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2015 Washington State

9–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Pac-12), coached by Mike Leach.

Schedule and results

Washington State in 2015, game by game: lost vs. Portland State 17–24; won at Rutgers 37–34; won vs. Wyoming 31–14; lost at No. 24 California 28–34; won at Oregon 45–38; won vs. Oregon State 52–31; won at Arizona 45–42; lost vs. No. 8 Stanford 28–30; won vs. Arizona State 38–24; won at No. 18 UCLA 31–27; won vs. Colorado 27–3; lost at Washington 10–45; won vs. Miami 20–14+24−35Lost 17–24 vs. Portland State-7Portland StateWon 37–34 at Rutgers+3RutgersWon 31–14 vs. Wyoming+17WyomingLost 28–34 at No. 24 California-6No. 24 CaliforniaWon 45–38 at Oregon+7OregonWon 52–31 vs. Oregon State+21Oregon StateWon 45–42 at Arizona+3ArizonaLost 28–30 vs. No. 8 Stanford-2No. 8 StanfordWon 38–24 vs. Arizona State+14Arizona StateWon 31–27 at No. 18 UCLA+4No. 18 UCLAWon 27–3 vs. Colorado+24ColoradoLost 10–45 at Washington-35WashingtonWon 20–14 vs. Miami+6Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsPortland StateL 17–⁠2480%
Sep 12atRutgersW 37–⁠3424%
Sep 19vsWyomingW 31–⁠1470%
Oct 3at24CaliforniaL 28–⁠3430%
Oct 10atOregonW 45–⁠3815%
Oct 17vsOregon StateW 52–⁠3162%
Oct 24atArizonaW 45–⁠4226%
Oct 31vs8StanfordL 28–⁠3028%
Nov 7vsArizona StateW 38–⁠2447%
Nov 14at18UCLAW 31–⁠2725%
Nov 21vsColoradoW 27–⁠379%
Nov 27atWashingtonL 10–⁠4543%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsMiamiSun BowlW 20–⁠1443%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Miami 20–⁠14 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-12.

In program history: The 23rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 111 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 24
  2. Wk 13: 20
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
409–⁠360
Coach
Mike Leach
Elo
1569 +131 this season
SP+ rating
4.2 No. 61 of 128; offense No. 29, defense No. 77, special teams No. 121
SRS
5.9 No. 47 of 128 in FBS
Returning
42% of last season’s EPA, No. 102 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 42 roster talent No. 57 in FBS
Defensive coordinator
Alex Grinch
Offense
Air raid
Defense
Multiple 3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense43rd of 128
  • Defense50th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted55th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted37th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1349%1.1043rd of 128
Defense0.0644%1.2150th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.03 def		48% off
42% def		—55th off
37th 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
Offense3.6own 312% allowed
Defense3.0own 332% 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 yardsLuke Falk QB4,566 yds
Passing touchdownsLuke Falk QB38 TD
Rushing yardsGerard Wicks RB610 yds
Rushing touchdownsGerard Wicks RB3 TD
Receiving yardsGabe Marks WR1,192 yds
Receiving touchdownsGabe Marks WR15 TD
InterceptionsShalom Luani S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Thomas Toki DT★★★★No. 252
Darrien Molton CB★★★No. 788
T.J. Fehoko SDE★★★No. 885
Noah Osur-Myers OG★★★No. 1214
Sean Harper Jr. WR★★★No. 1232

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers13.00.839
Offensive line32.70.819
Defensive line33.00.846
Linebackers13.00.820
Defensive backs13.00.857
Athletes and specialists13.00.811
Whole class102.90.832

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 5Joe Dahl OGDetroit Lions

Roster 125

The 2015 roster

125 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

2015 Pac-12 standings

Conference page
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.