2015 Southern Conference football season

The 2015 Southern Conference football season was the 94th season of college football for the Southern Conference (SoCon) and formed a part of the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2015 Southern Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision)
Sport	Football
Duration	September 5, 2015 – November 22, 2015
Number of teams	8
TV partner(s)	SoCon Digital Network American Sports Network ESPN3
Conference champions	Chattanooga Mocs The Citadel Bulldogs

2015 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 Chattanooga +^		6	–	1					9	–	4
No. 13 The Citadel +^		6	–	1					9	–	4
Western Carolina		5	–	2					7	–	4
Samford		3	–	4					6	–	5
Wofford		3	–	4					5	–	6
Mercer		2	–	5					5	–	6
Furman		2	–	5					4	–	7
VMI		1	–	6					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Head coaches

Russ Huesman, Chattanooga – 7th year Mike Houston, The Citadel – 2nd year Bruce Fowler, Furman – 5th year Bobby Lamb, Mercer – 3rd year

Chris Hatcher, Samford – 1st year Scott Wachenheim, VMI – 1st year Mark Speir, Western Carolina – 4th year Mike Ayers, Wofford – 28th year

Preseason poll results

First place votes in parentheses

Media[1]			Coaches[2]
Place	School	Points	Place	School	Points
1	Chattanooga (29)	239	1	Chattanooga (7)	49
2	Western Carolina (1)	190	2	Samford (1)	40
3	Samford	176	3	Western Carolina	68
4	Wofford	148	4	Wofford	30
5	Furman	120	5	Furman	22
6	Mercer	93	6	Mercer	20
7	The Citadel	82	7	The Citadel	18
8	VMI	32	8	VMI	7

Preseason All-Conference Teams

Offensive Player of the Year: Jacob Huesman, Sr., QB (Chattanooga)
Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Pierce, Sr., DL (Samford)

Position	Player	Class	Team
First Team Offense
QB	Jacob Huesman	Sr.	Chattanooga
RB	Alex Lakes	So.	Mercer
RB	Denzel Williams	Jr.	Samford
WR	Karel Hamilton	Jr.	Samford
WR	Spearman Robinson	Jr.	Western Carolina
TE	Duncan Fletcher	Jr.	Furman
OL	Sam Frye	Sr.	The Citadel
OL	Joe Turner	Sr.	Furman
OL	Gunnar Bromelow	Sr.	Samford
OL	Corey Levin	Jr.	Chattanooga
OL	Anton Wahrby	Jr.	Wofford
First Team Defense
DL	Mitchell Jeter	Sr.	The Citadel
DL	Michael Pierce	Sr.	Samford
DL	Josh Freeman	Sr.	Chattanooga
DL	Keionta Davis	Jr.	Chattanooga
LB	Cory Magwood	Sr.	Furman
LB	Justin Cooper	Sr.	Samford
LB	Nakevion Leslie	Jr.	Chattanooga
DB	James Bradberry	Sr.	Samford
DB	Dee Virgin	Jr.	Chattanooga
DB	Lucas Webb	So.	Chattanooga
DB	Trey Morgan	Jr.	Western Carolina
First Team Special Teams
PK	Henrique Ribeiro	Jr.	Chattanooga
P	Brian Sanders	Sr.	Wofford
RS	Chandler Curtis	So.	Mercer
Reference:[3]

Rankings

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

Main article: 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Final
Chattanooga	Stats	7	10	10	8	8	6	6	5	4	3	8	8	7
	C	8	12	12	9	8	6	6	5	4	3	9	9	8
The Citadel	Stats	–	–	RV	–	–	–	RV	RV	RV	25	21	25	18
	C	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	RV	RV	22	20	24	18
Furman	Stats	RV	RV	–	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	–	–	–	–
	C	RV	RV	–	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	–	RV	–	–	–
Mercer	Stats	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Samford	Stats	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–
VMI	Stats	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Western Carolina	Stats	RV	RV	–	–	–	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
	C	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	RV	RV	RV
Wofford	Stats	–	–	RV	–	–	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Rankings reflect that of the Sports Network poll for that week.

