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2015 South Carolina

3–⁠9 (1–⁠7 Southeastern Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier, then Shawn Elliott (interim, remainder of season).

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2015, game by game: won vs. North Carolina 17–13; lost vs. Kentucky 22–26; lost at No. 7 Georgia 20–52; won vs. UCF 31–14; lost at Missouri 10–24; lost at No. 7 LSU 24–45; won vs. Vanderbilt 19–10; lost at Texas A&M 28–35; lost at Tennessee 24–27; lost vs. No. 11 Florida 14–24; lost vs. The Citadel 22–23; lost vs. No. 1 Clemson 32–37+17−32Won 17–13 vs. North Carolina+4North CarolinaLost 22–26 vs. Kentucky-4KentuckyLost 20–52 at No. 7 Georgia-32No. 7 GeorgiaWon 31–14 vs. UCF+17UCFLost 10–24 at Missouri-14MissouriLost 24–45 at No. 7 LSU-21No. 7 LSUWon 19–10 vs. Vanderbilt+9VanderbiltLost 28–35 at Texas A&M-7Texas A&MLost 24–27 at Tennessee-3TennesseeLost 14–24 vs. No. 11 Florida-10No. 11 FloridaLost 22–23 vs. The Citadel-1The CitadelLost 32–37 vs. No. 1 Clemson-5No. 1 Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsNorth CarolinaW 17–⁠1363%
Sep 12vsKentuckyL 22–⁠2673%
Sep 19at7GeorgiaL 20–⁠5229%
Sep 26vsUCFW 31–⁠1460%
Oct 3atMissouriL 10–⁠2434%
Oct 10at7LSUL 24–⁠4529%
Oct 17vsVanderbiltW 19–⁠1072%
Oct 31atTexas A&ML 28–⁠3533%
Nov 7atTennesseeL 24–⁠2735%
Nov 14vs11FloridaL 14–⁠2435%
Nov 21vsThe CitadelL 22–⁠2374%
Nov 28vs1ClemsonL 32–⁠3721%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 37–⁠32; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 13th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 46th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
3–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 13th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
263–⁠330
Coach
Steve Spurrier, then Shawn Elliott (interim, remainder of season)
Elo
1500 −88 this season
SP+ rating
3.4 No. 65 of 128; offense No. 53, defense No. 72, special teams No. 34
SRS
−1.2 No. 76 of 128 in FBS
Returning
35% of last season’s EPA, No. 112 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 20 roster talent No. 22 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
G.A. Mangus
Defensive coordinators
Lorenzo Ward and Jon Hoke
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense79th of 128
  • Defense99th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted57th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted91st of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0640%1.3179th of 128
Defense0.1547%1.1499th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.12 def		43% off
46% def		—57th off
91st 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
Offense3.4own 302% allowed
Defense4.0own 283% 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 yardsPerry Orth QB1,929 yds
Passing touchdownsPerry Orth QB12 TD
Rushing yardsBrandon Wilds 567 yds
Rushing touchdownsBrandon Wilds 3 TD
Receiving yardsPharoh Cooper WR973 yds
Receiving touchdownsPharoh Cooper WR8 TD
InterceptionsSkai Moore LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Shameik Blackshear WDE★★★★No. 147
Jalen Christian ATH★★★★No. 196
Zack Bailey OG★★★★No. 247
Octavis Johnson ATH★★★★No. 302
Sherrod Pittman OLB★★★★No. 310

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.887
Receivers23.00.876
Offensive line43.00.855
Defensive line14.00.934
Linebackers14.00.899
Athletes and specialists24.00.910
Whole class113.40.883

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 4Pharoh Cooper WRLos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Brandon Shell OTNew York Jets
Rd 6Jerell Adams TENew York Giants

Roster 111

The 2015 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 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.