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2015 Mississippi State

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Dan Mullen.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2015, game by game: won at Southern Miss 34–16; lost vs. No. 14 LSU 19–21; won vs. Northwestern State 62–13; won at Auburn 17–9; lost at No. 14 Texas A&M 17–30; won vs. Troy 45–17; won vs. Louisiana Tech 45–20; won vs. Kentucky 42–16; won at Missouri 31–13; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 6–31; won at Arkansas 51–50; lost vs. No. 19 Ole Miss 27–38; won vs. NC State 51–28+49−25Won 34–16 at Southern Miss+18Southern MissLost 19–21 vs. No. 14 LSU-2No. 14 LSUWon 62–13 vs. Northwestern State+49Northwestern St…Won 17–9 at Auburn+8AuburnLost 17–30 at No. 14 Texas A&M-13No. 14 Texas A&MWon 45–17 vs. Troy+28TroyWon 45–20 vs. Louisiana Tech+25Louisiana TechWon 42–16 vs. Kentucky+26KentuckyWon 31–13 at Missouri+18MissouriLost 6–31 vs. No. 3 Alabama-25No. 3 AlabamaWon 51–50 at Arkansas+1ArkansasLost 27–38 vs. No. 19 Ole Miss-11No. 19 Ole MissWon 51–28 vs. NC State+23NC State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atSouthern MissW 34–⁠1677%
Sep 12vs14LSUL 19–⁠2161%
Sep 19vsNorthwestern StateW 62–⁠1389%
Sep 26atAuburnW 17–⁠943%
Oct 3at14Texas A&ML 17–⁠3039%
Oct 10vsTroyW 45–⁠1786%
Oct 17vsLouisiana TechW 45–⁠2063%
Oct 24vsKentuckyW 42–⁠1675%
Nov 5atMissouriW 31–⁠1354%
Nov 14vs3AlabamaL 6–⁠3141%
Nov 21atArkansasW 51–⁠5047%
Nov 28vs19Ole MissL 27–⁠3857%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsNC StateBelk BowlW 51–⁠2862%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat NC State 51–⁠28 in the Belk Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 25
  2. Wk 5: 21
  3. Wk 9: 25
  4. Wk 10: 24
  5. Wk 11: 20
  6. Wk 13: 23
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
447–⁠302
Coach
Dan Mullen
Elo
1669 +59 this season
SP+ rating
15.1 No. 21 of 128; offense No. 16, defense No. 42, special teams No. 103
SRS
14.9 No. 13 of 128 in FBS
Returning
74% of last season’s EPA, No. 42 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 18 roster talent No. 28 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy
Defensive coordinator
Manny Diaz
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense35th of 128
  • Defense58th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted20th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted39th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1547%1.1435th of 128
Defense0.0744%1.1358th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.18 off
0.03 def		48% off
42% def		—20th off
39th 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
Offense4.1own 291% allowed
Defense2.9own 293% 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 yardsDak Prescott QB3,793 yds
Passing touchdownsDak Prescott QB29 TD
Rushing yardsDak Prescott QB588 yds
Rushing touchdownsDak Prescott QB10 TD
Receiving yardsFred Ross WR1,007 yds
Receiving touchdownsDe’Runnya Wilson WR10 TD
InterceptionsBrandon Ladarius Bryant DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Jamal Peters S★★★★No. 58
Leo Lewis ILB★★★★No. 64
Fletcher Adams SDE★★★★No. 169
Malik Dear ATH★★★★No. 218
Nick Gibson RB★★★★No. 324

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.894
Receivers13.00.858
Offensive line13.00.834
Defensive line14.00.927
Linebackers23.50.928
Defensive backs14.00.973
Athletes and specialists23.50.894
Whole class93.60.903

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 2Chris Jones DTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 3Will Redmond CBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 4Dak Prescott QBDallas Cowboys

Roster 113

The 2015 roster

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

All-SEC

2 first team, 1 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.