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
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
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:^[1]

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

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

References

^ "2015 Houston Cougars Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 1, 2015.

v t e Houston Cougars football
Venues	Robertson Stadium (1946–1950, 1998–2012) Rice Stadium (1950–1964) Houston Astrodome (1965–1997) Reliant Stadium (2013) BBVA Compass Stadium (2013) TDECU Stadium (2014–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Rice Texas Tech Tulsa
Culture & lore	Shasta "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston The Comeback Victory 2022 SMU game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e American Athletic Conference football champions
UCF (2013) Cincinnati, Memphis, & UCF (2014) Houston (2015) Temple (2016) UCF (2017) UCF (2018) Memphis (2019) Cincinnati (2020) Cincinnati (2021) Tulane (2022) SMU (2023)
National championships in bold