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2014 Houston

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 American Athletic Conference), coached by Tony Levine, then David Gibbs (interim, bowl game).

Schedule and results

Houston in 2014, game by game: lost vs. UTSA 7–27; won vs. Grambling 47–0; lost at No. 25 BYU 25–33; won vs. UNLV 47–14; lost vs. UCF 12–17; won at Memphis 28–24; won vs. Temple 31–10; won at South Florida 27–3; lost vs. Tulane 24–31; won vs. Tulsa 38–28; won at SMU 35–9; lost at Cincinnati 31–38; won vs. Pittsburgh 35–34+47−20Lost 7–27 vs. UTSA-20UTSAWon 47–0 vs. Grambling+47GramblingLost 25–33 at No. 25 BYU-8No. 25 BYUWon 47–14 vs. UNLV+33UNLVLost 12–17 vs. UCF-5UCFWon 28–24 at Memphis+4MemphisWon 31–10 vs. Temple+21TempleWon 27–3 at South Florida+24South FloridaLost 24–31 vs. Tulane-7TulaneWon 38–28 vs. Tulsa+10TulsaWon 35–9 at SMU+26SMULost 31–38 at Cincinnati-7CincinnatiWon 35–34 vs. Pittsburgh+1Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29vsUTSAL 7–⁠2764%
Sep 6vsGramblingW 47–⁠092%
Sep 11at25BYUL 25–⁠3325%
Sep 20vsUNLVW 47–⁠1468%
Oct 2vsUCFL 12–⁠1742%
Oct 11atMemphisW 28–⁠2445%
Oct 17vsTempleW 31–⁠1059%
Nov 1atSouth FloridaW 27–⁠371%
Nov 8vsTulaneL 24–⁠3179%
Nov 22vsTulsaW 38–⁠2881%
Nov 28atSMUW 35–⁠975%
Dec 6atCincinnatiL 31–⁠3833%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsPittsburghArmed Forces BowlW 35–⁠3452%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Pittsburgh 35–⁠34 in the Armed Forces Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
387–⁠268
Coach
Tony Levine, then David Gibbs (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1544 +2 this season
SP+ rating
5.4 No. 56 of 128; offense No. 54, defense No. 44, special teams No. 113
SRS
−0.1 No. 63 of 128 in FBS
Returning
84% of last season’s EPA, No. 16 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 75
Offensive coordinator
Travis Bush
Defensive coordinator
David Gibbs
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple

How good, play by play

  • Offense44th of 128
  • Defense27th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted61st of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted50th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1843%1.2444th of 128
Defense0.0742%1.1127th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.16 off
0.14 def		41% off
44% def		—61st off
50th 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 333% allowed
Defense3.1own 313% 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 yardsGreg Ward Jr. QB2,010 yds
Passing touchdownsGreg Ward Jr. QB12 TD
Rushing yardsKenneth Farrow RB1,037 yds
Rushing touchdownsKenneth Farrow RB14 TD
Receiving yardsDeontay Greenberry WR841 yds
Receiving touchdownsDeontay Greenberry WR6 TD
InterceptionsAdrian McDonald S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Zach Vaughan SDE★★★No. 936
Matthew Adams OLB★★★No. 1181
Elton Dyer WR★★★No. 1319
Kaliq Kokuma RB★★★No. 1321
Bear Fenimore PRO★★★No. 1404

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.823
Running backs22.50.806
Receivers52.60.807
Offensive line42.50.791
Defensive line32.70.815
Linebackers23.00.828
Defensive backs52.80.803
Whole class222.70.807

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 116

The 2014 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 32 have a stat line. See the roster

2014 American Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Memphis7–⁠110–⁠325
UCF7–⁠19–⁠4
Cincinnati7–⁠19–⁠4
Houston5–⁠38–⁠5
East Carolina5–⁠38–⁠5
Temple4–⁠46–⁠6
South Florida3–⁠54–⁠8
Tulane2–⁠63–⁠9
Tulsa2–⁠62–⁠10
UConn1–⁠72–⁠10
SMU1–⁠71–⁠11

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