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2015 Northern Illinois

8–⁠6 (6–⁠2 Mid-American Conference), coached by Rod Carey.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 2015, game by game: won vs. UNLV 38–30; won vs. Murray State 57–26; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 13–20; lost at Boston College 14–17; lost at Central Michigan 19–29; won vs. Ball State 59–41; won at Miami (OH) 45–12; won vs. Eastern Michigan 49–21; won at No. 20 Toledo 32–27; won at Buffalo 41–30; won vs. Western Michigan 27–19; lost vs. Ohio 21–26; lost vs. Bowling Green 14–34; lost vs. Boise State 7–55+33−48Won 38–30 vs. UNLV+8UNLVWon 57–26 vs. Murray State+31Murray StateLost 13–20 at No. 1 Ohio State-7No. 1 Ohio StateLost 14–17 at Boston College-3Boston CollegeLost 19–29 at Central Michigan-10Central MichiganWon 59–41 vs. Ball State+18Ball StateWon 45–12 at Miami (OH)+33Miami (OH)Won 49–21 vs. Eastern Michigan+28Eastern MichiganWon 32–27 at No. 20 Toledo+5No. 20 ToledoWon 41–30 at Buffalo+11BuffaloWon 27–19 vs. Western Michigan+8Western MichiganLost 21–26 vs. Ohio-5OhioLost 14–34 vs. Bowling Green-20Bowling GreenLost 7–55 vs. Boise State-48Boise State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsUNLVW 38–⁠3083%
Sep 12vsMurray StateW 57–⁠2691%
Sep 19at1Ohio StateL 13–⁠2021%
Sep 26atBoston CollegeL 14–⁠1751%
Oct 3atCentral MichiganL 19–⁠2959%
Oct 10vsBall StateW 59–⁠4169%
Oct 17atMiami (OH)W 45–⁠1278%
Oct 24vsEastern MichiganW 49–⁠2189%
Nov 3at20ToledoW 32–⁠2734%
Nov 11atBuffaloW 41–⁠3062%
Nov 18vsWestern MichiganW 27–⁠1971%
Nov 24vsOhioL 21–⁠2679%
Dec 4vsBowling GreenMid-American Championship GameL 14–⁠3448%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvsBoise StatePoinsettia BowlL 7–⁠5544%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Boise State 55–⁠7 in the Poinsettia Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).

MAC West champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Toledo and Western Michigan

Record
8–⁠6
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
436–⁠387
Coach
Rod Carey
Elo
1545 −42 this season
SP+ rating
-0.9 No. 82 of 128; offense No. 86, defense No. 52, special teams No. 113
SRS
−0.1 No. 70 of 128 in FBS
Returning
72% of last season’s EPA, No. 47 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 83 roster talent No. 97 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Bob Cole
Defensive coordinator
Jay Niemann
Captains
Aidan Conlon, Paris Logan, Boomer Mays, Marlon Moore and Andrew Ness
Most valuable player
Kenny Golladay and Boomer Mays
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense81st of 128
  • Defense29th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted89th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0540%1.1981st of 128
Defense0.0143%0.9929th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.02 def		40% off
44% def		—89th off
32nd 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
Offense3.5own 312% allowed
Defense2.9own 333% 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 yardsDrew Hare QB1,962 yds
Passing touchdownsDrew Hare QB14 TD
Rushing yardsJoel Bouagnon 1,285 yds
Rushing touchdownsJoel Bouagnon 18 TD
Receiving yardsKenny Golladay WR1,129 yds
Receiving touchdownsKenny Golladay WR10 TD
InterceptionsShawun Lurry CB9 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Vincent Hughes OT★★★No. 1442
Kyle Pugh ILB★★★No. 1504
Nathan Veloz OG★★★No. 1539
Josh Corcoran ILB★★★No. 1637
Steven Lee WR★★★No. 1657

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.796
Running backs22.50.778
Receivers42.80.800
Offensive line62.50.791
Defensive line32.30.780
Linebackers62.50.791
Defensive backs72.30.779
Whole class292.40.788

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.

Roster 117

The 2015 roster

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

2015 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Bowling Green7–⁠110–⁠4
Toledo6–⁠210–⁠2
Western Michigan6–⁠28–⁠5
Northern Illinois6–⁠28–⁠6
Central Michigan6–⁠27–⁠6
Akron5–⁠38–⁠5
Ohio5–⁠38–⁠5
Buffalo3–⁠55–⁠7
Ball State2–⁠63–⁠9
Miami (OH)2–⁠63–⁠9
Kent State2–⁠63–⁠9
Massachusetts2–⁠63–⁠9
Eastern Michigan0–⁠81–⁠11

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