2015 Houston Cougars football team

2015 Houston Cougars football
The American champion The American West Division co-champion Peach Bowl champion
The American Championship, W 24–13 vs. Temple
Peach Bowl, W 38–24 vs. Florida State
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
2015 record	13–1 (7–1 The American)
Head coach	Tom Herman (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Major Applewhite (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Todd Orlando (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	TDECU Stadium (Capacity: 40,000)
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Temple x		7	–	1					10	–	4
South Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Cincinnati		4	–	4					7	–	6
UConn		4	–	4					6	–	7
East Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
UCF		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
No. 8 Houston xy$		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
Memphis		5	–	3					9	–	4
Tulsa		3	–	5					6	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
SMU		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Houston 24, Temple 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of December 31, 2015; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 68th year of season play for Houston. The team was led by first-year head coach Tom Herman and played its home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston. The Houston Cougars football team is a member of the American Athletic Conference in its West Division. They finished the season 13–1, 7–1 in American Athletic play to win a share of the West Division title. Due to their head to head win over Navy, they represented the West Division in the inaugural American Athletic Championship Game where they defeated Temple to become American Athletic Conference champions. As the highest ranked team from the "Group of five", they received an automatic bid to a New Year's Six bowl. They were invited to the Peach Bowl where they defeated Florida State.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech*		TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 52–24	30,479
September 12	11:00 a.m.	at Louisville*		Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	W 34–31	50,019
September 26	7:00 p.m.	Texas State*		TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 59–14	35,257
October 3	11:00 a.m.	at Tulsa		Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK (rivalry)	CBSSN	W 38–24	17,146
October 8	7:00 p.m.	SMU		TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN2	W 49–28	25,204
October 16	8:00 p.m.	at Tulane	No. 24	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	W 42–7	21,522
October 24	11:00 a.m.	at UCF	No. 21	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	ESPNews	W 59–10	28,350
October 31	6:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt*	No. 18	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN2	W 34–0	29,565
November 7	2:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 25	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN2	W 33–30	32,889
November 14	6:00 p.m.	No. 21 Memphis	No. 24	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN2	W 35–34	42,159
November 21	2:30 p.m.	at UConn	No. 19	Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	ESPNU	L 17–20	26,879
November 27	11:00 a.m.	No. 15 Navy		TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ABC	W 52–31	40,562
December 5	11:00 a.m.	No. 22 Temple	No. 19	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX (The American Championship)	ABC	W 24–13	35,721
December 31	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 9 Florida State*	No. 18	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–24	71,007
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after November 3) - Released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[1]

Game summaries[]

Tennessee Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	3	7	0	14	24
Cougars	14	10	7	21	52

at Louisville[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	3	7	17	34
Cardinals	7	7	3	14	31

Texas State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	0	0	7	14
Cougars	14	28	10	7	59

at Tulsa[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	14	3	14	38
Golden Hurricane	10	0	7	7	24

SMU[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	14	7	0	7	28
Cougars	7	21	14	7	49

at Tulane[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Cougars	7	21	14	0	42
Green Wave	0	7	0	0	7

at UCF[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Cougars	7	17	28	7	59
Knights	7	3	0	0	10

Vanderbilt[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Commodores	0	0	0	0	0
#18 Cougars	7	13	14	0	34

Cincinnati[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	0	14	8	8	30
#18 Cougars	7	7	16	3	33

Memphis[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#25 Tigers	3	17	7	7	34
#16 Cougars	0	7	7	21	35

at UConn[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Cougars	0	3	0	14	17
Huskies	7	3	3	7	20

Navy[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Midshipmen	7	7	3	14	31
#21 Cougars	14	10	14	14	52

Temple (The American Championship)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Owls	0	3	7	3	13
#17 Cougars	7	10	7	0	24

vs. Florida State (Peach Bowl)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Cougars	7	14	0	17	38
#9 Seminoles	3	0	7	14	24

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	18	18	16	13	21	17	14	8
Coaches	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	19	18	16	14	21	18	16	8
CFP	Not released									25	24	19	NR	19	18	Not released

References[]