2015 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

The 2015 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team represented Jacksonville State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach John Grass and played their home games at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium. They were a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). Jacksonville State finished the season 13–2 overall with an 8–0 mark in OVC play to win the conference championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Chattanooga, Charleston Southern, and Sam Houston State to advance to the National Championship Game, where they lost to North Dakota State.

2015 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football
OVC champion
FCS Championship Game, L 10–37 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 2
FCS Coaches	No. 2
2015 record	13–2 (8–0 OVC)
Head coach	John Grass (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	David Blackwell (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Brandon Hall (2nd season)
Home stadium	JSU Stadium (Capacity: 24,000)

2015 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Jacksonville State $^		8	–	0					13	–	2
No. 25 Eastern Illinois ^		7	–	1					7	–	5
UT Martin		6	–	2					7	–	4
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	3					6	–	5
SE Missouri State		3	–	4					4	–	7
Tennessee Tech		3	–	5					4	–	7
Murray State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Tennessee State		1	–	6					4	–	6
Austin Peay		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	5:00 PM	at No. 8 Chattanooga*	No. 7	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 23–20	15,812
September 12	11:00 AM	at No. 6 (FBS) Auburn*	No. 5	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN	L 20–27 ^OT	87,451
September 19	1:00 PM	Tennessee State	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN3	W 48–13	23,413
September 26	2:00 PM	at Tennessee–Martin	No. 1	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN3	W 48–41	3,982
October 3	1:00 PM	Mississippi Valley State*	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	WJXS	W 49–7	13,889
October 17	6:00 PM	at Tennessee Tech	No. 1	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	OVCDN	W 42–13	5,575
October 24	4:00 PM	at Austin Peay	No. 1	Governors Stadium Clarksville, TN	OVCDN	W 27–7	5,411
October 31	1:00 PM	No. 13 Eastern Kentucky	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	WJXS	W 34–0	21,988
November 7	1:00 PM	at Eastern Illinois	No. 1	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	OVCDN	W 24–3	4,221
November 14	1:00 PM	Southeast Missouri State	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	WJXS	W 56–28	18,995
November 21	1:00 PM	Murray State	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	WJXS	W 42–20	18,555
December 5	2:00 PM	No. 7 Chattanooga*	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 41–35 ^OT	21,452
December 11	7:00 PM	No. 9 Charleston Southern*	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN2	W 58–38	22,279
December 19	3:00 PM	No. 6 Sam Houston State*	No. 1	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPNU	W 62–10	23,692
January 9, 2016	11:00 AM	vs. No. 2 North Dakota State*	No. 1	Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX (FCS National Championship Game)	ESPN2	L 10–37	21,836
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

@ Chattanooga

Jacksonville State @ Chattanooga

1 2 3 4 Total • #7 Gamecocks 3 7 3 10 23 #8 Mocs 10 0 3 7 20 Date: September 5 Location: Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN Game start: 5:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 15,812 Television network: SoCon Digital

See also: 2015 Chattanooga Mocs football team

@ Auburn

Jacksonville State @ Auburn

1 2 3 4 OT Total #5 Gamecocks 0 10 0 10 0 20 • #6 (FBS) Tigers 3 3 7 7 7 27 Date: September 12 Location: Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL Game start: 11:00 AM CDT Game attendance: 87,451 Television network: SECN

See also: 2015 Auburn Tigers football team

Tennessee State

Tennessee State @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 0 0 13 0 13 • #1 Gamecocks 0 21 17 10 48 Date: September 19 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 1:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 23,413 Television network: ESPN3

See also: 2015 Tennessee State Tigers football team

@ Tennessee–Martin

Jacksonville State @ Tennessee–Martin

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Gamecocks 14 14 14 6 48 Skyhawks 6 7 7 21 41 Date: September 26 Location: Graham Stadium Martin, TN Game start: 2:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 3,982 Television network: ESPN3

Mississippi Valley State

Mississippi Valley State @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total Delta Devils 0 7 0 0 7 • #1 Gamecocks 14 21 14 0 49 Date: October 3 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 1:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 13,889 Television network: WJXS

See also: 2015 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team

@ Tennessee Tech

Jacksonville State @ Tennessee Tech

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Gamecocks 14 12 9 7 42 Golden Eagles 3 3 0 7 13 Date: October 17 Location: Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 5,575 Television network: OVCDN

See also: 2015 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

@ Austin Peay

Jacksonville State @ Austin Peay

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Gamecocks 10 17 0 0 27 Governors 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 24 Location: Governors Stadium Clarksville, TN Game start: 4:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 5,411 Television network: OVCDN

See also: 2015 Austin Peay Governors football team

Eastern Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total #13 Colonels 0 0 0 0 0 • #1 Gamecocks 7 17 7 3 34 Date: October 31 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 1:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 21,988 Television network: WJXS

See also: 2015 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

@ Eastern Illinois

Jacksonville State @ Eastern Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Gamecocks 0 3 7 14 24 Panthers 0 3 0 0 3 Date: November 7 Location: O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL Game start: 1:00 PM CST Game attendance: 4,221 Television network: OVCDN

See also: 2015 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Southeast Missouri State

Southeast Missouri State @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total Redhawks 0 7 7 14 28 • #1 Gamecocks 7 14 21 14 56 Date: November 14 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 1:00 PM CST Game attendance: 18,995 Television network: WJXS

See also: 2015 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Murray State

Murray State @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total Racers 3 3 7 7 20 • #1 Gamecocks 14 7 14 7 42 Date: November 21 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 1:00 PM CST Game attendance: 18,555 Television network: WJXS

See also: 2015 Murray State Racers football team

FCS Playoffs

Second Round–Chattanooga

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 OT Total #7 Mocs 7 7 7 14 0 35 • #1 Gamecocks 0 21 7 7 6 41 Date: December 5 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 2:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 21,452 Television network: ESPN3

See also: 2015 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Quarterfinals–Charleston Southern

Charleston Southern @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total #9 Buccaneers 3 7 7 21 38 • #1 Gamecocks 10 3 21 24 58 Date: December 11 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 7:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 22,279 Television network: ESPN2

See also: 2015 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team

Semifinals–Sam Houston State

Sam Houston State @ Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total #6 Sam Houston State 0 10 0 0 10 • #1 Gamecocks 17 24 14 7 62 Date: December 19 Location: JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL Game start: 3:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 23,692 Television network: ESPNU

See also: 2015 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

Championship–North Dakota State

North Dakota State vs Jacksonville State

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 North Dakota State 3 21 3 10 37 #1 Gamecocks 0 0 10 0 10 Date: January 9, 2016 Location: Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX Game start: 11:00 AM CDT Game attendance: 21,836 Television network: ESPN2

See also: 2015 North Dakota State Bison football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	5 (24)	1 (39)	1 (93)	1 (89)	1 (89)	1 (89)	1 (108)	1 (107)	1 (139)	1 (149)	1 (145)	1 (135)	2
Coaches	9	6 (1)	4 (5)	3 (3)	3 (3)	3 (4)	3 (4)	2 (5)	2 (8)	1 (23)	1 (25)	1 (24)	1 (20)	2

References