2015 Louisville Cardinals football team

2015 Louisville Cardinals football
2015 Louisville Cardinals football
Music City Bowl champion
Music City Bowl, W 27–21 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
	Atlantic Division
Record	8–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach	Bobby Petrino (6th season);
Offensive coordinator	Garrick McGee (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Todd Grantham (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
	Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Petrino, who began his second stint at Louisville in 2014 season after eight years away. The team played its 18th season at its current home of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the Atlantic Division. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Music City Bowl where they defeated Texas A&M.

2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 2 Clemson x$^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 14 Florida State	6	–	2	10	–	3
Louisville	5	–	3	8	–	5
NC State	3	–	5	7	–	6
Syracuse	2	–	6	4	–	8
Wake Forest	1	–	7	3	–	9
Boston College	0	–	8	3	–	9
Coastal Division
No. 15 North Carolina x	8	–	0	11	–	3
Pittsburgh	6	–	2	8	–	5
Miami (FL)	5	–	3	8	–	5
Duke	4	–	4	8	–	5
Virginia Tech	4	–	4	7	–	6
Virginia	3	–	5	4	–	8
Georgia Tech	1	–	7	3	–	9
Championship: Clemson 45, North Carolina 37
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Personnel edit

Coaching staff edit

Name	Position	Seasons at Louisville	Alma Mater	Before Louisville
Bobby Petrino	Head coach	6	Carroll College (1983)	Western Kentucky – Head coach (2014)
Garrick McGee	Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach / assistant head coach	2	Oklahoma (1996)	UAB – Head coach (2013)
Todd Grantham	Defensive coordinator / outside linebackers coach	2	Virginia Tech (1988)	Georgia – Defensive coordinator (2013)
Greg Brown	Safeties Coach / recruiting coordinator	2	UTEP (1980)	Alabama – Safeties Coach (2013)
Terrell Buckley	Cornerbacks coach	2	Florida State (1991)	Akron – Cornerbacks Coach (2013)
Tony Grantham	Inside linebackers coach / special teams coordinator	2	Radford (2000)	Navy – Outside linebackers coach (2013)
Chris Klenakis	Offensive line coach / running game coordinator	2	Nevada (1992)	Iowa State – Offensive line coach (2013)
L.D. Scott	Defensive line coach	2	Louisville (2009)	Western Kentucky – Defensive ends coach (2013)
Kolby Smith	Running backs coach	2	Louisville (2006)	Western Kentucky – Running backs coach (2013)
Lamar Thomas	Wide receivers coach	2	Miami (1992)	Western Kentucky – Wide receivers coach (2013)
Joe Miday	Director of strength and conditioning	1	Marshall (2008)	Western Kentucky – Director of strength and conditioning (2013)
Scott Wilks	Assistant director of strength and conditioning	2	Marshall (2009)	Western Kentucky – Assistant director of strength and conditioning (2013)
Andrew Wagner	Director of football operations	2	Butler (1999)	Western Kentucky – Director of football operations (2013)

Roster edit

2015 Louisville Cardinals Football

Quarterbacks

7 Reggie Bonnafon – sophomore (6'3, 209)
8 Lamar Jackson – freshman (6'3, 196) *
11 Will Gardner – junior (6'5, 220)
13 Ethan Horton – sophomore (6'0, 208)
14 Kyle Bolin – sophomore (6'2, 208)

Running backs

4 Corvin Lamb – senior (5'9, 208)
12 Trey Smith – freshman (6'0, 215) *
23 Brandon Radcliff – junior (5'9, 214)
27 L. J. Scott – sophomore (6'0, 226)
31 Mitchell Allen – freshman (5'9, 191) *
31 Darius Skinner – senior (5'7, 190)
33 Malin Jones – junior (6'0, 225)
34 Jeremy Smith – sophomore (6'2, 225) *

Fullbacks

37 Conner Kronk – sophomore (5'11, 220)
39 Griffin Uhl – junior (6'2, 264)

Wide receivers

1 Alphonso Carter – sophomore (6'3, 205)
2 Jamari Staples – junior (6'4, 195) *
3 Pat Thomas – junior (6'4, 190)
9 Traveon Samuel – freshman (5'7, 175)
17 James Quick – junior (6'1, 191)
19 Ja'Quay Savage – senior (6'3, 214)
26 Jalen Washington – freshman (5'7, 177)
38 Chris Miele – sophomore (6'2, 190)
81 Emonee Spence – freshman (6'3, 194) *
82 Dontez Byrd – sophomore (5'11, 170)
84 Gio Pascascio – junior (6'3, 185)
85 Cody Swabek – freshman (6'1, 168)
86 Devonte Peete – freshman (6'6, 203) *
87 Jaylen Smith – freshman (6'4, 184) *
88 Javonte Bagley – sophomore (6'3, 192)

Tight ends

18 Cole Hikutini – junior (6'5, 240) *
42 Tyler Polston – sophomore (6'2, 240)
44 Paul Logsdon – sophomore (6'3, 210)
80 Charles Standberry – sophomore (6'3, 226)
83 Micky Crum – freshman (6'4, 257)
89 Keith Towbridge – junior (6'5, 261)

