The 2015 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 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 Bulldogs played their home games at Sanford Stadium. They were members of the Eastern 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 o ...

. This was head coach

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former player, and television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mater, ...

's 15th and final season leading the program. Richt was relieved of his duties at the end of the regular season. Richt was originally slated to remain head coach for the team's bowl game, but he was replaced after he reached an agreement to become head coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team. Wide receivers coach

Bryan McClendon Bryan McClendon (born December 28, 1983) is an American football coach who is currently the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator at the University of Georgia. He previously served as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coac ...

was named interim head coach for the

TaxSlayer Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nati ...

against Penn State. After starting the season ranked in the top 10, the team completed a second straight 9–3 regular season, finishing third in the SEC East Division after losing to division rivals

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, as well as a cross-division matchup with Alabama. After the Florida game, the team ended the regular season with a four-game win streak that included road wins over rivals Auburn and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, though it needed overtime to defeat

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

, a Sun Belt Conference team playing just its second season at the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

level.

Previous season

The 2014 Georgia Bulldogs football team finished the regular season 9–3, with losses to

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, and

. Even defeating

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

34–0, Georgia did not receive a bid to the

SEC Championship The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

due to the two SEC losses (Florida and South Carolina). Instead, one loss Missouri went to the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs became bowl eligible after their win against

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 O ...

and were invited to play in the

Belk Bowl The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. The game currently features a matchup between a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (AC ...

against the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a game they won, 37-14 to complete a 10-3 season.

Coaching changes

Offensive Coordinator

Mike Bobo Robert Michael Bobo (born April 9, 1974) is an American college football coach who is currently the Offensive Analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs. He was recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Auburn Tigers. He was the he ...

left his position to accept the head coaching job at Colorado State at the end of the 2014 season. Offensive line coach Will Friend joined Bobo's Colorado State staff as offensive coordinator. Bobo was replaced by

Brian Schottenheimer Brian Cornelius Schottenheimer (born October 16, 1973) is an American football coach who is currently a coaching analyst for the Dallas Cowboys. Schottenheimer most recently served as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the ...

, who was the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Offensive Coordinator the previous 3 seasons. Schottenheimer was the Offensive Coordinator of the New York Jets from 2006-2011 and also coached Quarterbacks for the San Diego Chargers and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. Schottenheimer started playing college football at

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

before transferring to

to play for Steve Spurrier from 1993-1996. Rob Sale was hired to coach the offensive line. Sale came from

McNeese State McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

where he coached the offensive line the previous 3 seasons. After wide receivers coach

Tony Ball Tony Ball is a British television executive, former chairman of Kabel Deutschland and former CEO of BSkyB. Biography Born and educated in London, Ball received an MBA from Kingston University and later an honorary doctorate. Career Ball joined ...

took a position with

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, Thomas Brown was hired from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Brown, who played running back at Georgia and coached the position at Wisconsin, replaced

as running backs coach, with McClendon moving to coach wide receivers, the same position he played at Georgia.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Schedule

Georgia announced their 2015 football schedule on October 14, 2014. The 2015 schedule consisted of 7 home games, 4 away games and 1 neutral game in the regular season. The Bulldogs would host SEC foes

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and

, and would travel to Auburn,

, and Vanderbilt. Georgia would meet for the 93rd time with

in their annual neutral site

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. The Bulldogs would host three non–conference foes: Louisiana–Monroe, Southern, and in–state rival

. Finally, at the last game of the regular season the Bulldogs would travel to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. :Schedule Source:

Game summaries

Louisiana–Monroe

Vanderbilt

South Carolina

Southern

Alabama

Tennessee

Missouri

Florida

Kentucky

Auburn

Georgia Southern

Georgia Tech

Rankings

References

{{Georgia Bulldogs football navbox

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Georgia Bulldogs football seasons Gator Bowl champion seasons

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...