# 2015 Memphis Tigers football team

The 2015 Memphis Tigers football team represented the University of Memphis in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by fourth-year head coach Justin Fuente and played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The Tigers competed as a member of the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in American Athletic play to finish in third place in the West Division. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they lost to Auburn.
On October 17, the Tigers defeated Ole Miss which led them to a #18 ranking in polls after the Tigers began the season with an 8–0 record. Before they were defeated by Navy three weeks later, the Tigers were ranked as high as #13 in the polls, which was the highest ever ranking for the program in school history.
On November 29, head coach Justin Fuente resigned to become the head coach at Virginia Tech. He finished at Memphis with a four-year record of 26–23. The Tigers were led by interim head coach Darrell Dickey in the Birmingham Bowl.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 6:00 p.m. | Missouri State* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN3 | W 63–7 | 41,730 |
| September 12 | 6:00 p.m. | at Kansas* | | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | JTV/ESPN3 | W 55–23 | 37,798 |
| September 19 | 2:00 p.m. | at Bowling Green* | | Doyt Perry StadiumBowling Green, OH | ASN | W 44–41 | 21,178 |
| September 24 | 6:30 p.m. | Cincinnati | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN | W 53–46 | 45,172 |
| October 2 | 6:00 p.m. | at South Florida | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPN2 | W 24–17 | 22,546 |
| October 17 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 13 Ole Miss* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (rivalry) | ABC/ESPN2 | W 37–24 | 60,241 |
| October 23 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tulsa | No. 18 | Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | ESPN | W 66–42 | 20,216 |
| October 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Tulane | No. 16 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | CBSSN | W 41–13 | 30,381 |
| November 7 | 6:00 p.m. | Navy | No. 13 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN2 | L 20–45 | 55,212 |
| November 14 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 24 Houston | No. 21 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN2 | L 34–35 | 42,159 |
| November 21 | 11:00 a.m. | at Temple | No. 21 | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNU | L 12–31 | 31,708 |
| November 28 | 11:00 a.m. | SMU | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPNews | W 63–0 | 30,075 |
| December 30 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. Auburn* | | Legion FieldBirmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl) | ESPN | L 10–31 | 59,430 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 16 | 15 | 25 | RV | — | RV | RV | — |
| Coaches | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 25 | RV | — | RV | RV | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 13 | 21 | 21 | — | — | — | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Tigers | 28 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 63 |

### At Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 10 | 14 | 24 | 7 | 55 |
| Jayhawks | 10 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 23 |

### Bowling Green

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 10 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 44 |
| Falcons | 14 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 41 |

### Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bearcats | 10 | 20 | 3 | 13 | 46 |
| Tigers | 14 | 14 | 3 | 22 | 53 |

### At South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
| Bulls | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Ole Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Rebels | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Tigers | 7 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 37 |

### At Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18 Tigers | 14 | 21 | 17 | 14 | 66 |
| Golden Hurricane | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |

### Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Green Wave | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| #16 Tigers | 0 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 41 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Midshipmen | 7 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| #15 Tigers | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 |

### At Houston

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

### At Temple

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| Owls | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 31 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tigers | 28 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 63 |

### Vs. Auburn–Birmingham Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Auburn Tigers | 10 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Memphis Tigers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |