2015 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

The 2015 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team represented Oklahoma State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cowboys were led by 11th-year head coach Mike Gundy and played their home games at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 7–2 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for second place. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl where they lost to Ole Miss.

2015 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Sugar Bowl, L 20–48 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 20
2015 record	10–3 (7–2 Big 12)
Head coach	Mike Gundy (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Yurcich (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Glenn Spencer (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Boone Pickens Stadium (Capacity: 60,218)

2015 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Oklahoma $^		8	–	1					11	–	2
No. 20 Oklahoma State		7	–	2					10	–	3
No. 7 TCU		7	–	2					11	–	2
No. 13 Baylor		6	–	3					10	–	3
West Virginia		4	–	5					8	–	5
Texas Tech		4	–	5					7	–	6
Texas		4	–	5					5	–	7
Kansas State		3	–	6					6	–	7
Iowa State		2	–	7					3	–	9
Kansas		0	–	9					0	–	12
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The 2014 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team finished the regular season 6–6, with a highlight win against in-state rival Oklahoma, 38–35 in overtime. Oklahoma State became bowl eligible after defeating Oklahoma on December 6, 2014. The Cowboys were invited to play in the 2015 Cactus Bowl against the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference. Oklahoma State won the game against the Huskies 30–22, in Tempe, Arizona.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Oklahoma State	Alma Mater
Mike Gundy	Head Coach	10	Oklahoma State (1990)
Mike Yurcich	Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks	2	California (PA) (1999)
Greg Adkins	Offensive Line	0	Marshall (1990)
Marcus Arroyo	Running backs	0	San Jose State (2002)
Kasey Dunn	Wide receivers	5	Idaho (1992)
Jason McEndoo	Tight ends	0	Washington State (1998)
Glenn Spencer	Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers	2	Georgia Tech (1987)
Joe Bob Clements	Defensive Line	2	Kansas State (1993)
Tim Duffie	Cornerbacks	2	Texas Tech (1999)
Dan Hammerschmidt	Safeties	0	Texas (1993)
Reference:[1]

Schedule

Oklahoma State announced their 2015 football schedule on November 19, 2014. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home games and 5 away games in the regular season. The Cowboys will host Big 12 foes Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and TCU and will travel to Iowa State, Texas, Texas Tech, and West Virginia.[2]

The Cowboys hosted two non conference games against Central Arkansas and UTSA and traveled to its other non conference foe Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Oklahoma State met for the first time against the Central Michigan Chippewas in Michigan and Central Arkansas Bears at home. The Cowboys hosted the UTSA Roadrunners for the second straight season after defeating them last season 43–13.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 p.m.	at Central Michigan*		Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPNU	W 24–13	19,717
September 12	6:30 p.m.	Central Arkansas*		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FSN/FCS Atlantic	W 32–8	57,262
September 19	2:30 p.m.	UTSA*	No. 25	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FS1	W 69–14	56,351
September 26	2:30 p.m.	at Texas	No. 24	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ESPN	W 30–27	87,073
October 3	3:00 p.m.	Kansas State	No. 20	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FS1	W 36–34	58,030
October 10	6:00 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 21	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN2	W 33–26 ^OT	60,410
October 24	2:30 p.m.	Kansas	No. 14	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FS1	W 58–10	59,886
October 31	2:30 p.m.	at Texas Tech	No. 12	Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)	ESPN	W 70–53	54,872
November 7	2:30 p.m.	No. 5 TCU	No. 12	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FOX	W 49–29	59,661
November 14	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa State	No. 5	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	ESPN	W 35–31	54,180
November 21	6:30 p.m.	No. 10 Baylor	No. 4	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FOX	L 35–45	59,669
November 28	7:00 p.m.	No. 5 Oklahoma	No. 9	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK (Bedlam Series) (College GameDay)	ABC	L 23–58	59,231
January 1, 2016	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 16 Ole Miss*	No. 13	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ESPN	L 20–48	72,117
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[3]

Games summaries

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	3	7	7	7	24
Chippewas	3	3	7	0	13

Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	8	0	8
Cowboys	10	0	10	12	32

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	7	0	7	14
Cowboys	17	14	10	28	69

Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	14	3	7	6	30
Longhorns	6	14	7	0	27

Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	14	14	0	6	34
Cowboys	7	13	6	10	36

Oklahoma State hosted Kansas State on October 3, 2015. Late in the second quarter, an officiating error gave Oklahoma State a first down when the offense was four yards short after the third down play. The series ended with a touchdown for Oklahoma State.[4] The error brought into question Big 12 Conference officiating, especially in light that the game was on the 25th anniversary of the Fifth Down Game between the Colorado Buffaloes and Missouri Tigers.[5] SB Nation published "K-State lost to Oklahoma State, 36–34. Inept Big 12 officials gifted Oklahoma State a touchdown.."[6]

West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Cowboys	7	10	6	3	7	33
Mountaineers	0	2	14	10	0	26

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jayhawks	0	10	0	0	10
Cowboys	14	21	21	2	58

Prior to the game, during Oklahoma State University's annual Sea of Orange Homecoming Parade, 25 year old Adacia Chambers drove her car into a crowd of people at the parade killing 4 and injuring 47.

Texas Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	14	14	14	28	70
Red Raiders	24	14	0	15	53

TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Horned Frogs	9	0	7	13	29
Cowboys	14	14	14	7	49

Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Cowboys	7	7	7	14	35
Cyclones	17	7	7	0	31

Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Bears	14	10	14	7	45
#4 Cowboys	14	0	7	14	35

Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Sooners	14	30	7	7	58
#9 Cowboys	10	10	3	0	23

vs. Ole Miss

'forfeit by Ole Miss'

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Cowboys	0	0	0	0	0
#12 Rebels	0	0	0	0	0

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV	25	24	20	21	16	14	12	12	5	4	9	14	13	20
Coaches	RV	RV	25	22	19	19	15	12	10	10	5	4	10	14	13	19
CFP	Not released									14	8	6	11	17	16	Not released

References

1. "Coaches". Oklahoma State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
2. "Oklahoma State Announces 2015 Football Schedule" (Press release). Oklahoma State University Department of Athletics. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-12-29. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
3. "2015 Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
4. Trotter, Jake (October 4, 2015). "Officials Place First-Down Marker in Wrong Spot, Leading to OK State TD". ESPN. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
5. Bromberg, Nick (October 4, 2015). "Oklahoma St. Apparently Mistakenly Awarded 1st Down in Win Over Kansas St". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
6. "Outrageous officiating Incompetence Costs K-State". SB Nation. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.