2015 LSU Tigers football team

2015 LSU Tigers football
Texas Bowl champion
Texas Bowl, W 56–27 vs. Texas Tech
Conference Southeastern Conference
Division Western Division
Ranking
Coaches No. 17
AP No. 16
2015 record 9–3 (5–3 SEC)
Head coach Les Miles (11th season)
Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron (3rd season)
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (1st season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Tiger Stadium
(Capacity: 102,321)
2015 SEC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 25 Florida x  7 –1     10 –4  
No. 22 Tennessee  5 –3     9 –4  
Georgia  5 –3     10 –3  
Vanderbilt  2 –6     4 –8  
Kentucky  2 –6     5 –7  
Missouri  1 –7     5 –7  
South Carolina  1 –7     3 –9  
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#^  7 –1     14 –1  
No. 10 Ole Miss  6 –2     10 –3  
Arkansas  5 –3     8 –5  
No. 16 LSU  5 –3     9 –3  
Texas A&M  4 –4     8 –5  
Mississippi State  4 –4     9 –4  
Auburn  2 –6     7 –6  
Championship: Alabama 29, Florida 15
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They played their home games at Tiger Stadium, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by 11th-year head coach Les Miles. They finished the season 9–3, 5–3 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place in the Western Division. They were invited to the Texas Bowl where they defeated Texas Tech.

Previous season and offseason

The 2014 LSU Tigers football team finished the season 8–5 (4–4 in SEC) with a loss to Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl, 31–28. The Tigers won all four non-conference games including the Big-Ten runner-up Wisconsin Badgers, and four SEC games against Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. LSU suffered its first loss of the season at home against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the first loss to the Bulldogs since 1999 and first loss to the Bulldogs at home since 1991.

The previous season was one of the worst for LSU under Les Miles, matching the record of the 2008 LSU Tigers football team. The team did manage to sign the consensus #2 recruiting class in the country, including top rated recruits Leonard Fournette, Malachi Dupre, and Brandon Harris, all who made contributions during the season. After the bowl game, Defensive Coordinator John Chavis announced he was leaving LSU for the same position at Texas A&M. LSU hired former Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele to fill the position, and subsequently hired former Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron to coach the defensive line.[1][2] Former defensive line coach and ace recruiter Brick Haley was demoted to an administrative position and will likely not return to the coaching staff.

LSU lost only three underclassmen to the NFL in the offseason: linebacker Kwon Alexander, cornerback Jalen Collins and defensive end Danielle Hunter; this was a large decrease compared to losing 11 underclassmen in 2012 and 7 in 2013.[3] On January 16 Les Miles held a press conference announcing that six underclassmen starters would return, including leading receiver Travin Dural and star defensive back Jalen Mills, as well as offensive linemen Vadal Alexander and Jerald Hawkins, tight end Dillon Gordon, and linebacker Lamar Louis.[4]

For the third consecutive season, LSU signed a top-ten recruiting class consisting of 25 signees, highlighted by top-rated recruits Kevin Toliver II, Arden Key, Tyron Johnson, and Donte Jackson.[5] While not as acclaimed as the previous season's consensus #2 ranked class, the class was ranked #10 by ESPN, #8 by rivals.com, and #5 by 24/7 sports.

Players drafted

RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Team
242 Jalen CollinsDefensive backAtlanta Falcons
388 Danielle HunterDefensive linemanMinnesota Vikings
4124 Kwon AlexanderLinebackerTampa Bay Buccaneers
7235 Kenny HilliardRunning backHouston Texans
Reference:[6]

Class of 2015 signees

Coaching staff

NamePositionSeasons at
LSU		Alma Mater
Les MilesHead coach11Michigan (1976)
Frank WilsonRunning backs/Recruiting coordinator6Nicholls State (1997)
Bradley Dale PevetoSpecial teams/ Defensive Assistiant6Southern Methodist (1987)
Cam CameronOffensive coordinator/Quarterbacks3Indiana (1983)
Jeff GrimesOffensive line/Running Game Coordinator2Texas – El Paso (1991)
Kevin SteeleDefensive coordinator1Tennessee (1979)
Steve EnsmingerTight ends6LSU (1982)
Corey RaymondDefensive backs3LSU (1992)
Ed OrgeronDefensive line1Northwestern State (1984)
Tony BallWide receivers1UT-Chattanooga (1983)
Reference:[7]

