| 2015 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| College Football Playoff Semifinal 80th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | AT&T Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Arlington, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | QBJake Coker (Alabama) CBCyrus Jones (Alabama) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Alabama by 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mike Defee (Big XII)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 82,812[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN/ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Fowler,Kirk Herbstreit,Heather Cox, andTom Rinaldi (ESPN)Brad Sham,Danny Kanell andIan Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | (18.5 Million viewers) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2015 Cotton Bowl Classic was acollege footballbowl game played on December 31, 2015 atAT&T Stadium inArlington, Texas. The 80thCotton Bowl Classic was aCollege Football Playoff semifinal betweenAlabama andMichigan State with the winner to compete in the2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. It was one of the2015–16 bowl games that concluded the2015 FBS football season.
The game was broadcast onESPN,ESPN Deportes,ESPN Radio andXM Satellite Radio. It was sponsored by theGoodyear Tire and Rubber Company and was officially known as theCollege Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Alabama defeated Michigan State 38–0 and later won the National Championship by defeating Clemson in the National Championship game.[2]
The Cotton Bowl acted as one of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. The two teams selected for the game were No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Michigan State.[3] Michigan State returned to the Cotton Bowl after defeatingBaylor in a non-playoff version of thebowl game on January 1, 2015.[4][5] Michigan State became just the third school in history to play in the same bowl twice in a calendar year, joining Auburn, which played in the Gator Bowl on January 1 and December 31, 1954, and Oklahoma, which played in the Sugar Bowl on January 1 and December 31, 1972.
The game was a rematch of the2011 Capital One Bowl, whereAlabama defeatedMichigan State 49–7.[6]
AfterOklahoma lost toClemson 17–37 in theOrange Bowl Semifinal, Michigan State was throttled by Alabama 38–0.[7] A tight first half saw Alabama take a 10–0 lead into half time. Near the end of the second quarter, Michigan State had its best drive of the night, but all-time winningest MSU quarterback,Connor Cook, was intercepted byCyrus Jones. Alabama scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half and MSU turned the ball over on its first possession. Alabama could not capitalize on the turnover, but did return MSU's next punt for a touchdown, putting the game out of reach at 24–0 with a little over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. MSU's offense could not muster any points and were held to a total of 249 yards. Cook finished the night with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
Alabama went on to defeat Clemson 45–40 for the2016 College Football Playoff National Championship.[8]
| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics[1] | Michigan State | Alabama |
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| First Downs | 5 | 21 |
| Total offense, plays - yards | 65–193 | 66–440 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 26–29 | 35–154 |
| Passing yards (net) | 188 | 286 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 19–39–2 | 25–31–0 |
| Time of Possession | 27:04 | 32:56 |