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2014 Memphis

10–⁠3 (7–⁠1 American Athletic Conference), coached by Justin Fuente, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Memphis in 2014, game by game: won vs. Austin Peay 63–0; lost at No. 11 UCLA 35–42; won vs. Middle Tennessee 36–17; lost at No. 10 Ole Miss 3–24; won at Cincinnati 41–14; lost vs. Houston 24–28; won at SMU 48–10; won vs. Tulsa 40–20; won at Temple 16–13; won at Tulane 38–7; won vs. South Florida 31–20; won vs. UConn 41–10; won vs. BYU 55–48+63−21Won 63–0 vs. Austin Peay+63Austin PeayLost 35–42 at No. 11 UCLA-7No. 11 UCLAWon 36–17 vs. Middle Tennessee+19Middle TennesseeLost 3–24 at No. 10 Ole Miss-21No. 10 Ole MissWon 41–14 at Cincinnati+27CincinnatiLost 24–28 vs. Houston-4HoustonWon 48–10 at SMU+38SMUWon 40–20 vs. Tulsa+20TulsaWon 16–13 at Temple+3TempleWon 38–7 at Tulane+31TulaneWon 31–20 vs. South Florida+11South FloridaWon 41–10 vs. UConn+31UConnWon 55–48 vs. BYU+7BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsAustin PeayW 63–⁠080%
Sep 6at11UCLAL 35–⁠4216%
Sep 20vsMiddle TennesseeW 36–⁠1747%
Sep 27at10Ole MissL 3–⁠2418%
Oct 4atCincinnatiW 41–⁠1424%
Oct 11vsHoustonL 24–⁠2855%
Oct 25atSMUW 48–⁠1057%
Oct 31vsTulsaW 40–⁠2078%
Nov 7atTempleW 16–⁠1341%
Nov 15atTulaneW 38–⁠756%
Nov 22vsSouth FloridaW 31–⁠2083%
Nov 29vsUConnW 41–⁠1084%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvsBYUMiami Beach BowlW 55–⁠4846%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat BYU 55–⁠48 in the Miami Beach Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; American Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 84 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 25

American Athletic Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Cincinnati and UCF

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 25
Points
471–⁠253
Coach
Justin Fuente
Elo
1592 +199 this season
SP+ rating
5.6 No. 55 of 128; offense No. 79, defense No. 32, special teams No. 28
SRS
7.4 No. 35 of 128 in FBS
Returning
101% of last season’s EPA, No. 3 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 78
Offensive coordinator
Darrell Dickey
Defensive coordinator
Barry Odom
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense80th of 128
  • Defense16th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted85th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted34th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1042%1.1580th of 128
Defense0.0437%1.2416th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.12 off
0.10 def		40% off
40% def		—85th off
34th 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
Offense3.7own 352% allowed
Defense2.6own 262% 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 yardsPaxton Lynch QB3,031 yds
Passing touchdownsPaxton Lynch QB22 TD
Rushing yardsBrandon Hayes RB949 yds
Rushing touchdownsPaxton Lynch QB13 TD
Receiving yardsKeiwone Malone WR555 yds
Receiving touchdownsAlan Cross TE4 TD
InterceptionsBobby McCain DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Jarvis Cooper WDE★★★No. 710
Isadore Outing WDE★★★No. 1138
Roderick Proctor WR★★★No. 1524
Caleb Grant SDE★★★No. 1568
Trevon Tate OG★★★No. 1624

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers13.00.818
Offensive line32.70.794
Defensive line52.80.803
Linebackers12.00.778
Defensive backs22.50.753
Whole class122.70.792

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 5Bobby McCain CBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Martin Ifedi DESt. Louis Rams

Roster 104

The 2014 roster

104 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 35 have a stat line. See the roster

2014 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
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.