2015 Stanford Cardinal football team

2015 Pac-12 football standings
	North Division
	South Division
	Championship: Stanford 41, USC 22
	$ – Conference champion; x – Division champion/co-champions; y – Championship game participant; As of January 12, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

Stanford Cardinal football
2015 Stanford Cardinal football
Rose Bowl Champions; Pac-12 Champions; Pac-12 North Division Champions
Pac-12 Championship Game, W 41–22 vs. USC
Rose Bowl, W 45–16 vs. Iowa
Conference	Pac-12 Conference; North Division
Ranking
Coaches	#3
AP	#3
2015 record	12–2 (8–1 Pac-12)
Head coach	David Shaw (5th year)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bloomgren (3rd year)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Lance Anderson (2nd year)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium; (Capacity: 50,424)
« 2014	2016 »

The 2015 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by fifth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.

In 2015, the Cardinal were the champions of the Pac-12. After finishing in first place in the North Division, they beat USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game by a score of 41–22.^[1] They defeated Iowa 45–16 in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2016.

The Cardinal finished the season ranked #3 in the final Coaches Poll, their highest final ranking in the history of that poll. They were similarly ranked #3 in the final AP Poll, their highest final ranking in 75 years, following the 1940 national championship season.

Previous season

After two consecutive Pac-12 championships, the Cardinal finished second in the North Division with an 8–5 record, ending its season by defeating Maryland in the 2014 Foster Farms Bowl.

Roster

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Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	9:00 a.m.	at Northwestern*	#21	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 6–16	36,024^[2]
September 12	7:30 p.m.	UCF*		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	FS1	W 31–7	50,420^[3]
September 19	5:00 p.m.	at #6 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 41–31	78,306^[4]
September 25	7:00 p.m.	at Oregon State	#21	Reser Stadium • Corvallis, OR	FS1	W 42–24	37,302^[5]
October 3	7:30 p.m.	Arizona	#18	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	P12N	W 55–17	46,628^[6]
October 15	7:30 p.m.	#18 UCLA	#15	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 56–35	50,464^[7]
October 24	7:30 p.m.	Washington	#10	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 31–14	50,424^[8]
October 31	7:30 p.m.	at Washington State	#8	Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 30–28	30,012^[9]
November 7	10:00 a.m.	at Colorado	#9	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO	P12N	W 42–10	40,142^[10]
November 14	4:30 p.m.	Oregon	#7	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	FOX	L 36–38	48,633^[11]
November 21	7:30 p.m.	California	#15	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA (118th Big Game/Stanford Axe)	ESPN	W 35–22	51,424^[12]
November 28	4:30 p.m.	#4 Notre Dame*	#13	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA (Legends Trophy)	FOX	W 38–36	51,424^[13]
December 5	4:45 p.m.	vs. #24 USC	#7	Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CA (Pac-12 Championship Game)	ESPN	W 41–22	58,476
January 1	2:10 p.m.	vs. #6 Iowa	#5	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ESPN	W 45–16	94,268
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.

Game notes

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Cardinal	3	0	0	3	6
Wildcats	3	7	0	6	16

UCF

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	0	0	0	7	7
Cardinal	0	10	7	14	31

USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	7	17	7	10	41
#6 Trojans	14	7	7	3	31

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Cardinal	14	7	14	7	42
Beavers	7	10	0	7	24

Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	14	0	17
#18 Cardinal	13	14	21	7	55

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Bruins	10	7	3	15	35
#15 Cardinal	14	21	21	0	56

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	0	7	7	14
#10 Cardinal	7	10	14	0	31

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Cardinal	3	0	17	10	30
Cougars	3	9	10	6	28

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Cardinal	7	21	7	7	42
Buffaloes	7	0	3	0	10

Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ducks	14	7	14	3	38
#7 Cardinal	10	13	0	13	36

California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	3	3	10	6	22
#15 Cardinal	7	14	0	14	35

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Fighting Irish	7	13	9	7	36
#13 Cardinal	14	7	7	10	38

In arguably one of the best college football games of the year, a game that had ten lead changes and almost 1,000 yards of offense, Stanford scored five touchdowns in five red zone trips, but it would be Stanford Kicker Conrad Ukropina who hit the game-winning field goal as time expired, which also ended Notre Dame's College Football Playoff hopes while keeping Stanford's playoff hopes alive. With 6:48 left in the game and the Cardinal leading 35-29, the Irish would march 88 yards in 15 plays (using up 6:18 of the play clock). It was capped off by Notre Dame Quarterback Deshone Kizer's two-yard touchdown run to give the Irish the lead with just 30 seconds left in the game. But the Irish defense could not hold as Stanford would go 45 yards in just 28 seconds and finish off the game with the win from Ukropina's field goal.

