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2015 Nebraska

6–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Mike Riley.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 2015, game by game: lost vs. BYU 28–33; won vs. South Alabama 48–9; lost at Miami 33–36; won vs. Southern Miss 36–28; lost at Illinois 13–14; lost vs. Wisconsin 21–23; won at Minnesota 48–25; lost vs. Northwestern 28–30; lost at Purdue 45–55; won vs. No. 6 Michigan State 39–38; won at Rutgers 31–14; lost vs. No. 3 Iowa 20–28; won vs. UCLA 37–29+39−10Lost 28–33 vs. BYU-5BYUWon 48–9 vs. South Alabama+39South AlabamaLost 33–36 at Miami-3MiamiWon 36–28 vs. Southern Miss+8Southern MissLost 13–14 at Illinois-1IllinoisLost 21–23 vs. Wisconsin-2WisconsinWon 48–25 at Minnesota+23MinnesotaLost 28–30 vs. Northwestern-2NorthwesternLost 45–55 at Purdue-10PurdueWon 39–38 vs. No. 6 Michigan State+1No. 6 Michigan StateWon 31–14 at Rutgers+17RutgersLost 20–28 vs. No. 3 Iowa-8No. 3 IowaWon 37–29 vs. UCLA+8UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsBYUL 28–⁠3363%
Sep 12vsSouth AlabamaW 48–⁠973%
Sep 19atMiamiL 33–⁠3645%
Sep 26vsSouthern MissW 36–⁠2881%
Oct 3atIllinoisL 13–⁠1457%
Oct 10vsWisconsinL 21–⁠2350%
Oct 17atMinnesotaW 48–⁠2542%
Oct 24vsNorthwesternL 28–⁠3066%
Oct 31atPurdueL 45–⁠5575%
Nov 7vs6Michigan StateW 39–⁠3829%
Nov 14atRutgersW 31–⁠1455%
Nov 27vs3IowaL 20–⁠2842%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsUCLAFoster Farms BowlW 37–⁠2938%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCLA 37–⁠29 in the Foster Farms Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 80th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

Record
6–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
427–⁠362
Coach
Mike Riley
Elo
1592 +0 this season
SP+ rating
11.1 No. 33 of 128; offense No. 33, defense No. 48, special teams No. 34
SRS
6.7 No. 41 of 128 in FBS
Returning
64% of last season’s EPA, No. 61 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 30 roster talent No. 24 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Danny Langsdorf
Defensive coordinator
Mark Banker
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense42nd of 128
  • Defense64th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted36th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted73rd of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1345%1.2642nd of 128
Defense0.0939%1.3964th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.15 off
0.10 def		45% off
40% def		—36th off
73rd 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 313% allowed
Defense3.7own 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 yardsTommy Armstrong Jr. QB3,030 yds
Passing touchdownsTommy Armstrong Jr. QB22 TD
Rushing yardsTerrell Newby RB765 yds
Rushing touchdownsTommy Armstrong Jr. QB7 TD
Receiving yardsJordan Westerkamp WR918 yds
Receiving touchdownsJordan Westerkamp WR7 TD
InterceptionsNathan Gerry S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Eric Lee CB★★★★No. 126
Jalin Barnett OG★★★★No. 188
Jordan Stevenson RB★★★★No. 203
Avery Anderson ATH★★★★No. 318
Carlos Davis SDE★★★★No. 346

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.919
Receivers13.00.886
Offensive line33.30.884
Defensive line33.30.858
Linebackers13.00.834
Defensive backs23.50.873
Athletes and specialists23.00.822
Whole class133.30.866

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 3Maliek Collins DTDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Vincent Valentine DTNew England Patriots
Rd 4Alex Lewis OTBaltimore Ravens
Rd 6Andy Janovich FBDenver Broncos

Roster 128

The 2015 roster

128 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 4 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 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa8–⁠012–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠14
Michigan State7–⁠112–⁠26
Northwestern6–⁠210–⁠323
Wisconsin6–⁠210–⁠321
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Nebraska3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠74–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠73–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠10

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