2015 Baylor

10–⁠3 (6–⁠3 Big 12), coached by Art Briles, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Baylor in 2015, game by game: won at SMU 56–21; won vs. Lamar 66–31; won vs. Rice 70–17; won vs. Texas Tech 63–35; won at Kansas 66–7; won vs. West Virginia 62–38; won vs. Iowa State 45–27; won at Kansas State 31–24; lost vs. No. 12 Oklahoma 34–44; won at No. 4 Oklahoma State 45–35; lost at No. 15 TCU 21–28; lost vs. Texas 17–23; won vs. No. 10 North Carolina 49–38+59−10Won 56–21 at SMU+35SMUWon 66–31 vs. Lamar+35LamarWon 70–17 vs. Rice+53RiceWon 63–35 vs. Texas Tech+28Texas TechWon 66–7 at Kansas+59KansasWon 62–38 vs. West Virginia+24West VirginiaWon 45–27 vs. Iowa State+18Iowa StateWon 31–24 at Kansas State+7Kansas StateLost 34–44 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma-10No. 12 OklahomaWon 45–35 at No. 4 Oklahoma State+10No. 4 Oklahoma StateLost 21–28 at No. 15 TCU-7No. 15 TCULost 17–23 vs. Texas-6TexasWon 49–38 vs. No. 10 North Carolina+11No. 10 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atSMUW 56–⁠2181%
Sep 12vsLamarW 66–⁠3192%
Sep 26vsRiceW 70–⁠1776%
Oct 3vsTexas TechW 63–⁠3573%
Oct 10atKansasW 66–⁠788%
Oct 17vsWest VirginiaW 62–⁠3880%
Oct 24vsIowa StateW 45–⁠2791%
Nov 5atKansas StateW 31–⁠2471%
Nov 14vs12OklahomaL 34–⁠4465%
Nov 21at4Oklahoma StateW 45–⁠3545%
Nov 27at15TCUL 21–⁠2847%
Dec 5vsTexasL 17–⁠2385%
Dec 29vs10North CarolinaRussell Athletic BowlW 49–⁠3852%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 49–⁠38 in the Russell Athletic Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 121 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 4
  12. Wk 12: 10
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 12
  15. Wk 15: 18
  16. Final: 13
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠3 4th in Big 12
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 2
Points
625–⁠368
Coach
Art Briles
Elo
1726 +47 this season
SP+ rating
19.5 No. 12 of 128; offense No. 3, defense No. 44, special teams No. 109
SRS
14.3 No. 14 of 128 in FBS
Returning
61% of last season’s EPA, No. 65 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 36 roster talent No. 31 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kendal Briles
Defensive coordinator
Phil Bennett
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense2nd of 128
  • Defense46th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted7th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted36th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3050%1.302nd of 128
Defense0.0641%1.2346th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.25 off
0.03 def
48% off
40% def
—7th off
36th 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
Offense4.5own 302% allowed
Defense3.6own 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsSeth Russell QB2,104 yds
Passing touchdownsSeth Russell QB29 TD
Rushing yardsShock Linwood RB1,329 yds
Rushing touchdownsShock Linwood RB10 TD
Receiving yardsCorey Coleman WR1,363 yds
Receiving touchdownsCorey Coleman WR20 TD
InterceptionsXavien Howard CB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Jarrett Stidham DUAL★★★★No. 39
Blake Lynch WR★★★★No. 183
JaMycal Hasty APB★★★★No. 230
Pooh Stricklin WR★★★No. 387
Riley Daniel OG★★★No. 1306

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.983
Running backs14.00.911
Receivers23.50.903
Offensive line13.00.836
Defensive line12.00.772
Linebackers33.00.819
Athletes and specialists23.00.822
Whole class113.20.855

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 1Corey Coleman WRCleveland Browns
Rd 2Xavien Howard CBMiami Dolphins
Rd 4Andrew Billings DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 5Spencer Drango OTCleveland Browns
Rd 6Jimmy Landes LSDetroit Lions
Rd 6Rico Gathers TEDallas Cowboys

Roster 109

The 2015 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big 12

5 first team, 4 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 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma8–⁠111–⁠25
TCU7–⁠211–⁠27
Oklahoma State7–⁠210–⁠320
Baylor6–⁠310–⁠313
West Virginia4–⁠58–⁠5
Texas Tech4–⁠57–⁠6
Texas4–⁠55–⁠7
Kansas State3–⁠66–⁠7
Iowa State2–⁠73–⁠9
Kansas0–⁠90–⁠12

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