Week One

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 3	7:00 PM	Central Arkansas	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 45–16	6,259	[4]
September 3	7:00 PM	VMI	Ball State	Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN	ESPN3	L 36–48	10,473	[5]
September 5	12:30 PM	Wofford	Clemson	Memorial Clemson • Clemson, SC	RSN	L 10–49	81,345	[6]
September 5	5:00 PM	Mercer	Austin Peay	Governors Stadium • Clarskville, TN	GovTV	W 28–7	5,814	[7]
September 5	6:00 PM	Jacksonville State	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	L 20–23	15,842	[8]
September 5	6:00 PM	Davidson	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	W 69–0	8,665	[9]
September 5	7:00 PM	Coastal Carolina	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 35–38	6,563	[10]
September 5	7:00 PM	Mars Hill	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	W 42–14	12,348	[11]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Michael Eubank	Samford	Tevin Floyd	The Citadel	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release[12]

Week Two

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 12	1:00 PM	Mars Hill	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 44–34	9,491	[13]
September 12	1:30 PM	Morehead State	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	W 43–40	5,016	[14]
September 12	2:00 PM	Florida A&M	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 58–21	4,714	[15]
September 12	3:30 PM	Furman	Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	ESPN3	L 3–42	60,118	[16]
September 12	6:00 PM	Western Carolina	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 28–10	8,048	[17]
September 12	6:00 PM	Stetson	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 57–14	11,267	[18]
September 12	7:00 PM	Tennessee Tech	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	SDN	W 34–14	6,834	[19]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
John Russ	Mercer	Justin Cooper	Samford	Dillon Christopher	VMI
Reference: Weekly Release[20]

Week Three

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 19	2:30 PM	Chattanooga	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ASN	UTC 31–21	9,088	[21]
September 19	5:00 PM	Wofford	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID	ESPN3	L 38–41	11,633	[22]
September 19	6:00 PM	The Citadel	Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	L 13–48	24,872	[23]
September 19	6:00 PM	Furman	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	ESPN3	W 16–15	36,484	[24]
September 19	6:00 PM	VMI	Richmond	Robins Stadium • Richmond, VA		L 10–42	8,700	[25]
September 19	7:00 PM	Mercer	Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium • Cookeville, TN	WCTE	L 22–29	9,028	[26]
September 19	7:00 PM	Western Carolina	Tennessee	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	ESPNU	L 10–55	102,136	[27]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Jacob Huesman	Chattanooga	Trey Robinson	Furman	John Croft Hollingsworth	Furman
Reference: Weekly Release[28]

Week Four

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 26	3:00 PM	VMI	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	FUR 24–21	7,915	[29]
September 26	6:00 PM	Charleston Southern	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	L 20–33	11,918	[30]
September 26	6:00 PM	Samford	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	ESPN3	L 3–45	50,121	[31]
September 26	7:00 PM	Chattanooga	Presbyterian	Bailey Memorial Stadium • Clinton, SC	BSN	W 21–0	3,582	[32]
September 26	7:00 PM	Gardner–Webb	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	SDN	W 16–0	6,932	[33]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Jacob Huesman	Chattanooga	Kelonta Davis	Chattanooga	Brian Ross	Furman
Reference: Weekly Release[34]

Week Five

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 3	1:30 PM	Bucknell	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	L 22–28OT	3,713	[35]
October 3	3:30 PM	Presbyterian	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	WMYA	W 33–21	9,191	[36]
October 3	6:00 PM	Wofford	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	WOF 33–34OT	10,489	[37]
October 3	7:00 PM	South Carolina State	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	W 17–3	1,022	[38]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Detrez Newsome	Western Carolina	Drake Michaelson	Wofford	Logan Howard	Western Carolina
Reference: Weekly Release[39]

Week Six

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 10	1:00 PM	Furman	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	UTC 31–3	7,630	[40]
October 10	1:30 PM	Samford	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	SAM 49–13	4,875	[41]
October 10	2:00 PM	Wofford	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 39–12	10,428	[42]
October 10	3:30 PM	Mercer	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	WCU 21–24	8,479	[43]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Michael Eubank	Samford	Tevin Floyd	The Citadel	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release[44]

Week Seven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 17	1:30 PM	Chattanooga	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	UTC 33–27	6,104	[45]
October 17	2:00 PM	Western Carolina	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WCU 24–17	7,344	[46]
October 17	3:00 PM	The Citadel	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	CIT 44–25	4,927	[47]
October 17	4:00 PM	East Tennessee State	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 52–0	10,200	[48]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Karel Hamilton	Samford	Dee Delaney	The Citadel	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release[49]

