2015 Washington State Cougars football team

The 2015 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by fourth-year head coach Mike Leach and played their home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 6–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place in the North Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated the Miami Hurricanes.

2015 Washington State Cougars football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 20–14 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Division	North Division
Record	9–4 (6–3 Pac-12)
Head coach	Mike Leach (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Alex Grinch (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple 3–4
Home stadium	Martin Stadium
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 Pac-12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
No. 3 Stanford x$		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 19 Oregon		7	–	2					9	–	4
Washington State		6	–	3					9	–	4
California		4	–	5					8	–	5
Washington		4	–	5					7	–	6
Oregon State		0	–	9					2	–	10
South Division
USC xy		6	–	3					8	–	6
No. 17 Utah x		6	–	3					10	–	3
UCLA		5	–	4					8	–	5
Arizona State		4	–	5					6	–	7
Arizona		3	–	6					7	–	6
Colorado		1	–	8					4	–	9
Championship: Stanford 41, USC 22
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 am	Portland State*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	L 17–24	24,302
September 12	12:30 pm	at Rutgers*		High Point Solutions Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPNU	W 37–34	46,536
September 19	5:30 pm	Wyoming*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 31–14	31,105
October 3	1:00 pm	at No. 24 California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 28–34	42,042
October 10	3:00 pm	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	P12N	W 45–38 2OT	57,775
October 17	1:00 pm	Oregon State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 52–31	32,952
October 24	1:00 pm	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	P12N	W 45–42	47,847
October 31	7:30 pm	No. 8 Stanford		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	L 28–30	30,012
November 7	12:30 pm	Arizona State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	FS1	W 38–24	32,952
November 14	7:45 pm	at No. 19 UCLA		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ESPN	W 31–27	76,255
November 21	7:45 pm	Colorado		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN2	W 27–3	25,121
November 27	12:30 pm	at Washington	No. 20	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (108th Apple Cup)	FOX	L 10–45	70,438
December 26	11:00 am	vs. Miami (FL)*		Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 20–14	41,180
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to game All times are in Pacific time

Conference opponents not played this season: Utah, USC

Rankings

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	20	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	20	RV	RV	RV
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	20	—	—	Not released

Game summaries

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	0	10	14	24
Cougars	3	7	0	7	17

See also: 2015 Portland State Vikings football team

@ Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	6	7	17	37
Scarlet Knights	0	6	6	22	34

See also: 2015 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	14	0	0	0	14
Cougars	7	14	0	10	31

See also: 2015 Wyoming Cowboys football team

@ California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	14	7	0	28
#24 Golden Bears	7	6	21	0	34

See also: 2015 California Golden Bears football team

@ Oregon

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Cougars	7	7	7	10	7	7	45
Ducks	10	7	7	7	7	0	38

See also: 2015 Oregon Ducks football team

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	3	14	0	14	31
Cougars	14	31	0	7	52

See also: 2015 Oregon State Beavers football team

@ Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	14	17	7	7	45
Wildcats	0	21	7	14	42

See also: 2015 Arizona Wildcats football team

Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Cardinal	3	0	17	10	30
Cougars	3	9	10	6	28

See also: 2015 Stanford Cardinal football team

Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sun Devils	14	0	7	3	24
Cougars	0	10	7	21	38

See also: 2015 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

@ UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	7	7	10	31
#18 Bruins	6	10	0	11	27

See also: 2015 UCLA Bruins football team

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	0	0	3	0	3
#24 Cougars	7	7	3	10	27

See also: 2015 Colorado Buffaloes football team

@ Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Cougars	3	0	7	0	10
Huskies	7	10	7	21	45

See also: 2015 Washington Huskies football team and Apple Cup

Vs. Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hurricanes	7	0	0	7	14
Cougars	7	13	0	0	20

See also: 2015 Miami Hurricanes football team and 2015 Sun Bowl

2015 Coaching staff

• Mike Leach – Head coach/offensive coordinator
• Jim Mastro – Running backs
• David Yost – Inside receivers
• Graham Harrell – Outside receivers
• Clay McGuire – Offensive line
• Joe Salave'a – Assistant head coach/defensive line
• David Lose – Defensive quality control
• Alex Grinch – Defensive coordinator/secondary
• Ken Wilson – Linebackers
• Roy Manning – Outside linebackers
• Brian Odom – Defensive quality control
• Eric Mele – Special teams
• Dave Emerick – Chief of staff
• Antonio Huffman – Director of football operations
• Jason Loscalzo – Strength and conditioning

^[1]

References

1. "WSU Football Coaching Staff". wsucougars.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.