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2015 LSU

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Les Miles, finished No. 16 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠3: the NCAA vacated eight regular-season wins and the 2015 Texas Bowl win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In 2023, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) vacated all of LSU’s wins from the 2012 through 2015 seasons due to an ineligible player.”

Schedule and results

LSU in 2015, game by game: won at No. 25 Mississippi State 21–19; won vs. No. 18 Auburn 45–21; won at Syracuse 34–24; won vs. Eastern Michigan 44–22; won vs. South Carolina 45–24; won vs. No. 8 Florida 35–28; won vs. Western Kentucky 48–20; lost at No. 7 Alabama 16–30; lost vs. Arkansas 14–31; lost at No. 25 Ole Miss 17–38; won vs. Texas A&M 19–7; won vs. Texas Tech 56–27+29−21Won 21–19 at No. 25 Mississippi State+2No. 25 Mississippi Sta…Won 45–21 vs. No. 18 Auburn+24No. 18 AuburnWon 34–24 at Syracuse+10SyracuseWon 44–22 vs. Eastern Michigan+22Eastern MichiganWon 45–24 vs. South Carolina+21South CarolinaWon 35–28 vs. No. 8 Florida+7No. 8 FloridaWon 48–20 vs. Western Kentucky+28Western KentuckyLost 16–30 at No. 7 Alabama-14No. 7 AlabamaLost 14–31 vs. Arkansas-17ArkansasLost 17–38 at No. 25 Ole Miss-21No. 25 Ole MissWon 19–7 vs. Texas A&M+12Texas A&MWon 56–27 vs. Texas Tech+29Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12at25Mississippi StateW 21–⁠19vacated39%
Sep 19vs18AuburnW 45–⁠21vacated54%
Sep 26atSyracuseW 34–⁠24vacated64%
Oct 3vsEastern MichiganW 44–⁠22vacated92%
Oct 10vsSouth CarolinaW 45–⁠24vacated71%
Oct 17vs8FloridaW 35–⁠28vacated57%
Oct 24vsWestern KentuckyW 48–⁠20vacated69%
Nov 7at7AlabamaL 16–⁠3031%
Nov 14vsArkansasL 14–⁠3172%
Nov 21at25Ole MissL 17–⁠3842%
Nov 28vsTexas A&MW 19–⁠7vacated58%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsTexas TechTexas BowlW 56–⁠27vacated65%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 56–⁠27 in the Texas Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 7
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 5
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 4
  11. Wk 11: 9
  12. Wk 12: 17
  13. Wk 14: 23
  14. Wk 15: 22
  15. Final: 16

Consensus All-AmericanLeonard Fournette, RB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 4
Points
394–⁠291
Coach
Les Miles
Elo
1673 +76 this season
SP+ rating
19.7 No. 10 of 128; offense No. 12, defense No. 33, special teams No. 56
SRS
15.2 No. 12 of 128 in FBS
Returning
79% of last season’s EPA, No. 33 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 5 roster talent No. 5 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Cam Cameron
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense9th of 128
  • Defense53rd of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted14th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted23rd of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2446%1.309th of 128
Defense0.0741%1.2553rd of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.22 off
0.01 def		45% off
38% def		—14th off
23rd 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
Offense3.9own 282% allowed
Defense3.5own 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 yardsBrandon Harris QB2,165 yds
Passing touchdownsBrandon Harris QB13 TD
Rushing yardsLeonard Fournette RB1,953 yds
Rushing touchdownsLeonard Fournette RB22 TD
Receiving yardsMalachi Dupre WR698 yds
Receiving touchdownsMalachi Dupre WR6 TD
InterceptionsJamal Adams S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Kevin Toliver II CB★★★★★No. 9
Tyron Johnson WR★★★★★No. 29
Maea Teuhema OG★★★★★No. 37
Derrius Guice RB★★★★No. 45
Donte Jackson ATH★★★★No. 50
Arden Key WDE★★★★No. 87
Toby Weathersby OT★★★★No. 103
Chidi Okeke OT★★★★No. 104

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.829
Running backs34.00.940
Receivers63.70.891
Offensive line44.00.941
Defensive line23.50.917
Defensive backs33.70.893
Athletes and specialists32.70.843
Whole class223.60.900

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 2Deion Jones OLBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 4Jerald Hawkins OTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Rashard Robinson CBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Jalen Mills SPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Vadal Alexander OGOakland Raiders

Roster 123

The 2015 roster

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

All-SEC

2 first team, 3 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.