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2015 Tennessee

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Butch Jones, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2015, game by game: won vs. Bowling Green 59–30; lost vs. No. 19 Oklahoma 24–31; won vs. Western Carolina 55–10; lost at Florida 27–28; lost vs. Arkansas 20–24; won vs. No. 19 Georgia 38–31; lost at No. 8 Alabama 14–19; won at Kentucky 52–21; won vs. South Carolina 27–24; won vs. North Texas 24–0; won at Missouri 19–8; won vs. Vanderbilt 53–28; won vs. No. 12 Northwestern 45–6+45−7Won 59–30 vs. Bowling Green+29Bowling GreenLost 24–31 vs. No. 19 Oklahoma-7No. 19 OklahomaWon 55–10 vs. Western Carolina+45Western CarolinaLost 27–28 at Florida-1FloridaLost 20–24 vs. Arkansas-4ArkansasWon 38–31 vs. No. 19 Georgia+7No. 19 GeorgiaLost 14–19 at No. 8 Alabama-5No. 8 AlabamaWon 52–21 at Kentucky+31KentuckyWon 27–24 vs. South Carolina+3South CarolinaWon 24–0 vs. North Texas+24North TexasWon 19–8 at Missouri+11MissouriWon 53–28 vs. Vanderbilt+25VanderbiltWon 45–6 vs. No. 12 Northwestern+39No. 12 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsBowling GreenW 59–⁠3059%
Sep 12vs19OklahomaL 24–⁠3154%
Sep 19vsWestern CarolinaW 55–⁠1087%
Sep 26atFloridaL 27–⁠2837%
Oct 3vsArkansasL 20–⁠2463%
Oct 10vs19GeorgiaW 38–⁠3141%
Oct 24at8AlabamaL 14–⁠1917%
Oct 31atKentuckyW 52–⁠2152%
Nov 7vsSouth CarolinaW 27–⁠2465%
Nov 14vsNorth TexasW 24–⁠090%
Nov 21atMissouriW 19–⁠848%
Nov 28vsVanderbiltW 53–⁠2882%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12NorthwesternOutback BowlW 45–⁠655%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 45–⁠6 in the Outback Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 38th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 2: 23
  3. Final: 22

Led the nationEvan Berry: kickoff return average (38.3)

Consensus All-AmericanEvan Berry, APB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 22
Points
457–⁠260
Coach
Butch Jones
Elo
1683 +124 this season
SP+ rating
19.5 No. 12 of 128; offense No. 30, defense No. 13, special teams No. 17
SRS
16.1 No. 8 of 128 in FBS
Returning
91% of last season’s EPA, No. 9 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 4 roster talent No. 12 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mike DeBord
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense39th of 128
  • Defense51st of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted18th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted47th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1444%1.2239th of 128
Defense0.0638%1.2351st of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.19 off
0.05 def		45% off
38% def		—18th off
47th 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 331% allowed
Defense3.0own 252% 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 yardsJoshua Dobbs QB2,291 yds
Passing touchdownsJoshua Dobbs QB15 TD
Rushing yardsJalen Hurd RB1,288 yds
Rushing touchdownsJalen Hurd RB12 TD
Receiving yardsVon Pearson WR409 yds
Receiving touchdownsAlvin Kamara RB3 TD
InterceptionsTodd Kelly Jr. DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Kahlil McKenzie DT★★★★★No. 6
Kyle Phillips SDE★★★★★No. 36
Preston Williams WR★★★★No. 47
Shy Tuttle DT★★★★No. 55
Drew Richmond OT★★★★No. 56
Jack Jones OT★★★★No. 131
Darrin Kirkland Jr. ILB★★★★No. 160
Jauan Jennings DUAL★★★★No. 165

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks43.50.871
Running backs12.00.793
Receivers23.00.877
Offensive line33.70.934
Defensive line64.20.940
Linebackers33.30.867
Defensive backs32.70.825
Athletes and specialists22.50.785
Whole class243.40.880

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 122

The 2015 roster

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

All-SEC

2 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 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.