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2015 Houston

13–⁠1 (7–⁠1 American Athletic Conference), coached by Tom Herman, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Houston in 2015, game by game: won vs. Tennessee Tech 52–24; won at Louisville 34–31; won vs. Texas State 59–14; won at Tulsa 38–24; won vs. SMU 49–28; won at Tulane 42–7; won at UCF 59–10; won vs. Vanderbilt 34–0; won vs. Cincinnati 33–30; won vs. No. 25 Memphis 35–34; lost at UConn 17–20; won vs. No. 16 Navy 52–31; won vs. No. 20 Temple 24–13; won vs. No. 9 Florida State 38–24+49−3Won 52–24 vs. Tennessee Tech+28Tennessee TechWon 34–31 at Louisville+3LouisvilleWon 59–14 vs. Texas State+45Texas StateWon 38–24 at Tulsa+14TulsaWon 49–28 vs. SMU+21SMUWon 42–7 at Tulane+35TulaneWon 59–10 at UCF+49UCFWon 34–0 vs. Vanderbilt+34VanderbiltWon 33–30 vs. Cincinnati+3CincinnatiWon 35–34 vs. No. 25 Memphis+1No. 25 MemphisLost 17–20 at UConn-3UConnWon 52–31 vs. No. 16 Navy+21No. 16 NavyWon 24–13 vs. No. 20 Temple+11No. 20 TempleWon 38–24 vs. No. 9 Florida State+14No. 9 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsTennessee TechW 52–⁠2487%
Sep 12atLouisvilleW 34–⁠3134%
Sep 26vsTexas StateW 59–⁠1473%
Oct 3atTulsaW 38–⁠2464%
Oct 8vsSMUW 49–⁠2885%
Oct 16atTulaneW 42–⁠768%
Oct 24atUCFW 59–⁠1070%
Oct 31vsVanderbiltW 34–⁠080%
Nov 7vsCincinnatiW 33–⁠3070%
Nov 14vs25MemphisW 35–⁠3463%
Nov 21atUConnL 17–⁠2074%
Nov 27vs16NavyW 52–⁠3154%
Dec 5vs20TempleAmerican Athletic Championship GameW 24–⁠1366%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs9Florida StatePeach BowlW 38–⁠2437%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Florida State 38–⁠24 in the Peach Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; American Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 24
  2. Wk 8: 21
  3. Wk 9: 18
  4. Wk 10: 18
  5. Wk 11: 16
  6. Wk 12: 13
  7. Wk 13: 21
  8. Wk 14: 17
  9. Wk 15: 14
  10. Final: 8

American Athletic Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the American Athletic Championship Game

Record
13–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 8
Points
566–⁠290
Coach
Tom Herman
Elo
1727 +198 this season
SP+ rating
6.2 No. 53 of 128; offense No. 41, defense No. 69, special teams No. 29
SRS
10.9 No. 19 of 128 in FBS
Returning
70% of last season’s EPA, No. 54 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 89 roster talent No. 65 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Major Applewhite
Defensive coordinators
Todd Orlando and Craig Naivar
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense23rd of 128
  • Defense21st of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted33rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted24th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1944%1.2723rd of 128
Defense-0.0240%1.2421st of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.15 off
0.01 def		43% off
40% def		—33rd off
24th 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
Offense4.3own 321% allowed
Defense2.9own 264% 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. QB2,828 yds
Passing touchdownsGreg Ward Jr. QB17 TD
Rushing yardsGreg Ward Jr. QB1,108 yds
Rushing touchdownsGreg Ward Jr. QB21 TD
Receiving yardsDemarcus Ayers WR1,222 yds
Receiving touchdownsChance Allen WR6 TD
InterceptionsWilliam Jackson III CB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Tyreik Gray RB★★★No. 390
Kameron Eloph OG★★★No. 872
Terry Mark WR★★★No. 893
Kevrin Justice RB★★★No. 1326
Tyrell Thompson SDE★★★No. 1607

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.859
Receivers42.30.778
Offensive line32.30.793
Defensive line23.00.818
Linebackers42.30.793
Defensive backs22.00.759
Whole class172.40.796

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 1William Jackson III CBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Elandon Roberts ILBNew England Patriots
Rd 7Demarcus Ayers WRPittsburgh Steelers

Roster 116

The 2015 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

2015 American Athletic Conference standings

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.