The 2015 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's campus in Gainesville, Florida. The 2015 season was their first under head coach Jim McElwain. The Gators finished a surprising 7–1 in the SEC regular season, earning a berth in the 2015 SEC Championship Game, but ended the season with an overall record of 10–4 after losses in the SEC championship and Citrus Bowl.
Team statistics Florida Opponents Scoring 318 215 Points per game 24.5 16.5 Points off turnovers 88 37 First downs 220 209 Rushing 88 81 Passing 116 88 Penalty 9 15 Rushing yards 1,659 1,568 Yards gained 2,076 2,063 Yards lost 417 495 Rushing attempts 483 462 Avg per rush 3.4 3.4 Avg per game 127.6 120.6 Touchdowns 19 10 Passing yards 2,744 2,272 Comp–Att–Int 219–380–8 211–394–14 Avg per pass 7.2 5.8 Avg per catch 12.5 10.8 Avg per game 211.1 174.8 Touchdowns 19 14 Total offensive yards 4,403 3,840 Total plays 863 856 Avg per play 5.1 4.5 Avg per game 338.7 295.4 Kick returns–yards 26–540 25–506 Avg yards 20.8 20.2 Punt returns–yards 32–446 32–118 Avg yards 13.9 3.7 Florida Opponents Int returns–yards 14–247 8–2 Avg yards 17.6 0.2 Fumbles–lost 18–7 24–11 Penalties–yards 84–671 66–476 Avg per game 51.6 36.6 Punts–yards 80–3,549 88–3,883 Avg per punt 44.4 44.1 Net punt avg 41.9 38.6 Kickoffs–yards 63–4,021 51–3,242 Avg per kick 63.8 63.6 Net kick avg 41.9 40.7 Time of possession/game 31:43 28:17 3rd down conversions 68/193 61/197 4th down conversions 14/25 12/20 Sacks by–yards 40–294 43–250 Misc yards 0 25 Touchdowns scored 43 25 Field goals–attempts 7–17 13–18 On-side kicks–recoveries 0–0 0–1 Red zone trips 48 32 Scores 33 25 Touchdowns 28 15 PAT–attempts 35–40 24–25 Attendance 630,457 314,664 Games/avg per game 7/90,065 4/78,666 Neutral site games 2/79,974
As of December 5, 2015
Schedule Florida announced their 2015 football schedule on October 14, 2014. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home games, 4 away games and 1 neutral game in the regular season. The Gators hosted SEC foes Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, and traveled to Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, and South Carolina. Florida had their 93rd meeting with Georgia in their annual neutral site rivalry game in Jacksonville, Florida.
The 2015 season was first season since the 2008 national championship season which Ole Miss returns to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium after an upset and the only Gator loss of the season. The Gators will host all four non-conference foes New Mexico State, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, and rival Florida State.
‡ New Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Attendance Record Schedule source:
Rankings
Game summaries
New Mexico State
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 1–0 September 3, 1994 Florida, 70–21
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Jim McElwain's tenure at Florida kicked off with a primetime game against the Sun Belt Conference's New Mexico State Aggies. The previous (and only other) Gators–Aggies encounter was in the 1994 season debut, where the no. 1 Gators opened the season with a commanding 70–21 victory over the Aggies. The Gators would finish that season 10–2–1 and capture a third SEC championship under Steve Spurrier. The 1994 Aggies would struggle to a 3–8 record.Florida all-time record vs. New Mexico State
On September 2, head coach Jim McElwain announced that sophomore Treon Harris would be the starting quarterback for the game, but also assured that redshirt freshman Will Grier would play quarterback at some point in the game.
The Gators' first drive of the season ended in a three-and-out. This was their only punt of the game, as the Gators scored on all but one of their succeeding drives—Will Grier lost a fumble behind the lin in the second quarter. Quarterbacks Treon Harris and Will Grier combined for 379 passing yards and five passing touchdowns in a promising display of offense, producing a total of 606 yards. Harris had more passing yards than Grier, although Grier did run for a touchdown in the second quarter. On the defensive side of the ball, the Gators defense held the Aggies to a mere 200 yards, allowing only a few big plays. Kicker Austin Hardin was 2/2 on field goals, and 7/8 on extra point kick attempts, as the Aggies were able to block the extra point attempt at the 0:24 mark of the second quarter. On the previous drive, the Gators blocked the Aggies' extra point kick attempt. The Gators were penalized only once for 10 yards, in contrast to the Gators' 59.2 penalty yards per game in 2014.
Jim McElwain broke a school record for points scored in a head coach's debut game, beating Ron Zook's 2002 record of 51 points against UAB.