Depth chart

The official opening day depth chart was released on August 31, 2015.[8]

Schedule

LSU announced their 2015 football schedule on October 14, 2014. The 2015 schedule consists of 7 home games and 5 away games in the regular season. The Tigers will host SEC foes Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M, and will travel to Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and South Carolina.[9] The Tigers planned to open the 2015 season against the McNeese State Cowboys at home on September 5, however, several lightning delays caused the game to be cancelled. As a result, LSU will play a schedule of 11 regular season games for 2015. The Tigers officially opened their season on the road against conference and division rival Mississippi State on September 12. The other non-conference games on LSU's schedule are against Eastern Michigan, Syracuse, and WKU. This season will consist of the first meeting against the Syracuse Orange since the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl where the Orange defeated the Tigers 23–10. Because of massive flooding to the Columbia, South Carolina area, both schools agreed to play the October 10th matchup at Tiger Stadium, while still treating it as a home game for South Carolina.

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 5 6:30 p.m. No. 25 (FCS) McNeese State* No. 14 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana SECN Canceled[a]
September 12 8:15 p.m. at No. 25 Mississippi State No. 14 Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi (Rivalry) ESPN W 21–19   62,531
September 19 2:30 p.m. No. 18 Auburn No. 13 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Tiger Bowl) CBS W 45–21   102,321
September 26 11:00 a.m. at Syracuse* No. 8 Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York ESPN W 34–24   43,101
October 3 6:00 p.m. Eastern Michigan* No. 9 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana ESPNU W 44–22   102,321
October 10 2:30 p.m. at South Carolina No. 7 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana[b] ESPN W 45–24   42,058
October 17 6:00 p.m. No. 8 Florida No. 6 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Rivalry) ESPN W 35–28   102,321
October 24 6:00 p.m. WKU*dagger No. 5 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana ESPNU W 48–20   101,561
November 7 7:00 p.m. at No. 4 Alabama No. 2 Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Rivalry) CBS L 16–30   101,821
November 14 6:15 p.m. Arkansas No. 9 Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Golden Boot) ESPN L 14–31   101,699
November 21 2:30 p.m. at No. 22 Ole Miss No. 15 Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi (Magnolia Bowl) CBS L 17–38   60,705
November 28 6:30 p.m. Texas A&M Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Rivalry) SECN W 19–7   101,803
December 29 8:00 p.m. vs. Texas Tech* No. 20 NRG Stadium • Houston (Texas Bowl) ESPN W 56–27   71,054
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.
^[a] The game between LSU and McNeese State was canceled due to inclement weather. The game was delayed due to lightning after 5 minutes of play during which each team held the ball for one drive and no one scored. Both schools' athletic directors decided not to reschedule the game, thus declaring it a "no contest". LSU did agree to pay McNeese State its promised fee of $500,000.
^[b] The game between LSU and South Carolina was originally scheduled to take place in Columbia, South Carolina. However, in light of massive flooding in Columbia earlier in the week, the game was moved to Baton Rouge.[10]
Schedule Source:[11]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 14 14 13 8 (1) 9 7 6 5 (1) 4 (5) 4 (5) 9 17 RV 23 22 16 
Coaches 13 15 14 9 8 5 (1) 5 (1) 5 (1) 4 (1) 4 (1) 9 17 RV 23 21 17 
CFP Not released 2 9 15 NR 21 20 Not released

References

  1. ↑ Scarborough, Alex (January 13, 2015). "LSU Hires Kevin Steele as DC". ESPN. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Scarborough, Alex (January 13, 2015). "Ex-USC Trojans Interim Coach Ed Orgeron Hired as LSU Defensive Line Coach". ESPN. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ching, David (January 22, 2015). "Smaller Draft Hit Should Help LSU in 2015". ESPN. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ivy, Joshua (January 17, 2015). "Six Starters Returning in 2015". Fansided. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ "LSU recruiting class". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Football – 2015 NFL Draft". National Football League. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Football – 2015 Coaches". Louisiana State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ "LSU's Depth Chart: Week 1". 247 Sports. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ "LSU Announces 2015 Football Schedule" (Press release). Louisiana State University Department of Athletics. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Football Game Moved to Baton Rouge". University of South Carolina Department of Athletics. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  11. ↑ "2015 LSU Tigers Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
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