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2015 Stanford

12–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Pac-12), coached by David Shaw, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Stanford in 2015, game by game: lost at Northwestern 6–16; won vs. UCF 31–7; won at No. 6 USC 41–31; won at Oregon State 42–24; won vs. Arizona 55–17; won vs. No. 18 UCLA 56–35; won vs. Washington 31–14; won at Washington State 30–28; won at Colorado 42–10; lost vs. Oregon 36–38; won vs. California 35–22; won vs. No. 4 Notre Dame 38–36; won vs. No. 24 USC 41–22; won vs. No. 6 Iowa 45–16+38−10Lost 6–16 at Northwestern-10NorthwesternWon 31–7 vs. UCF+24UCFWon 41–31 at No. 6 USC+10No. 6 USCWon 42–24 at Oregon State+18Oregon StateWon 55–17 vs. Arizona+38ArizonaWon 56–35 vs. No. 18 UCLA+21No. 18 UCLAWon 31–14 vs. Washington+17WashingtonWon 30–28 at Washington State+2Washington StateWon 42–10 at Colorado+32ColoradoLost 36–38 vs. Oregon-2OregonWon 35–22 vs. California+13CaliforniaWon 38–36 vs. No. 4 Notre Dame+2No. 4 Notre DameWon 41–22 vs. No. 24 USC+19No. 24 USCWon 45–16 vs. No. 6 Iowa+29No. 6 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atNorthwesternL 6–⁠1664%
Sep 12vsUCFW 31–⁠763%
Sep 19at6USCW 41–⁠3141%
Sep 25atOregon StateW 42–⁠2468%
Oct 3vsArizonaW 55–⁠1768%
Oct 15vs18UCLAW 56–⁠3565%
Oct 24vsWashingtonW 31–⁠1478%
Oct 31atWashington StateW 30–⁠2872%
Nov 7atColoradoW 42–⁠1083%
Nov 14vsOregonL 36–⁠3867%
Nov 21vsCaliforniaW 35–⁠2284%
Nov 28vs4Notre DameW 38–⁠3661%
Dec 5vs24USCPac-12 Championship GameW 41–⁠2260%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6IowaRose BowlW 45–⁠1661%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 45–⁠16 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Pac-12 champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 4: 21
  3. Wk 5: 18
  4. Wk 6: 16
  5. Wk 7: 15
  6. Wk 8: 10
  7. Wk 9: 8
  8. Wk 10: 9
  9. Wk 11: 7
  10. Wk 12: 15
  11. Wk 13: 13
  12. Wk 14: 7
  13. Wk 15: 5
  14. Final: 3

Pac-12 champions8–⁠1 in the conference, won the Pac-12 Championship Game

Heisman voteChristian McCaffrey, second

Outland TrophyJoshua Garnett, OG

Paul Hornung AwardChristian McCaffrey, RB/RS

2 consensus All-AmericansJoshua Garnett, OG; Christian McCaffrey, RB/RS

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 first in Pac-12
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
529–⁠316
Coach
David Shaw
Elo
1803 +157 this season
SP+ rating
22.8 No. 6 of 128; offense No. 5, defense No. 45, special teams No. 2
SRS
17.1 No. 6 of 128 in FBS
Returning
84% of last season’s EPA, No. 23 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 24 roster talent No. 18 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mike Bloomgren
Defensive coordinator
Lance Anderson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense7th of 128
  • Defense74th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted8th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted65th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2751%1.157th of 128
Defense0.1142%1.2074th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.25 off
0.09 def		50% off
41% def		—8th off
65th 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
Offense4.4own 322% allowed
Defense3.4own 273% 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 yardsKevin Hogan QB2,867 yds
Passing touchdownsKevin Hogan QB27 TD
Rushing yardsChristian McCaffrey RB2,019 yds
Rushing touchdownsRemound Wright RB13 TD
Receiving yardsChristian McCaffrey RB645 yds
Receiving touchdownsMichael Rector WR7 TD
InterceptionsQuenton Meeks CB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Trent Irwin WR★★★★No. 70
Frank Buncom IV CB★★★★No. 118
Bryce Love APB★★★★No. 233
Cameron Scarlett ATH★★★★No. 259
Nick Wilson OG★★★★No. 321
Ben Edwards S★★★★No. 340

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.50.870
Receivers14.00.966
Offensive line14.00.896
Defensive line13.00.853
Defensive backs43.50.903
Athletes and specialists33.30.850
Whole class123.50.885

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 1Joshua Garnett OGSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 3Austin Hooper TEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 4Blake Martinez ILBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 5Kevin Hogan QBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Kyle Murphy OTGreen Bay Packers

Roster 98

The 2015 roster

98 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 27 have a stat line. See the roster

2015 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Stanford8–⁠112–⁠23
Oregon7–⁠29–⁠419
Utah6–⁠310–⁠317
Washington State6–⁠39–⁠4
USC6–⁠38–⁠6
UCLA5–⁠48–⁠5
California4–⁠58–⁠5
Washington4–⁠57–⁠6
Arizona State4–⁠56–⁠7
Arizona3–⁠67–⁠6
Colorado1–⁠84–⁠9
Oregon State0–⁠92–⁠10

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