Week Eight

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 24	1:30 PM	Chattanooga	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	SDN	UTC 20–17	8,713	[50]
October 24	1:30 PM	The Citadel	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	CIT 38–17	12,124	[51]
October 24	3:00 PM	VMI	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	VMI 28–21	10,200	[52]
October 24	3:30 PM	Samford	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	WCU 56–36	12,014	[53]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Aaron Sanders	VMI	Daniel Riddle	Western Carolina	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release[54]

Week Nine

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 31	1:30 PM	Wofford	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	WOF 41–20	4,437	[55]
October 31	2:00 PM	Western Carolina	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	UTC 41–13	11,495	[56]
October 31	2:00 PM	Mercer	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 21–19	10,006	[57]
October 31	3:00 PM	Furman	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	SDN	FUR 20–17	4,013	[58]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Jacob Huesman	Chattanooga	Cory Magwood	Furman	Jon Croft Hollingsworth	Furman
Reference: Weekly Release[59]

Week Ten

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 7	2:00 PM	VMI	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 35–14	14,925	[60]
November 7	2:00 PM	Clark Atlanta	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 43–0	4,264	[61]
November 7	3:30 PM	Furman	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	WCU 48–10	8,561	[62]
November 7	4:00 PM	Chattanooga	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	MER 17–14	9,527	[63]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Troy Mitchell	Western Carolina	Quinlan Washington	The Citadel	Anthony Pistelli	Samford
Reference: Weekly Release[64]

Week Eleven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 14	1:30 PM	Mercer	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	MER 27–20	6,351	[65]
November 14	1:30 PM	Samford	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	SAM 37–27	5,077	[66]
November 14	2:00 PM	The Citadel	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 31–23	11,594	[67]
November 14	7:00 PM	Western Carolina	Texas A&M	Kyle Field • College Station, TX	ESPNU	L 17–41	101,583	[68]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Jacob Huesman	Chattanooga	Zach Jackson	Mercer	Anthony Pistelli	Samford
Reference: Weekly Release[69]

Week Twelve

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 21	12:00 PM	The Citadel	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	SECN Alt.	W 23–22	77,241	[70]
November 21	1:30 PM	Western Carolina	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	WCU 24–20	4,523	[71]
November 21	3:00 PM	Chattanooga	Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL	ACCRSN	L 13–52	66,412	[72]
November 21	3:00 PM	Samford	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	SAM 47–21	10,200	[73]
November 21	3:30 PM	Furman	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ASN	WOF 38–28	7,143	[74]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyler Renew	The Citadel	Daniel Riddle	Western Carolina	Anthony Pistelli	Samford
Reference: Weekly Release[75]

Week Thirteen

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 28	1:00 PM	Fordham	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	W 50–20	4,888	[76]
November 28	2:00 PM	The Citadel	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	ESPN3	W 41–38	6,751	[77]

Week Fourteen

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
December 5	1:00 PM	The Citadel	Charleston Southern	Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC	ESPN3
December 5	2:00 PM	Chattanooga	Jacksonville State	Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPN3

Records against other conferences

FCS conferences

Conference	Record
Big Sky	0–0
Big South	3–3
CAA	0–1
Ivy League	0–0
Independents	1–0
MEAC	2–0
MVFC	0–0
NEC	0–0
OVC	2–2
Patriot	2–0
Pioneer	3–0
Southland	1–0
SWAC	0–0
Total	14–6

FBS conferences

Conference	Record
American	1–0
ACC	0–4
Big 12	0–0
Independents	0–0
MAC	0–1
SEC	1–2
Sun Belt	0–2
Total	2–9

Attendance

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Chattanooga	Finley Stadium	20,668	15,812	9,491	7,630	11,495	11,594	4,888	60,910	10,152	49%
The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium	21,000	8,665	8,048	11,918	10,428	10,006	14,925	63,990	10,665	51%
Furman	Paladin Stadium	16,000	6,563	7,915	1,022	12,124	6,351		33,975	6,795	42%
Mercer	Moye Complex	10,200	11,267	10,489	10,200	10,200	9,527	10,200	61,883	10,314	101%
Samford	Seibert Stadium	6,700	6,259	4,714	9,088	4,927	4,013	4,264	33,265	5,544	83%
VMI	Alumni Memorial Field	10,000	5,016	3,713	4,875	6,104	4,437	4,523	28,668	4,778	48%
Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium	13,742	12,348	9,191	8,479	12,014	8,561		50,593	10,119	74%
Wofford	Gibbs Stadium	13,000	6,834	6,932	7,344	8,713	5,077	7,143	42,043	7,007	54%