.00.919
Linebackers13.00.876
Defensive backs54.00.934
Whole class163.80.912

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.

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 3 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 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠112–⁠13
Oregon7–⁠210–⁠310
Oregon State7–⁠29–⁠418
California6–⁠39–⁠4
Arizona5–⁠48–⁠5
Arizona State4–⁠55–⁠7
Stanford4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠64–⁠8
Washington State1–⁠82–⁠11
Washington0–⁠90–⁠12

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