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2015 Auburn

7–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2015, game by game: won vs. Louisville 31–24; won vs. Jacksonville State 27–20; lost at No. 13 LSU 21–45; lost vs. Mississippi State 9–17; won vs. San José State 35–21; won at Kentucky 30–27; lost at Arkansas 46–54; lost vs. No. 19 Ole Miss 19–27; won at No. 25 Texas A&M 26–10; lost vs. Georgia 13–20; won vs. Idaho 56–34; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 13–29; won vs. Memphis 31–10+22−24Won 31–24 vs. Louisville+7LouisvilleWon 27–20 vs. Jacksonville State+7Jacksonville St…Lost 21–45 at No. 13 LSU-24No. 13 LSULost 9–17 vs. Mississippi State-8Mississippi Sta…Won 35–21 vs. San José State+14San José StateWon 30–27 at Kentucky+3KentuckyLost 46–54 at Arkansas-8ArkansasLost 19–27 vs. No. 19 Ole Miss-8No. 19 Ole MissWon 26–10 at No. 25 Texas A&M+16No. 25 Texas A&MLost 13–20 vs. Georgia-7GeorgiaWon 56–34 vs. Idaho+22IdahoLost 13–29 vs. No. 2 Alabama-16No. 2 AlabamaWon 31–10 vs. Memphis+21Memphis
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsLouisvilleW 31–⁠2449%
Sep 12vsJacksonville StateW 27–⁠2080%
Sep 19at13LSUL 21–⁠4546%
Sep 26vsMississippi StateL 9–⁠1757%
Oct 3vsSan José StateW 35–⁠2176%
Oct 15atKentuckyW 30–⁠2752%
Oct 24atArkansasL 46–⁠5452%
Oct 31vs19Ole MissL 19–⁠2749%
Nov 7at25Texas A&MW 26–⁠1032%
Nov 14vsGeorgiaL 13–⁠2054%
Nov 21vsIdahoW 56–⁠3490%
Nov 28vs2AlabamaL 13–⁠2924%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsMemphisBirmingham BowlW 31–⁠1046%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Memphis 31–⁠10 in the Birmingham Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 57th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 18
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 10th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
357–⁠338
Coach
Gus Malzahn
Elo
1610 −1 this season
SP+ rating
14.6 No. 23 of 128; offense No. 28, defense No. 40, special teams No. 15
SRS
7.9 No. 34 of 128 in FBS
Returning
20% of last season’s EPA, No. 123 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 8 roster talent No. 7 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Rhett Lashlee and Dameyune Craig
Defensive coordinator
Will Muschamp
Offense
Hurry-up no-huddle, multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense38th of 128
  • Defense61st of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted29th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted41st of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1445%1.0938th of 128
Defense0.0946%1.0961st of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.16 off
0.04 def		46% off
43% def		—29th off
41st 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
Offense3.8own 293% allowed
Defense3.0own 292% 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 yardsSean White QB1,166 yds
Passing touchdownsJeremy Johnson QB10 TD
Rushing yardsPeyton Barber RB1,017 yds
Rushing touchdownsPeyton Barber RB13 TD
Receiving yardsRicardo Louis WR716 yds
Receiving touchdownsRicardo Louis WR3 TD
InterceptionsCarlton Davis DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Byron Cowart SDE★★★★★No. 3
Kerryon Johnson ATH★★★★No. 43
Prince Tega Wanogho Jr. SDE★★★★No. 113
Jeff Holland OLB★★★★No. 122
Darius Slayton WR★★★★No. 140
Jordan Colbert S★★★★No. 168
Darrell Williams OLB★★★★No. 173
Ryan Davis WR★★★★No. 179

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.886
Running backs24.00.898
Receivers33.30.883
Offensive line43.80.902
Defensive line34.00.940
Linebackers53.80.900
Defensive backs33.70.887
Athletes and specialists33.70.904
Whole class243.70.901

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 2016

The 2016 draft
Rd 3Shon Coleman OTCleveland Browns
Rd 4Ricardo Louis WRCleveland Browns
Rd 6Blake Countess CBPhiladelphia Eagles

Roster 124

The 2015 roster

124 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 28 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2015 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2015 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠114–⁠11
Florida7–⁠110–⁠425
Ole Miss6–⁠210–⁠310
Georgia5–⁠310–⁠3
LSU5–⁠39–⁠316
Tennessee5–⁠39–⁠422
Arkansas5–⁠38–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠4
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠5
Auburn2–⁠67–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠64–⁠8
Missouri1–⁠75–⁠7
South Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9

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