East Carolina
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 2–0 January 3, 2015 Florida, 28–20
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The Gators face the Pirates a mere 8 months following their previous encounter at the 2015 Birmingham Bowl. The Gators and Pirates played a close first quarter in Birmingham, but the Gators regained their lead early in the second quarter, and added to it later on. The Pirates were not able to muster a sufficient response, and the Gators went on to win 28–20. The Gators and Pirates also played at Florida Field in 1983 as the no. 6 and undefeated Gators played a close game, winning 24–17 on Homecoming day. The Gators finished the 1983 season 9–2–1.Florida all-time record vs. East CarolinaHead coach Jim McElwain announced during the week that redshirt freshman Will Grier would get his first career college start, and Treon Harris would come off the bench. This is a script flip from last week, when Treon Harris got the start before Will Grier played for about half the game. Junior defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III suffered a leg injury at practice during the week, and would not dress for the game.
Much like their previous 2015 meeting at the Birmingham Bowl, East Carolina played a close game against the Gators, as the game had a total of four lead changes. In the first half, kicker Austin Hardin missed 2 field goals. After falling behind 10–14 early in the third quarter, Florida seemed to be pulling away as they led 31–17, however East Carolina would score a touchdown with 3:04 remaining in the game. On the ensuing possession, the Gators went three-and-out, and punted the ball back to East Carolina, who would get well into Florida territory before quarterback Blake Kemp fumbled a pass attempt, which was recovered by defensive end Alex McCalister, who would have scored had his teammate, Jarrad Davis, not tackled him. Florida was able to kneel to run off the final 12 seconds. Head coach Jim McElwain called the Gators' performance "embarrassing," not only speaking of the several missed opportunities to put points on the board, but also of the 12 penalties totaling 105 yards, including two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls following scores. McElwain added that his team "didn't deserve to win the game," and addressed the issue of being penalized 12 times, saying "this is not how it's going to be around here anymore." The 12 Florida penalties sharply contrast last week's season opener, where the Gators showed above average discipline, as they were penalized only once.
Kentucky
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 48–17 September 13, 2014 Florida, 36–30 3OT
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Florida traveled to Lexington for this year's edition of the annual intra-divisional series. Kentucky was hoping to avenge a victory against the Gators for the first time since November 15, 1986. In last year's primetime matchup, the Gators and Wildcats played a triple-overtime thriller under the lights at The Swamp. Kentucky scored a game-tying 51-yard field goal with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter. Florida later missed a game-winning field goal, and sent the game to overtime. Florida eventually scored the game-winning touchdown in the third overtime period, thus continuing Kentucky's losing streak against Florida. For the third consecutive game, Florida would plan on playing both Will Grier and Treon Harris during the game, and would place Grier in the starting position for the second consecutive game. Vernon Hargreaves was upgraded to questionable on Wednesday, and later listed as probable. Head coach Jim McElwain was hoping for gameplay resembling that of the season debut against New Mexico State, as Kentucky is coming off a 26–22 victory at South Carolina; McElwain says of Kentucky "This team we're playing is not your same old Kentucky ... These guys are really good."
The Gators played another tight game for the second straight year, holding a mere 7–3 lead through the first quarter. The Gators scored another touchdown in the second quarter to extend their lead to a comfortable 14–3. Florida could not score for the remainder of the game, however their defense was able to hold Kentucky's potent offense led by Patrick Towles, one of the SEC's top returning quarterbacks, to only two additional field goals, and intercepted a desperation pass on 4th & 27 to secure the result and kneel off the remaining time. Starting quarterback Will Grier played for the entire game, and was the team's top rusher with 61 yards. Treon Harris did warm up on the sideline when Grier's offense seemed to dwindle, but Jim McElwain asked if Grier could continue, which he affirmed. McElwain called his first SEC victory a "heck of a road win against a team that's going to win a lot of games in this league and is getting better and better."
With the victory, Florida extended their winning streak against Kentucky to 29 games, the nation's longest active win streak against an annual opponent. The all-time record is Notre Dame's 43-game winning streak against Navy from 1964 to 2006.
Tennessee
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 25–19 October 4, 2014 Florida, 10–9
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Jim McElwain would try to lead the Gators to an eleventh consecutive victory – the longest winning streak of the rivalry – against a promising Volunteer team, whose turnaround season last year – which culminated with their first bowl victory in six years – sparked a frenzy of high-prospect recruiting for this season. Last year's game saw a fourth quarter comeback by the Gators, resolving a 0–9 deficit in the fourth quarter.Florida all-time record vs. Tennessee During the week it was announced that Will Grier would make his third consecutive start. He would be expected to play the entire game due to Treon Harris being unavailable due to a one-game suspension. Josh Grady was promoted in the depth chart for this game in Harris's absence.