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2015 Iowa

12–⁠2 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Kirk Ferentz, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 2015, game by game: won vs. Illinois State 31–14; won at Iowa State 31–17; won vs. Pittsburgh 27–24; won vs. North Texas 62–16; won at No. 19 Wisconsin 10–6; won vs. Illinois 29–20; won at No. 20 Northwestern 40–10; won vs. Maryland 31–15; won at Indiana 35–27; won vs. Minnesota 40–35; won vs. Purdue 40–20; won at Nebraska 28–20; lost vs. No. 5 Michigan State 13–16; lost vs. No. 5 Stanford 16–45+46−29Won 31–14 vs. Illinois State+17Illinois StateWon 31–17 at Iowa State+14Iowa StateWon 27–24 vs. Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 62–16 vs. North Texas+46North TexasWon 10–6 at No. 19 Wisconsin+4No. 19 WisconsinWon 29–20 vs. Illinois+9IllinoisWon 40–10 at No. 20 Northwestern+30No. 20 NorthwesternWon 31–15 vs. Maryland+16MarylandWon 35–27 at Indiana+8IndianaWon 40–35 vs. Minnesota+5MinnesotaWon 40–20 vs. Purdue+20PurdueWon 28–20 at Nebraska+8NebraskaLost 13–16 vs. No. 5 Michigan State-3No. 5 Michigan StateLost 16–45 vs. No. 5 Stanford-29No. 5 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsIllinois StateW 31–⁠1466%
Sep 12atIowa StateW 31–⁠1758%
Sep 19vsPittsburghW 27–⁠2462%
Sep 26vsNorth TexasW 62–⁠1682%
Oct 3at19WisconsinW 10–⁠634%
Oct 10vsIllinoisW 29–⁠2074%
Oct 17at20NorthwesternW 40–⁠1050%
Oct 31vsMarylandW 31–⁠1583%
Nov 7atIndianaW 35–⁠2771%
Nov 14vsMinnesotaW 40–⁠3579%
Nov 21vsPurdueW 40–⁠2091%
Nov 27atNebraskaW 28–⁠2058%
Dec 5vs5Michigan StateBig Ten Championship GameL 13–⁠1639%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5StanfordRose BowlL 16–⁠4539%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 45–⁠16 in the Rose Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 22
  2. Wk 7: 17
  3. Wk 8: 12
  4. Wk 9: 10
  5. Wk 10: 10
  6. Wk 11: 8
  7. Wk 12: 6
  8. Wk 13: 3
  9. Wk 14: 4
  10. Wk 15: 6
  11. Final: 9

Big Ten West champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Jim Thorpe AwardDesmond King, CB

Consensus All-AmericanDesmond King, CB

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearKirk Ferentz, coach; also the Bobby Dodd Award

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 3
Points
433–⁠285
Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Elo
1673 +145 this season
SP+ rating
9.3 No. 42 of 128; offense No. 61, defense No. 28, special teams No. 56
SRS
10.3 No. 22 of 128 in FBS
Returning
33% of last season’s EPA, No. 114 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 59 roster talent No. 51 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Greg Davis
Defensive coordinator
Phil Parker
Captains
C.J. Beathard, Austin Blythe, Jordan Lomax and Drew Ott
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense37th of 128
  • Defense18th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted28th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1543%1.2637th of 128
Defense-0.0241%1.1118th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.16 off
0.02 def		44% off
41% def		—32nd off
28th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.8own 332% allowed
Defense3.1own 292% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsC.J. Beathard QB2,809 yds
Passing touchdownsC.J. Beathard QB17 TD
Rushing yardsJordan Canzeri RB984 yds
Rushing touchdownsJordan Canzeri RB12 TD
Receiving yardsMatt VandeBerg WR703 yds
Receiving touchdownsGeorge Kittle TE6 TD
InterceptionsDesmond King DB8 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

James Daniels OC★★★★No. 332
Levi Paulsen OT★★★No. 454
Jack Hockaday S★★★No. 1306
Drew Cook ATH★★★No. 1344
Brett Waechter OT★★★No. 1436

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.805
Receivers33.00.822
Offensive line33.30.868
Defensive line13.00.807
Linebackers32.70.795
Defensive backs13.00.836
Athletes and specialists13.00.834
Whole class133.00.826

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2016

The 2016 draft
Rd 7Austin Blythe CIndianapolis Colts

Roster 111

The 2015 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 32 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2015 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2015 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa8–⁠012–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠14
Michigan State7–⁠112–⁠26
Northwestern6–⁠210–⁠323
Wisconsin6–⁠210–⁠321
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Nebraska3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠74–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠73–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.