2015 Cotton Bowl Classic (December)
| 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 | QB Jake Coker (Alabama) CB Cyrus Jones (Alabama) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Alabama by 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mike Defee (Big XII)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 82,812[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox, and Tom Rinaldi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | (18.5 million viewers) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic (officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game was the 80th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic and the second semifinal of the 2015–16 College Football Playoff (CFP), part of the slate of bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. The game featured two of the four teams chosen by the CFP selection committee: the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans from the Big Ten Conference. The winner qualified for the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship against the winner of the other semifinal, hosted by the Orange Bowl. The game was broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio.
Alabama shut out Michigan State 38–0 to advance to the National Championship Game, where they defeated Clemson to win the championship.[2]
Teams
[edit]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 defeating Baylor in a non-playoff version of the bowl 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 the 2011 Capital One Bowl, where Alabama defeated Michigan State 49–7.[6]
Game summary
[edit]After Oklahoma lost to Clemson 17–37 in the Orange 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 by Cyrus 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 the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship.[8]
Scoring summary
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Statistics
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References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic - Official Game Summary" (PDF). College Football Playoff. December 31, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Alabama routs Michigan State to reach College Football Playoff final". Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Playoff bound: MSU ranked No. 3 to play Alabama in Cotton Bowl". FOX17Online. Associated Press. December 6, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "No. 7 Michigan State stuns No. 4 Baylor 42-41 in Cotton Bowl". Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Cotton Bowl History, Scores, Results". www.collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Cotton Bowl by the numbers: Alabama, Michigan State meet in CFP semifinals". Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Michigan State vs. Alabama - Game Recap - December 31, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Alabama vs. Clemson - Game Recap - January 11, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 20, 2016.