CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 UNLV

5–⁠7 (2–⁠6 Mountain West Conference), coached by Mike Sanford Sr.

Schedule and results

UNLV in 2008, game by game: won vs. Utah State 27–17; lost at No. 22 Utah 21–42; won at No. 15 Arizona State 23–20; won vs. Iowa State 34–31; lost vs. Nevada 27–49; lost at Colorado State 28–41; lost vs. Air Force 28–29; lost at No. 18 BYU 35–42; lost vs. No. 12 TCU 14–44; won vs. New Mexico 27–20; won vs. Wyoming 22–14; lost at San Diego State 21–42+10−30Won 27–17 vs. Utah State+10Utah StateLost 21–42 at No. 22 Utah-21No. 22 UtahWon 23–20 at No. 15 Arizona State+3No. 15 Arizona StateWon 34–31 vs. Iowa State+3Iowa StateLost 27–49 vs. Nevada-22NevadaLost 28–41 at Colorado State-13Colorado StateLost 28–29 vs. Air Force-1Air ForceLost 35–42 at No. 18 BYU-7No. 18 BYULost 14–44 vs. No. 12 TCU-30No. 12 TCUWon 27–20 vs. New Mexico+7New MexicoWon 22–14 vs. Wyoming+8WyomingLost 21–42 at San Diego State-21San Diego State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsUtah StateW 27–⁠1757%
Sep 6at22UtahL 21–⁠4216%
Sep 13at15Arizona StateW 23–⁠2016%
Sep 20vsIowa StateW 34–⁠3149%
Sep 27vsNevadaL 27–⁠4949%
Oct 4atColorado StateL 28–⁠4137%
Oct 18vsAir ForceL 28–⁠2930%
Oct 25at18BYUL 35–⁠4210%
Nov 1vs12TCUL 14–⁠4416%
Nov 8vsNew MexicoW 27–⁠2036%
Nov 13vsWyomingW 22–⁠1452%
Nov 22atSan Diego StateL 21–⁠4256%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to San Diego State 42–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 27th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 56 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 6th in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
307–⁠391
Coach
Mike Sanford Sr.
Elo
1353 −0 this season
SP+ rating
-12.4 No. 99 of 120; offense No. 73, defense No. 109, special teams No. 56
SRS
−9.1 No. 94 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 100
Offensive coordinator
Todd Berry
Defensive coordinator
Dennis Therrell

How good, play by play

  • Offense44th of 120
  • Defense105th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted49th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted122nd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0540%1.0344th of 120
Defense0.1146%0.89105th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
0.09 def		40% off
45% def		—49th off
122nd 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 30— allowed
Defense0.0own 31— 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

Phillip Payne WR★★★No. 1005
Sean Tesoro OG★★★No. 1154
C.J. Cox S★★★No. 1174
Gerome Surrell WR★★★No. 1247
Chris Jones ATH★★★No. 1247

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.807
Running backs12.00.769
Receivers42.50.778
Offensive line52.20.752
Defensive line42.00.728
Linebackers22.50.799
Defensive backs22.50.797
Athletes and specialists13.00.811
Whole class202.40.768

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 5Frank Summers RBPittsburgh Steelers

2008 Mountain West Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah8–⁠013–⁠02
TCU7–⁠111–⁠27
BYU6–⁠210–⁠325
Air Force5–⁠38–⁠5
Colorado State4–⁠47–⁠6
UNLV2–⁠65–⁠7
New Mexico2–⁠64–⁠8
Wyoming1–⁠74–⁠8
San Diego State1–⁠72–⁠10

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