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2012 Utah State

11–⁠2 (6–⁠0 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Gary Andersen, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Utah State in 2012, game by game: won vs. Southern Utah 34–3; won vs. Utah 27–20; lost at Wisconsin 14–16; won at Colorado State 31–19; won vs. UNLV 35–13; lost at BYU 3–6; won at San José State 49–27; won vs. New Mexico State 41–7; won at UTSA 48–17; won vs. Texas State 38–7; won at No. 19 Louisiana Tech 48–41; won vs. Idaho 45–9; won vs. Toledo 41–15+36−3Won 34–3 vs. Southern Utah+31Southern UtahWon 27–20 vs. Utah+7UtahLost 14–16 at Wisconsin-2WisconsinWon 31–19 at Colorado State+12Colorado StateWon 35–13 vs. UNLV+22UNLVLost 3–6 at BYU-3BYUWon 49–27 at San José State+22San José StateWon 41–7 vs. New Mexico State+34New Mexico StateWon 48–17 at UTSA+31UTSAWon 38–7 vs. Texas State+31Texas StateWon 48–41 at No. 19 Louisiana Tech+7No. 19 Louisiana TechWon 45–9 vs. Idaho+36IdahoWon 41–15 vs. Toledo+26Toledo
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSouthern UtahW 34–⁠373%
Sep 7vsUtahW 27–⁠2048%
Sep 15atWisconsinL 14–⁠1626%
Sep 22atColorado StateW 31–⁠1967%
Sep 29vsUNLVW 35–⁠1382%
Oct 5atBYUL 3–⁠634%
Oct 13atSan José StateW 49–⁠2746%
Oct 20vsNew Mexico StateW 41–⁠788%
Oct 27atUTSAW 48–⁠1775%
Nov 3vsTexas StateW 38–⁠786%
Nov 17at19Louisiana TechW 48–⁠4136%
Nov 24vsIdahoW 45–⁠993%
Dec 15Bowls & playoffvsToledoFamous Idaho Potato BowlW 41–⁠1554%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Toledo 41–⁠15 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; Western Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 13: 25
  2. Wk 14: 20
  3. Wk 15: 18
  4. Final: 16

Western Athletic Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 16
Points
454–⁠200
Coach
Gary Andersen
Elo
1661 +178 this season
SP+ rating
11.0 No. 37 of 124; offense No. 53, defense No. 31, special teams No. 23
SRS
12.7 No. 18 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 111
Offensive coordinator
Matt Wells
Defensive coordinator
Dave Aranda
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense38th of 124
  • Defense13th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted36th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted19th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1043%1.0038th of 124
Defense-0.0138%0.7913th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.02 def		42% off
39% def		—36th off
19th 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 322% allowed
Defense0.0own 252% 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 yardsChuckie Keeton QB3,373 yds
Passing touchdownsChuckie Keeton QB27 TD
Rushing yardsKerwynn Williams RB1,512 yds
Rushing touchdownsKerwynn Williams RB15 TD
Receiving yardsMatt Austin WR729 yds
Receiving touchdownsChuck Jacobs WR5 TD
InterceptionsWill Davis CB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Nick Vigil APB★★★No. 1617
Jake Simonich OT★★No. 1971
D.J. Nelson DUAL★★No. 1974
JoJo Natson WR★★No. 1994
Andrew Chen OT★★No. 2488

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.786
Running backs13.00.809
Receivers12.00.783
Offensive line32.00.767
Linebackers12.00.710
Athletes and specialists12.00.758
Whole class82.10.768

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 3Will Davis CBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Kerwynn Williams RBIndianapolis Colts

Roster 111

The 2012 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 36 have a stat line. See the roster

2012 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah State6–⁠011–⁠216
San José State5–⁠111–⁠221
Louisiana Tech4–⁠29–⁠3
UTSA3–⁠38–⁠4
Texas State2–⁠44–⁠8
Idaho1–⁠51–⁠11
New Mexico State0–⁠61–⁠11

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