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2015 East Carolina

5–⁠7 (3–⁠5 American Athletic Conference), coached by Ruffin McNeill.

Schedule and results

East Carolina in 2015, game by game: won vs. Towson 28–20; lost at Florida 24–31; lost at Navy 21–45; won vs. Virginia Tech 35–28; won at SMU 49–23; lost at BYU 38–45; won vs. Tulsa 30–17; lost vs. No. 22 Temple 14–24; lost at UConn 13–31; lost vs. South Florida 17–22; won at UCF 44–7; lost vs. Cincinnati 16–19+37−24Won 28–20 vs. Towson+8TowsonLost 24–31 at Florida-7FloridaLost 21–45 at Navy-24NavyWon 35–28 vs. Virginia Tech+7Virginia TechWon 49–23 at SMU+26SMULost 38–45 at BYU-7BYUWon 30–17 vs. Tulsa+13TulsaLost 14–24 vs. No. 22 Temple-10No. 22 TempleLost 13–31 at UConn-18UConnLost 17–22 vs. South Florida-5South FloridaWon 44–7 at UCF+37UCFLost 16–19 vs. Cincinnati-3Cincinnati
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsTowsonW 28–⁠2086%
Sep 12atFloridaL 24–⁠3139%
Sep 19atNavyL 21–⁠4541%
Sep 26vsVirginia TechW 35–⁠2851%
Oct 3atSMUW 49–⁠2365%
Oct 10atBYUL 38–⁠4540%
Oct 17vsTulsaW 30–⁠1773%
Oct 22vs22TempleL 14–⁠2452%
Oct 30atUConnL 13–⁠3163%
Nov 7vsSouth FloridaL 17–⁠2265%
Nov 19atUCFW 44–⁠757%
Nov 28vsCincinnatiL 16–⁠1952%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Cincinnati 19–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 32nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 70 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
329–⁠312
Coach
Ruffin McNeill
Elo
1479 −69 this season
SP+ rating
-0.5 No. 79 of 128; offense No. 68, defense No. 66, special teams No. 98
SRS
−1.0 No. 75 of 128 in FBS
Returning
19% of last season’s EPA, No. 125 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 93 roster talent No. 87 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Dave Nichol
Defensive coordinator
Rick Smith
Offense
Air raid
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense61st of 128
  • Defense65th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted63rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted59th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0944%1.2461st of 128
Defense0.0942%1.1465th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.08 def		44% off
42% def		—63rd off
59th 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
Offense3.4own 302% allowed
Defense3.5own 281% 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 yardsBlake Kemp QB2,658 yds
Passing touchdownsBlake Kemp QB16 TD
Rushing yardsChris Hairston RB754 yds
Rushing touchdownsChris Hairston RB8 TD
Receiving yardsZay Jones WR1,099 yds
Receiving touchdownsZay Jones WR5 TD
InterceptionsDaShawn Benton DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Nhyre Quinerly CB★★★No. 1363
Justin Strozier WR★★★No. 1697
John Jacobs DUAL★★★No. 1835
C.J. Maybin S★★★No. 1977
Colby Gore CB★★★No. 2046

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.811
Receivers13.00.818
Offensive line22.50.785
Defensive backs33.00.813
Whole class72.90.805

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.

Roster 135

The 2015 roster

135 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

2015 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠113–⁠18
Navy7–⁠111–⁠218
Temple7–⁠110–⁠4
South Florida6–⁠28–⁠5
Memphis5–⁠39–⁠4
Cincinnati4–⁠47–⁠6
UConn4–⁠46–⁠7
Tulsa3–⁠56–⁠7
East Carolina3–⁠55–⁠7
Tulane1–⁠73–⁠9
SMU1–⁠72–⁠10
UCF0–⁠80–⁠12

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