The 2015 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

during the

2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...

. The Razorbacks played their home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and

War Memorial Stadium War Memorial Stadium may refer to: * Ada War Memorial Stadium, in Ada, Ohio, also known as ''War Memorial Stadium'' * War Memorial Stadium (Arkansas), Little Rock, Arkansas * War Memorial Stadium (Austin, Texas) (former official name 1924–1947), ...

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. They competed as a member of the Western Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. Arkansas was led by third-year head coach

Bret Bielema Bret Arnold Bielema (; born January 13, 1970) is currently the head American football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Bielema served as the head football coach at of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2006 to 2012 ...

Dan Enos Daniel Patrick Enos (born July 1, 1968) is an American football coach and former player who currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Maryland. He was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks c ...

served his first season as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

, replacing

Jim Chaney James Allen Chaney (born January 12, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is an offensive analyst for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He previously served as an offensive analyst for the New Orleans Saints of the National F ...

who left for a job with

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Enos was previously the head coach of

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

Personnel

Coaching staff

Background

In the second season under head coach

, the Razorbacks went to a bowl game and had a winning record for the first time since 2011, which was the last season of former head coach

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American football coach. He currently serves as the Offensive Coordinator for the Texas A&M Aggies. He is the former head coach for the Missouri State Bears. Previously, he served as the head coa ...

. Arkansas won three of its last four games, including becoming the first team in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

history to shut out consecutive ranked opponents (LSU, Ole Miss) as an unranked team. They ended the year by routing rival

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the 2014 Texas Bowl, 31–7.

Recap

Arkansas lost leading returning rusher Jonathan Williams before the season to a foot injury, tempering expectations slightly, but the #18 ranked Razorbacks cruised to a 48-13 victory over UTEP in the season opener. The next three weeks, however, were full of disappointment. First, the Razorbacks lost to Toledo, a 23-point underdog, in Little Rock's

, 16-12, and then turned around and lost to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in Fayetteville, 35-24. A week later,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

defeated the Razorbacks in overtime for the second consecutive year, 28-21, to begin SEC play. Bielema got his first SEC road win to begin October, defeating the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

24-20 in

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footb ...

. After dropping one on the road to eventual SEC champion

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

on October 10, the Razorbacks would not lose again until November 21. That included a four-overtime win at home over Auburn, a wild overtime victory over then #19 Ole Miss on the road which saw the Razorbacks convert a 4th-and-25 in overtime via a lateral from tight end

Hunter Henry Hunter Henry (born December 7, 1994) is an American football tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round o ...

, and a 31-14 dismantling of then #9 LSU. Despite losing a shootout to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

in Fayetteville, Arkansas bounced back with a 28-3 victory in the regular season finale over

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in Gary Pinkel's final game coaching the Tigers. Arkansas accepted an invitation to the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

to play Kansas State on Jan. 2. Thanks to three touchdowns and 185 yards from running back Alex Collins, the Razorbacks defeated the Wildcats, 45-23. It was the first time Arkansas had won back-to-back bowl games in consecutive seasons in program history, and the 45 points was the most ever in a bowl game. The Razorbacks have won each of their last three bowl games, counting back to the 2012 Cotton Bowl. The seven regular season wins, including five in SEC play, were the most for Arkansas since Bobby Petrino's final season in 2011. That season also ended with a bowl game victory against Kansas State. Tight end

and offensive guard Sebastian Tretola were named first team All-SEC. Henry was also a consensus first team All-American, and won the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, a ...

given to the nation's best tight end. Tretola was named an All-American as well. Quarterback Brandon Allen, Collins, and offensive tackle

Dan Skipper Dan Skipper (born September 20, 1994) is an American football offensive tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas. High school career Skipper was born in Arvada, Colorado, a s ...

were named second team All-SEC. Freshman linebacker

Dre Greenlaw Keaundre "Dre" Greenlaw (born May 25, 1997) is an American football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arkansas and was drafted by the 49ers in ...

was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, as well as the Freshman All-American Team. Collins was named the

MVP. Collins would finish the season with 1,577 yards rushing, good enough for third place in the Arkansas all-time single season record book. Collins' 20 rushing touchdowns in 2015 ranks first for the Hogs program. Collins elected to leave early for the NFL draft, finishing his college career with 3,703 yards, which is second in school history behind only

Darren McFadden Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NFL Dra ...

, and 36 rushing touchdowns. He also became only the third player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons, joining McFadden (2005-2007) and Ben Cowins (1976-1978), as well as joining McFadden and Herschel Walker as the only running backs in SEC history to have 1,000 yard seasons in their first three years playing college football.

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Game summaries

UTEP

Toledo

Texas Tech

Vs. No. 14 Texas A&M

At Tennessee

At No. 8 Alabama

Auburn

UT Martin

At No. 19 Ole Miss

Rankings

References

{{Arkansas Razorbacks football navbox

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Arkansas Razorbacks football Liberty Bowl champion seasons

Arkansas Razorbacks football The Arkansas Razorbacks football program represents the University of Arkansas in the sport of American football. The Razorbacks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Weste ...