USC (Pac-12 Championship)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Trojans	0	3	13	6	22
#7 Cardinal	3	10	14	14	41

Iowa (Rose Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Cardinal	21	14	3	7	45
#6 Hawkeyes	0	0	3	13	16

Sports analysts had anticipated the contest to be exciting, due mainly to the matchup between Iowa's strong run defense and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. McCaffrey led the FBS in the 2015 season with 3,864 all-purpose yards, which came from punt/kick returns, runs from scrimmage, and passes out of the backfield.^[14] In contrast, Iowa's run defense finished the season ranked 14th, allowing only 121 yards per game and having defeated historically rushing teams like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Nebraska.^[15]

McCaffrey caught a short pass and turned it into a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The Hawkeyes were unable to stop him, as he averaged 9.6 YPC (172 yards on 18 carries), returned a punt for a touchdown, and converted many third downs. Though he did not rush for any touchdowns from scrimmage, he proved to be the primary playmaker for Stanford, catching a third of Cardinal Quarterback Kevin Hogan's twelve passes. McCaffrey was such an offensive threat that Hogan was able to make large gains with the read option, including a wide-open first-quarter option TD run.

Stanford's 21-0 first-quarter lead was the most first-quarter points scored by one team in Rose Bowl history.^[16] Stanford shut Iowa out in the first half 35-0, with Stanford's 35 points the most scored in the first half of a Rose Bowl in its entire 102-year history.^[16] McCaffrey gained a total of 368 all-purpose yards, setting another Rose Bowl record.^[16]

Iowa was unable to get their run game going, rushing as a team for 1.3 YPC (48 yards on 38 carries). The longest Iowa runs were 14 and 12 yards,^[17] as well as a 14-yard scramble by Quarterback C.J. Beathard. Iowa's inability to establish a run game closed up Iowa's potential for play-action passing, which had been Beathard's bread and butter all season. Iowa's halfbacks, their biggest threat all season, were overall unable to garner any significant yardage on the ground.^[17]

By the second half, Stanford's explosiveness slowed down, scoring just 10 second-half points versus their 35 first-half points. Iowa did not score until the 3rd quarter when placekicker Marshall Koehn kicked a field goal after converting on 4th down earlier in the drive; Beathard threw 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter, with Koehn missing one of the two PATs.

Iowa had a slight advantage in time of possession, possessing the ball for almost 33 minutes, though they were simply unable to make meaning out of their possessions. Iowa also outgained Stanford through the air by a slim margin, with 239 yards to Stanford's 223.^[18]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	21	RV	RV	21	18	16	15	10	8	9	7	15	13	7	5	3
Coaches'	21	RV	NR	24	20	18	16	11	8	8	7	15	12	7	6	3
CFP	Not released									11	7	11	9	7	6	Not released

Statistics

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Team

Team statistics
	Stanford	Opponents
Scoring	529	316
Points Per Game	37.8	22.6
Points Off Turnovers	96	60
First Downs	311	267
Rushing	155	106
Passing	129	145
Penalty	27	16
Rushing Yardage	3132	1958
Yards gained rushing	3358	2358
Yards lost rushing	226	400
Rushing Attempts	610	453
Average Per Rush	5.1	4.3
Average Per Game	223.7	139.9
TDs Rushing	33	16
Passing Yardage	2965	3198
Comp-Att-Int	213-318-8	271-473-8
Average Per Pass	9.3	6.8
Average Per Catch	13.9	11.8
Average Per Game	211.8	228.4
TDs Passing	30	19
Total Offense	6097	5156
Total Plays	928	926
Average Per Play	6.6	5.6
Average Per Game	435.5	368.3
Kick Returns: #-Yards	51-1265	70-1473
Punt Returns: #-Yards	17-154	11-93
INT Returns: #-Yards	8-125	8-101
Kick Return Average	24.8	21.0
Punt Return Average	9.1	8.5
INT Return Average	15.6	12.6
Fumbles-Lost	12-5	10-6
Penalties-Yards	78-648	80-742
Average Per Game	46.3	53.0
Punts-Yards	48-1959	66-2797
Average Per Punt	40.8	42.4
Net punt average	37.2	39.1
Kickoffs-Yards	96-5900	69-4003
Average Per Kick	61.5	58.0
Net kick average	41.4	34.2
Time of Possession/Game	34:48	25:12
3rd-Down Conversions	91/182	70/193
3rd-Down Pct	50%	36%
4th-Down Conversions	13/16	15/24
4th-Down Pct	81%	62%
Sacks By-Yards	34-260	20-104
Miscellaneous Yards	0	0
Touchdowns Scored	68	36
Field Goals-Attempts	18-20	23-26
On-Side Kicks	0-1	0-3
Red-Zone Scores	(54-62) 87%	(41-47) 87%
Red-Zone Touchdowns	(41-62) 66%	(21-47) 45%
PAT-Attempts	(67-67) 100%	(29-31) 94%
Attendance	349,381	221,786
Games/Avg Per Game	7/49,912	5/44,357
Neutral Site Games		2/76,372

