CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Virginia Tech

10–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Frank Beamer, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Virginia Tech in 2008, game by game: lost vs. East Carolina 22–27; won vs. Furman 24–7; won vs. Georgia Tech 20–17; won at North Carolina 20–17; won at Nebraska 35–30; won vs. Western Kentucky 27–13; lost at Boston College 23–28; lost at No. 24 Florida State 20–30; won vs. No. 23 Maryland 23–13; lost at Miami 14–16; won vs. Duke 14–3; won vs. Virginia 17–14; won vs. No. 18 Boston College 30–12; won vs. No. 13 Cincinnati 20–7+18−10Lost 22–27 vs. East Carolina-5East CarolinaWon 24–7 vs. Furman+17FurmanWon 20–17 vs. Georgia Tech+3Georgia TechWon 20–17 at North Carolina+3North CarolinaWon 35–30 at Nebraska+5NebraskaWon 27–13 vs. Western Kentucky+14Western KentuckyLost 23–28 at Boston College-5Boston CollegeLost 20–30 at No. 24 Florida State-10No. 24 Florida StateWon 23–13 vs. No. 23 Maryland+10No. 23 MarylandLost 14–16 at Miami-2MiamiWon 14–3 vs. Duke+11DukeWon 17–14 vs. Virginia+3VirginiaWon 30–12 vs. No. 18 Boston College+18No. 18 Boston CollegeWon 20–7 vs. No. 13 Cincinnati+13No. 13 Cincinnati
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsEast CarolinaL 22–⁠2772%
Sep 6vsFurmanW 24–⁠787%
Sep 13vsGeorgia TechW 20–⁠1770%
Sep 20atNorth CarolinaW 20–⁠1762%
Sep 27atNebraskaW 35–⁠3059%
Oct 4vsWestern KentuckyW 27–⁠1389%
Oct 18atBoston CollegeL 23–⁠2848%
Oct 25at24Florida StateL 20–⁠3053%
Nov 6vs23MarylandW 23–⁠1367%
Nov 13atMiamiL 14–⁠1653%
Nov 22vsDukeW 14–⁠387%
Nov 29vsVirginiaW 17–⁠1476%
Dec 6vs18Boston CollegeACC Championship GameW 30–⁠1249%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13CincinnatiOrange BowlW 20–⁠749%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Cincinnati 20–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 6: 20
  3. Wk 7: 18
  4. Wk 8: 17
  5. Final: 15

Atlantic Coast Conference champions5–⁠3 in the conference, won the ACC Championship Game

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 shared first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 15
Points
309–⁠234
Coach
Frank Beamer
Elo
1718 +45 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 37 of 120; offense No. 89, defense No. 9, special teams No. 38
SRS
7.1 No. 31 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 18
Offensive coordinator
Bryan Stinespring
Defensive coordinator
Bud Foster
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense87th of 120
  • Defense12th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted85th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted17th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0137%0.9187th of 120
Defense-0.0435%0.9712th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
-0.01 def		38% off
36% def		—85th off
17th 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 342% allowed
Defense-0.1own 314% 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

Ryan Williams RB★★★★No. 40
Vinston Painter OT★★★★No. 129
Bruce Taylor ILB★★★★No. 305
D.J. Coles WR★★★★No. 327
Quillie Odom OLB★★★★No. 338

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.798
Running backs14.00.979
Receivers63.20.849
Offensive line14.00.937
Defensive line32.70.841
Linebackers43.50.874
Athletes and specialists23.00.851
Whole class183.20.863

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 5Victor Harris CBPhiladelphia Eagles

2008 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech5–⁠310–⁠415
Georgia Tech5–⁠39–⁠422
Florida State5–⁠39–⁠421
Boston College5–⁠39–⁠5
Maryland4–⁠48–⁠5
North Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Wake Forest4–⁠48–⁠5
Miami4–⁠47–⁠6
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
NC State4–⁠46–⁠7
Virginia3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke1–⁠74–⁠8

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