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
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

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings

	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:

Game summaries

Tennessee Tech

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

See also: 2015 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

At Louisville

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

See also: 2015 Louisville Cardinals football team

Texas State

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

See also: 2015 Texas State Bobcats football team

At Tulsa

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

See also: 2015 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team and Houston–Tulsa football rivalry

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

See also: 2015 Tulane Green Wave football team

At UCF

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

See also: 2015 UCF Knights football team

Vanderbilt

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

See also: 2015 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

Cincinnati

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

See also: 2015 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

Memphis

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

See also: 2015 Memphis Tigers football team

At UConn

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

See also: 2015 UConn Huskies football team

Navy

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

See also: 2015 Navy Midshipmen football team

Temple (The American Championship)

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

See also: 2015 Temple Owls football team and 2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game

Vs. Florida State (Peach Bowl)

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

See also: 2015 Florida State Seminoles football team and 2015 Peach Bowl

Rankings

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

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