Offensive linemen

50 Khalil Hunter – junior (6'4, 300) *
54 Kevin Austin – sophomore (6'3, 307)
56 Kiola Mahoni – sophomore (6'3, 300) *
60 Tyler Haycraft – freshman (6'3, 269)
61 Tobijah Hughley – junior (6'3, 289)
62 T.C. Klusman – junior (6'3, 275)
63 Nathan Scheler – freshman (6'1, 270)
64 Gabe Ahner – junior (6'3, 289)
65 Luke Schultheiss – sophomore (6'1, 284)
68 Danny Burns – freshman (6'6, 303)
70 Toriano Roundtree – sophomore (6'8, 305)
71 Chandler Jones – freshman (6'4, 300) *
72 Lukayus McNeil – freshman (6'6, 313)
73 Pedro Sibiea – junior (6'3, 300)
74 Geron Christian – freshman (6'6, 320) *
75 Skylar Lacy – sophomore (6'6, 306)
76 Kelby Johnson – senior (6'7, 297)
78 Aaron Epps – senior (6'7, 288)
79 Kenny Thomas Jr. – freshman (6'6, 320)

Defensive line

14 Drew Bailey – junior (6'5, 285) *
44 Pio Vatuvei – DE – senior (6'2, 296)
59 Aaron Ahner – DT – senior (6'3, 275)
90 Johnny Richardson – DE – sophomore (6'3, 322)
94 G.G. Robinson – DT – freshman (6'4, 290) *
95 Kyle Shortridge – DT – sophomore (6'2, 305)
97 DeAngelo Brown – DT – junior (6'1, 308)
98 Sheldon Rankins – DE – senior (6'2, 303)

Kickers

32 Blaton Creque – freshman (5'11, 170)
35 Anthony George – junior (6'1, 190)
47 Jon Brown – sophomore (5'10, 202)

Long snappers

46 Brendan Lowery – freshman (5'11, 205)
49 Colin Holba – junior (6'5, 233)

Punters

29 Mason King – freshman (6'3, 175)
40 Joshua Appleby – senior (6'3, 222)
45 John Wallace – senior (6'0, 190)

Linebackers

1 Keith Brown – junior (6'1, 237)
13 James Burgess – senior (6'0, 229)
32 Stacy Thomas – sophomore (6'1, 225)
42 Isaac Stewart – freshman (6'2, 236)
43 Damien Smith – freshman (6'1, 215)
46 Lamar Atkins – junior (5'11, 236)
48 Tim Bonner – freshman (6'4, 215) *
51 Royce Donovan – junior (6'2, 224)
52 Nick Dawson-Brents – junior (6'3, 265)
53 Amonte Caban – freshman (6'1, 226) *
55 Keith Kelsey – junior (6'1, 236)
57 Finesse Middleton – sophomore (6'0, 242)
58 Jonathan Greenard – freshman (6'4, 226) *
91 Trevon Young – senior (6'4, 229)
92 Devonte Fields – junior (6'4, 245) *
96 Henry Famurewa – OLB – sophomore (6'2, 245)
99 James Hearns – sophomore (6'3, 257)

Cornerbacks

3 Cornelius Sturghill – freshman (5'11, 186)
6 Shaq Wiggins – sophomore (5'10, 171)
10 Jaire Alexander – freshman (5'11, 170) *
15 Trumaine Washington – sophomore (5'10, 183)
21 Devontre Parnell – junior (5'11, 184)
24 Zykiesis Cannon – sophomore (6'0, 195)
26 Duke Culver – sophomore (6'0, 186)
34 George Clements – senior (6'1, 185)
39 Aaron Floyd – freshman (5'10, 172)
41 Kevin Elijah – junior (5'7, 156)
24 Kevon Dunbar – DB – freshman (6'1, 192)
39 John Stitch – DB – junior (5'10, 185)

Safeties

5 Khane Pass – freshman (6'1, 200) *
11 Dee Smith – freshman (6'1, 200) *
22 Chucky Williams – sophomore (6'2, 204)
25 Josh Harvey-Clemons – junior (6'5, 230)
27 Jermaine Reve – senior (6'0, 192)
28 Terrence Ross – sophomore (6'1, 208)
36 Kevin Houchins – junior (5'11, 201)

* : 2015 Louisville Cardinals Football Signed

Schedule edit

Louisville announced their 2015 football schedule on January 29, 2015. The 2015 schedule consist of six home games, five away games and one neutral site game in the regular season. The Cardinals will host ACC foes Boston College, Clemson, Syracuse, and Virginia, and will travel to Florida State, NC State, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Auburn*	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game)	CBS	L 24–31	73,927
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Houston*	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	L 31–34	50,019
September 17	7:30 p.m.	No. 11 Clemson	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ESPN	L 17–20	55,396
September 26	6:00 p.m.	Samford*	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ESPN3	W 45–3	50,121
October 3	12:30 p.m.	at NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ACCN	W 20–13	56,417
October 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	L 21–41	71,225
October 24	12:30 p.m.	Boston College	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	W 17–14	41,486
October 30	7:00 p.m.	at Wake Forest	BB&T Field Winston-Salem, NC	ESPN2	W 20–19	24,922
November 7	12:30 p.m.	Syracuse	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	W 41–17	46,158
November 14	12:30 p.m.	Virginia	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	W 38–31	51,233
November 21	3:45 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPNews	L 34–45	42,119
November 28	12:00 p.m.	at Kentucky*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (Governor's Cup)	SECN	W 38–24	62,512
December 30	7:00 p.m.	vs. Texas A&M*	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	W 27–21	50,478
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule source:^[2]

References edit

^ "Cardinals Release 2015 Football Schedule" (Press release). University of Louisville Department of Athletics. January 29, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
^ "2015 Louisville Cardinals Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[LU15-1] "Cardinals Release 2015 Football Schedule" (Press release). University of Louisville Department of Athletics. January 29, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[2] "2015 Louisville Cardinals Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

[1]

[2]