2015Stanford Cardinal football
Pac-12 champion Pac-12 North Division champion Rose Bowl champion
Pac-12 Championship Game, W 41–22 vs.USC
Rose Bowl, W 45–16 vs.Iowa
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	12–2 (8–1 Pac-12)
Head coach	David Shaw (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bloomgren (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Lance Anderson (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

The2015 Stanford Cardinal football team representedStanford University in the2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by fifth-year head coachDavid Shaw. They played their home games atStanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of thePac-12 Conference.

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

The Cardinal finished the season ranked #3 in the finalCoaches Poll, their highest final ranking in the history of that poll. They were similarly ranked #3 in the finalAP Poll, their highest final ranking in 75 years, following the1940 national championship season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	9:00 a.m.	atNorthwestern*	No. 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 No. 6USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 41–31	78,306	[4]
September 25	7:00 p.m.	atOregon State	No. 21	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FS1	W 42–24	37,302	[5]
October 3	7:30 p.m.	Arizona	No. 18	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	P12N	W 55–17	46,628[6]
October 15	7:30 p.m.	No. 18UCLA	No. 15	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 56–35	50,464	[7]
October 24	7:30 p.m.	Washington	No. 10	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 31–14	50,424	[8]
October 31	7:30 p.m.	atWashington State	No. 8	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 30–28	30,012	[9]
November 7	10:00 a.m.	atColorado	No. 11	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	P12N	W 42–10	40,142	[10]
November 14	4:30 p.m.	Oregon	No. 7	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	FOX	L 36–38	48,633	[11]
November 21	7:30 p.m.	California	No. 11	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	ESPN	W 35–22	51,424	[12]
November 28	4:30 p.m.	No. 6Notre Dame*	No. 9	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	FOX	W 38–36	51,424	[13]
December 5	4:45 p.m.	vs. No. 20 USC	No. 7	Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, CA (Pac-12 Championship Game)	ESPN	W 41–22	58,476
January 1, 2016	2:10 p.m.	vs. No. 5Iowa*	No. 6	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl,College GameDay)	ESPN	W 45–16	94,268
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings fromAP Poll andCFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to game All times are inPacific time

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'sCollege 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 QuarterbackDeShone 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.

Sports analysts had anticipated the contest to be exciting, due mainly to the matchup between Iowa's strong run defense and Stanford running backChristian McCaffrey, theHeisman 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 QuarterbackKevin 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 QuarterbackC. 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 placekickerMarshall 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]

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