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.

Teams 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. Michigan State returned to the Cotton Bowl after defeating Baylor in a non-playoff version of the bowl game on January 1, 2015. 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.

Game summary After Oklahoma lost to Clemson 17–37 in the Orange Bowl Semifinal, Michigan State was throttled by Alabama 38–0. 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.

Scoring summary

Statistics

+Team statistical comparisonStatisticMichigan StateAlabamaFirst downs 16 21First downs rushing 2 7First downs passing 11 12First downs penalty 3 2Third down efficiency 4–16 4–12Fourth down efficiency 1–3 1–1Total plays–net yards 65–239 66–440Rushing attempts–net yards 26–29 35–154Yards per rush 1.1 4.4Yards passing 210 286Pass completions–attempts 19–39 25–31Interceptions thrown 2 0Punt returns–total yards 3–16 5–80Kickoff returns–total yards 1–22 0–0Punts–average yardage 9–45.7 6–46.5Fumbles–lost 2–0 2–0Penalties–yards 6–33 6–69Time of possession 27:04 32:56

+Michigan State statisticsSpartans passing Connor Cook 19–39 210 0–2Spartans rushing Damion Terry 1 14 0 Madre London 5 11 0 LJ Scott 6 8 0 Aaron Burbridge 3 8 0 Gerald Holmes 2 6 0 Delton Williams 2 6 0 Connor Cook 7 −24 0Spartans receiving Aaron Burbridge 5 39 0 Josiah Price 4 39 0 Felton Davis 1 28 0 Macgarrett Kings 2 27 0 DeAnthony Arnett 1 21 0 R.J. Shelton 2 19 0 Paul Lang 1 17 0 Gerald Holmes 2 10 0 Madre London 1 10 0

+Alabama statisticsCrimson Tide passing Jake Coker 25–30 286 2–0 Cooper Bateman 0–1 0 0–0Crimson Tide rushing Derrick Henry 20 75 2 Kenyan Drake 4 60 0 Bo Scarbrough 3 17 0 ArDarius Stewart 1 7 0 Damien Harris 1 2 0 TEAM 1 −1 0 Jake Coker 5 −6 0Crimson Tide receiving Calvin Ridley 8 138 2 O. J. Howard 3 59 0 Richard Mullaney 3 53 0 ArDarius Stewart 7 37 0 Kenyan Drake 3 5 0 Derrick Henry 1 −6 0

References