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2008 West Virginia

9–⁠4 (5–⁠2 Big East), coached by Bill Stewart, finished No. 23 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2008, game by game: won vs. Villanova 48–21; lost at East Carolina 3–24; lost at Colorado 14–17; won vs. Marshall 27–3; won vs. Rutgers 24–17; won vs. Syracuse 17–6; won vs. Auburn 34–17; won at UConn 35–13; lost vs. Cincinnati 23–26; won at Louisville 35–21; lost at Pittsburgh 15–19; won vs. South Florida 13–7; won vs. North Carolina 31–30+27−21Won 48–21 vs. Villanova+27VillanovaLost 3–24 at East Carolina-21East CarolinaLost 14–17 at Colorado-3ColoradoWon 27–3 vs. Marshall+24MarshallWon 24–17 vs. Rutgers+7RutgersWon 17–6 vs. Syracuse+11SyracuseWon 34–17 vs. Auburn+17AuburnWon 35–13 at UConn+22UConnLost 23–26 vs. Cincinnati-3CincinnatiWon 35–21 at Louisville+14LouisvilleLost 15–19 at Pittsburgh-4PittsburghWon 13–7 vs. South Florida+6South FloridaWon 31–30 vs. North Carolina+1North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsVillanovaW 48–⁠2190%
Sep 6atEast CarolinaL 3–⁠2464%
Sep 18atColoradoL 14–⁠1761%
Sep 27vsMarshallW 27–⁠378%
Oct 4vsRutgersW 24–⁠1778%
Oct 11vsSyracuseW 17–⁠691%
Oct 23vsAuburnW 34–⁠1766%
Nov 1atUConnW 35–⁠1353%
Nov 8vsCincinnatiL 23–⁠2668%
Nov 22atLouisvilleW 35–⁠2168%
Nov 28atPittsburghL 15–⁠1962%
Dec 6vsSouth FloridaW 13–⁠774%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsNorth CarolinaMeineke Car Care BowlW 31–⁠3067%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 31–⁠30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl; No. 23 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big East.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 25
  4. Wk 4: 21
  5. Wk 11: 20
  6. Final: 23
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big East
AP final
No. 23 peak No. 8
Points
319–⁠221
Coach
Bill Stewart
Elo
1697 +10 this season
SP+ rating
6.2 No. 47 of 120; offense No. 65, defense No. 46, special teams No. 14
SRS
7.2 No. 29 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 49
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Mullen
Defensive coordinator
Jeff Casteel
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense73rd of 120
  • Defense36th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted74th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted54th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0140%0.8673rd of 120
Defense0.0041%0.8436th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
0.02 def		41% off
42% def		—74th off
54th 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 312% allowed
Defense0.0own 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

Josh Jenkins OG★★★★No. 143
Jeff Braun OG★★★No. 701
Tyler Urban TE★★★No. 857
D.J. Thomas CB★★★No. 892
Bernard Smith ILB★★★No. 951

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs22.00.745
Receivers22.50.818
Offensive line43.00.842
Defensive line22.50.800
Linebackers23.00.831
Defensive backs33.00.831
Athletes and specialists32.30.767
Whole class182.70.808

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 2Pat White QBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Ellis Lankster CBBuffalo Bills
Rd 7Pat McAfee KIndianapolis Colts

2008 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Cincinnati6–⁠111–⁠317
Pittsburgh5–⁠29–⁠4
West Virginia5–⁠29–⁠423
Rutgers5–⁠28–⁠5
UConn3–⁠48–⁠5
South Florida2–⁠58–⁠5
Louisville1–⁠65–⁠7
Syracuse1–⁠63–⁠9

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