All opponents

	1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford	123	158	132	116	529
All opponents	68	69	93	86	316

Pac-12 opponents

	1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford	85	127	115	82	409
Pac-12 opponents	57	49	81	53	240

Non-conference opponents

	1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford	38	31	17	34	120
Non-conference opponents	11	20	12	33	76

References

↑ "Christian McCaffrey Catapults No. 7 Stanford Past USC for Pac-12 Title", USA Today, December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
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External links

Official website

[1] "Christian McCaffrey Catapults No. 7 Stanford Past USC for Pac-12 Title", USA Today, December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2015.

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v t e Stanford Cardinal football
Venues	Stanford Field (1905–1921) Stanford Stadium (1921–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California: Big Game USC Notre Dame San Jose State: Bill Walsh Legacy Game
Culture & lore	Stanford Tree "Come Join the Band" "All Right Now" Stanford Band The Play Stanford Axe T formation 1906–17 Stanford rugby teams 1894 Chicago game 2007 USC game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Pac-12 Conference football champions
Pacific Coast	Washington (1916) Washington State (1917) California (1918) Oregon & Washington (1919) California (1920) California (1921) California (1922) California (1923) Stanford (1924) Washington (1925) Stanford (1926) Stanford & USC (1927) USC (1928) USC (1929) Washington State (1930) USC (1931) USC (1932) Oregon & Stanford (1933) Stanford (1934) California, Stanford, & UCLA (1935) Washington (1936) California (1937) California & USC (1938) USC (1939) Stanford (1940) Oregon State (1941) UCLA (1942) USC (1943) USC (1944) USC (1945) UCLA (1946) USC (1947) California & Oregon (1948) California (1949) California (1950) Stanford (1951) USC (1952) UCLA (1953) UCLA (1954) UCLA (1955) Oregon State (1956) Oregon & Oregon State (1957) California (1958)
AAWU	UCLA, USC, & Washington (1959) Washington (1960) UCLA (1961) USC (1962) Washington (1963) Oregon State & USC (1964) UCLA (1965) USC (1966) USC (1967)
Pacific-8	USC (1968) USC (1969) Stanford (1970) Stanford (1971) USC (1972) USC (1973) USC (1974) California & UCLA (1975) USC (1976) Washington (1977)
Pacific-10	USC (1978) USC (1979) Washington (1980) Washington (1981) UCLA (1982) UCLA (1983) USC (1984) UCLA (1985) Arizona State (1986) USC & UCLA (1987) USC (1988) USC (1989) Washington (1990) Washington (1991) Washington & Stanford (1992) Arizona, UCLA, & USC (1993) Oregon (1994) USC & Washington (1995) Arizona State (1996) UCLA & Washington State (1997) UCLA (1998) Stanford (1999) Oregon, Oregon State, & Washington (2000) Oregon (2001) USC & Washington State (2002) USC (2003) USC (2004) vacated USC (2005) vacated California & USC (2006) Arizona State & USC (2007) USC (2008) Oregon (2009) Oregon (2010)
Pac-12	Oregon (2011) Stanford (2012) Stanford (2013) Oregon (2014) Stanford (2015)
National championships in bold

2015 Stanford Cardinal football team

Contents