2015 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

2015 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Cactus Bowl champion
Cactus Bowl, W 43–42 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Big 12 Conference
2015 record	8–5 (4–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Dana Holgorsen (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Tony Gibson (2nd as coordinator, 9th overall season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t	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

The 2015 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Playing as a member of the Big 12 Conference (Big 12), the team was led by head coach Dana Holgorsen, in his fifth year. West Virginia played its home games at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season 8–5, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a three way tie for fifth place. They were invited to the Cactus Bowl where they defeated Arizona State

Previous season[]

The 2014 West Virginia Mountaineers football team finished the regular season 7–5, with a highlight win against rank #4 Baylor, 41–27. The Mountaineers made it all the way to #20 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. The Mountaineers were invited to play in the Liberty Bowl against the Texas A&M of the Southeastern Conference. West Virginia lost against the Texas A&M Aggies in Memphis, Tennessee by a score of 37–45.

Schedule[]

West Virginia announced their 2015 football schedule on November 19, 2014. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Mountaineers will host Big 12 foes Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech. West Virginia will travel to Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and TCU.^[1]

The Mountaineers hosted all three non conference games against Georgia Southern, Liberty and also hosted rival Maryland.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	7:30 p.m.	Georgia Southern*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	FSN	W 44–0	55,182
September 12	3:00 p.m.	No. 15 (FCS) Liberty*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	RTPT	W 41–17	52,899
September 26	3:00 p.m.	Maryland*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Gold Rush) (rivalry)	FS1	W 45–6	61,174
October 3	Noon	at No. 5 Oklahoma	No. 23	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	FS1	L 24–44	84,384
October 10	7:00 p.m.	No. 21 Oklahoma State		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Stripe the Stadium)	ESPN2	L 26–33 OT	60,410
October 17	Noon	at No. 2 Baylor		McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FOX	L 38–62	45,370
October 29	7:30 p.m.	at No. 5 TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	FS1	L 10–40	45,947
November 7	Noon	Texas Tech		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	FS1	W 31–26	54,932
November 14	Noon	Texas		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (True Blue)	ESPNU	W 38–20	56,736
November 21	Noon	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 49–0	21,415
November 28	Noon	Iowa State		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	FS1	W 30–6	42,446
December 5	4:30 p.m.	at Kansas State		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FS1	L 23–24	52,918
January 2, 2016	10:45 p.m.	vs. Arizona State*		Chase Field Phoenix, AZ (Cactus Bowl)	ESPN	W 43–42	39,321
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[2]

Game summaries[]

Georgia Southern[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	0	0
Mountaineers	10	6	14	14	44

Liberty[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	0	0	7	10	17
Mountaineers	6	14	14	7	41

Maryland[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Terrapins	0	0	0	6	6
Mountaineers	21	17	0	7	45

Oklahoma[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Mountaineers	0	7	17	0	24
#15 Sooners	7	17	10	10	44

Oklahoma State[]

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

Baylor[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	7	10	7	14	38
#2 Bears	17	10	21	14	62

TCU[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	0	10	0	0	10
#5 Horned Frogs	17	6	14	3	40

Texas Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Raiders	7	7	3	9	26
Mountaineers	7	10	7	7	31

Texas[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Longhorns	10	0	7	3	20
Mountaineers	7	14	7	10	38

Kansas[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	28	14	7	0	49
Jayhawks	0	0	0	0	0

Iowa State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cyclones	0	6	0	0	6
Mountaineers	7	6	10	7	30

Kansas State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	3	10	7	3	23
Wildcats	0	3	14	7	24

Arizona State–Cactus Bowl[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountaineers	9	13	14	7	43
Sun Devils	3	15	14	10	42

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	RV	RV	23	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	NR	NR
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	NR	RV
CFP	Not released									NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

References[]