# 2015 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 2015 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Midshipmen were led by eighth-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo and played their home games at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen competed as a member of the Western Division of the American Athletic Conference, and were first year members of the conference. In their entire football history, this was the first season that Navy did not compete as an Independent. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in American Athletic play to finish in a tie for the Western Division title with Houston. However, due to their head-to-head loss to Houston, they did not represent the Western Division in the American Championship. They were invited to the Military Bowl where they defeated Pittsburgh.

## Before the season
### Spring practices

Navy held spring practices during March and April 2015.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 12:00 p.m. | Colgate* | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSSN | W 48–10 | 28,015 |
| September 19 | 3:30 p.m. | East Carolina | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSSN | W 45–21 | 34,717 |
| September 26 | 12:00 p.m. | at UConn | | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | CBSSN | W 28–18 | 33,204 |
| October 3 | 3:30 p.m. | Air Force* | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) | CBSSN | W 33–11 | 32,705 |
| October 10 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Notre Dame* | | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | NBC | L 24–41 | 80,795 |
| October 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Tulane | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSSN | W 31–14 | 32,033 |
| October 31 | 12:00 p.m. | South Florida | | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSSN | W 29–17 | 26,766 |
| November 7 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 13 Memphis | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN2 | W 45–20 | 55,212 |
| November 14 | 3:30 p.m. | SMU | No. 20 | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD (Gansz Trophy) | CBSSN | W 55–14 | 35,778 |
| November 21 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tulsa | No. 16 | Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | CBSSN | W 44–21 | 22,749 |
| November 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at Houston | No. 15 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ABC | L 31–52 | 40,562 |
| December 12 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. Army* | No. 21 | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game, College GameDay) | CBS | W 21–17 | 69,722 |
| December 28 | 2:30 p.m. | Pittsburgh* | No. 21 | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD (Military Bowl) | ESPN | W 44–28 | 36,352 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Note: Navy is ranked for the first time since their 2004 season. (Ranked 24 in AP poll)
The Midshipmen have been nationally ranked for four consecutive weeks, making it the first time this has happened since 1978.
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 | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | 22 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 21 | 18 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 18 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | 20 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 21 | Not released |

## Roster
### Depth chart

The following players comprised the team's Depth chart prior to the 2014 Poinsettia Bowl:
Defense :
* FS
* Lorentez Barbour
* Justin Norton
* Randy Beggs
| RAID | SAM | MIKE | SLB |
| D.J. Palmore | Daniel Gonzales | Micah Thomas | ⋅ |
| A.K. Akpunku | Ryan Harris | Myles Davenport | ⋅ |
| Kevin McCoy | Winn Howard | Tyler Goble | ⋅ |
* ROV
* CB
* Brendon Clements
* Elijah Merchant
* Cameron Bryant
| DE | NT | DE |
| Will Anthony | Benard Sarra | Amos Mason |
| Michael Raiford | Patrick Forrestal | Nnamdi Uzoma |
| Sean Spencer | Trenton Noller | Jarvis Polu |
* CB
* Quincy Adams
* Sean Williams
* Kyle Battle
Offense :
* WR
* Jamir Tillman
* Brandon Colon
* Chad Lewellyn
* SB
* Demond Brown
* Dishan Romine
* Joshua Walker
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Joey Gaston | E.K. Binns | Brandon Greene | Ben Tamburello | Robert Lindsey |
| Andrew Wood | Adam West | Maurice Morris | Evan Martin | Blake Copeland |
| John Ferguson | Alex Brown | Parker Wade | Jeremiah Robbins | Adam Amosa |
* SB
* DeBrandon Sanders
* Calvin Cass Jr.
* Toneo Gulley
* WR
* Thomas Wilson
* Craig Scott
* Marc Meier
* QB
* Keenan Reynolds
* Tago Smith
* Will Worth
* FB
* Chris Swain
* Quinton Ezell
* Shawn White
* Special teams
* PK Austin Grebe
* PK Nick Sloan
* P Alex Barta
* P Gavin Jernigan
* KR Demond Brown
* PR DeBrandon Sanders
* LS Josh Antol
* H Will Worth

## Game summaries
### Colgate

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colgate | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Navy | 10 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 48 |

### East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| East Carolina | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Navy | 7 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 45 |

### At UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Navy | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| UConn | 3 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 18 |

### Air Force

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Air Force | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| • Navy | 7 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 33 |

### At Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Navy | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
| • #15 Notre Dame | 7 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 41 |

### Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tulane | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Navy | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |

### South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| South Florida | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| • Navy | 3 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 29 |

### At Memphis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Navy | 7 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| Memphis | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| SMU | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Navy | 14 | 14 | 6 | 21 | 55 |
On Senior Day, Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds reached the end zone for the 78th time to set the NCAA record for career rushing touchdowns, surpassing University of Wisconsin's Montee Ball who amassed 77 touchdowns during the 2009–2012 seasons. Number 78 came quickly on a 4-yard run on Navy's opening drive. Reynolds then scored three more rushing touchdowns to boost his career total to 81, leading his #20 ranked team past SMU. The Midshipmen racked up 403 yards rushing, reaching a season high in total points. With this win, they also remain undefeated in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

### At Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Navy | 7 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 44 |
| Tulsa | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
The Navy offense racked up a total of 512 yards on the ground, while quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran for 81 yards with a rushing touchdown in the Midshipmen win over Tulsa with a score of 44-21. Reynolds also threw for a touchdown to become Navy's all-time leading rusher with 4,195 yards, breaking fellow Midshipmen Napoleon McCallum's record of 4,179 yards.

### At Houston

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Navy | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
| • Houston | 14 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 52 |
Despite the American Athletic Conference west division title loss, Navy Midshipmen quarterback and Heisman Trophy contender Keenan Reynolds tied the Navy record for passing touchdowns with 29. Reynolds also tied Wisconsin's Montee Ball for the most touchdowns with 83 in FBS history.

### Vs. Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Navy | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Army | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### Vs. Pittsburgh (Military Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pittsburgh | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| • Navy | 14 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 44 |
With this win, the Midshipmen ended the season 11-2, the first time in 135 years of school football history. Senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds scored four touchdowns: one touchdown pass and three rushing, becoming the NCAA career leader with 88 touchdowns and scoring a total of 530 points. Meanwhile, senior fullback Chris Swain rushed for a career 1,000 yards. The senior class picked up their 36th win, which tied the Midshipmen class of 1909.