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2012 West Virginia

7–⁠6 (4–⁠5 Big 12), coached by Dana Holgorsen.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2012, game by game: won vs. Marshall 69–34; won vs. James Madison 42–12; won vs. Maryland 31–21; won vs. No. 25 Baylor 70–63; won at No. 11 Texas 48–45; lost at Texas Tech 14–49; lost vs. No. 4 Kansas State 14–55; lost vs. TCU 38–39; lost at Oklahoma State 34–55; lost vs. No. 13 Oklahoma 49–50; won at Iowa State 31–24; won vs. Kansas 59–10; lost vs. Syracuse 14–38+49−41Won 69–34 vs. Marshall+35MarshallWon 42–12 vs. James Madison+30James MadisonWon 31–21 vs. Maryland+10MarylandWon 70–63 vs. No. 25 Baylor+7No. 25 BaylorWon 48–45 at No. 11 Texas+3No. 11 TexasLost 14–49 at Texas Tech-35Texas TechLost 14–55 vs. No. 4 Kansas State-41No. 4 Kansas StateLost 38–39 vs. TCU-1TCULost 34–55 at Oklahoma State-21Oklahoma StateLost 49–50 vs. No. 13 Oklahoma-1No. 13 OklahomaWon 31–24 at Iowa State+7Iowa StateWon 59–10 vs. Kansas+49KansasLost 14–38 vs. Syracuse-24Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsMarshallW 69–⁠3473%
Sep 15vsJames MadisonW 42–⁠1277%
Sep 22vsMarylandW 31–⁠2182%
Sep 29vs25BaylorW 70–⁠6359%
Oct 6at11TexasW 48–⁠4547%
Oct 13atTexas TechL 14–⁠4963%
Oct 20vs4Kansas StateL 14–⁠5553%
Nov 3vsTCUL 38–⁠3950%
Nov 10atOklahoma StateL 34–⁠5531%
Nov 17vs13OklahomaL 49–⁠5037%
Nov 23atIowa StateW 31–⁠2446%
Dec 1vsKansasW 59–⁠1087%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsSyracusePinstripe BowlL 14–⁠3856%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 38–⁠14 in the Pinstripe Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 43rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 5
  8. Wk 8: 17
  9. Wk 9: 25
  10. Wk 10: 23

Led the nationGeno Smith: passing touchdowns (42 TD); Stedman Bailey: receiving touchdowns (25 TD)

Paul Hornung AwardTavon Austin, WR/RB/RS

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠5 tied for 5th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 5
Points
513–⁠495
Coach
Dana Holgorsen
Elo
1565 −51 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 45 of 124; offense No. 20, defense No. 72, special teams No. 104
SRS
5.4 No. 45 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 35
Offensive coordinator
Shannon Dawson
Defensive coordinators
Joe DeForest and Keith Patterson
Offense
Air raid
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense27th of 124
  • Defense102nd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted19th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted85th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1145%0.9927th of 124
Defense0.1142%1.04102nd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.07 def		46% off
40% def		—19th off
85th 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 282% allowed
Defense-0.1own 321% 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 yardsGeno Smith QB4,205 yds
Passing touchdownsGeno Smith QB42 TD
Rushing yardsAndrew Buie RB851 yds
Rushing touchdownsAndrew Buie RB7 TD
Receiving yardsStedman Bailey WR1,622 yds
Receiving touchdownsStedman Bailey WR25 TD
InterceptionsIsaiah Bruce LB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Deon-Tay McManus OLB★★★★No. 185
Ford Childress PRO★★★★No. 329
Sam Lebbie ILB★★★★No. 342
Travares Copeland ATH★★★No. 434
Tyler Orlosky OG★★★No. 448

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.897
Running backs13.00.868
Receivers43.00.839
Offensive line33.00.844
Defensive line43.00.839
Linebackers33.70.882
Defensive backs53.00.845
Athletes and specialists22.50.814
Whole class233.10.848

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 1Tavon Austin WRSt. Louis Rams
Rd 2Geno Smith QBNew York Jets
Rd 3Stedman Bailey WRSt. Louis Rams

Roster 107

The 2012 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Kansas State8–⁠111–⁠212
Oklahoma8–⁠110–⁠315
Texas5–⁠49–⁠419
Oklahoma State5–⁠48–⁠5
Baylor4–⁠58–⁠5
Texas Tech4–⁠58–⁠5
West Virginia4–⁠57–⁠6
TCU4–⁠57–⁠6
Iowa State3–⁠66–⁠7
Kansas0–⁠91–⁠11

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