# 2015 Houston Cougars football team

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 StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN3 | W 52–24 | 30,479 |
| September 12 | 11:00 a.m. | at Louisville* | | Papa John's Cardinal StadiumLouisville, KY | ACCRSN | W 34–31 | 50,019 |
| September 26 | 7:00 p.m. | Texas State* | | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN3 | W 59–14 | 35,257 |
| October 3 | 11:00 a.m. | at Tulsa | | Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK (rivalry) | CBSSN | W 38–24 | 17,146 |
| October 8 | 7:00 p.m. | SMU | | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX (rivalry) | ESPN2 | W 49–28 | 25,204 |
| October 16 | 8:00 p.m. | at Tulane | No. 24 | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | ESPNU | W 42–7 | 21,522 |
| October 24 | 11:00 a.m. | at UCF | No. 21 | Bright House Networks StadiumOrlando, FL | ESPNews | W 59–10 | 28,350 |
| October 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Vanderbilt* | No. 18 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN2 | W 34–0 | 29,565 |
| November 7 | 2:30 p.m. | Cincinnati | No. 25 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN2 | W 33–30 | 32,889 |
| November 14 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 21 Memphis | No. 24 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN2 | W 35–34 | 42,159 |
| November 21 | 2:30 p.m. | at UConn | No. 19 | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | ESPNU | L 17–20 | 26,879 |
| November 27 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 15 Navy | | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX | ABC | W 52–31 | 40,562 |
| December 5 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 22 Temple | No. 19 | TDECU StadiumHouston, TX (The American Championship) | ABC | W 24–13 | 35,721 |
| December 31 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. No. 9 Florida State* | No. 18 | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA (Peach Bowl) | ESPN | W 38–24 | 71,007 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after November 3) - Released prior to gameAll 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 |

### 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 — = 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 | 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 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 25 | 24 | 19 | — | 19 | 18 | Not released |