2015 Big Ten Football Championship Game

2015 Big Ten football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
#6 Michigan State xy$^		7	–	1		12	–	2
#4 Ohio State x		7	–	1		12	–	1
#12 Michigan		6	–	2		10	–	3
Penn State		4	–	4		7	–	6
Indiana		2	–	6		6	–	7
Rutgers		1	–	7		4	–	8
Maryland		1	–	7		3	–	9
West Division
#9 Iowa xy		8	–	0		12	–	2
#23 Northwestern		6	–	2		10	–	3
#21 Wisconsin		6	–	2		10	–	3
Nebraska		3	–	5		6	–	7
Minnesota		2	–	6		6	–	7
Illinois		2	–	6		5	–	7
Purdue		1	–	7		2	–	10
Championship: Michigan State 16, Iowa 13
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of January 2, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game that was played on December 5, 2015 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the fifth annual Big Ten Football Championship Game and it determined the 2015 champion of the Big Ten Conference. The game featured the Michigan State Spartans, co–champions of the East Division, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, champions of the West Division. Michigan State defeated Iowa 16–13 to win its second Big Ten Championship in three years.

History

The 2015 Championship Game was the fifth in the Big Ten's 120-year history, and the second to feature the conference's East and West division alignment. Iowa made its first appearance in the conference championship game, while Michigan State made its third appearance (L in 2011, W in 2013).

Teams

Iowa

Main article: 2015 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Iowa came into the Big Ten Championship Game with a 12-0 record and a #4 ranking in the AP Poll. The Hawkeyes were led by junior QB C.J. Beathard and 2015 Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, junior CB Desmond King, who tied the school record and led the Big Ten with 8 INT.

The Hawkeyes sat atop the Big Ten West division standings wire-to-wire. They opened conference play with a hard-nosed 10-6 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, and overwhelmed the Northwestern Wildcats 40-10 in Evanston two weeks later. Iowa clinched the Big Ten West division by defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 40-20 in the home finale at Kinnick Stadium, and completed an unbeaten regular season by defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 28-20 in Lincoln.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time after guiding Iowa to its first unbeaten regular season in 93 years.

Michigan State

Main article: 2015 Michigan State Spartans football team

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Michigan State	Iowa
1	11:11	7	22	2:58	MSU	23-yard field goal by Michael Geiger	3	0
1	5:08	7	14	1:49	IOWA	24-yard field goal by Marshall Koehn	3	3
2	13:28	9	42	4:33	IOWA	43-yard field goal by Koehn	3	6
3	4:23	11	47	4:49	MSU	29-yard field goal by Geiger	6	6
3	0:57	6	33	2:38	MSU	47-yard field goal by Geiger	9	6
4	14:49	2	85	1:08	IOWA	Tevaun Smith 85-yard touchdown reception from C.J. Beathard, Koehn kick good	9	13
4	0:27	22	82	9:04	MSU	LJ Scott 2-yard touchdown run, Geiger kick good	16	13
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							16	13

Statistics

Statistics	MSU	IOWA
First Downs	20	13
Total offense, plays – yards	79–365	51–268
Rushes-yards (net)	174	52
Passing yards (net)	191	216
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	16–33–1	18–27–1
Time of Possession	36:38	23:22
Penalties	8–80	5–45
Turnovers	1	3

References

Big Ten Football Championship Game

Years	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Venues	Lucas Oil Stadium (2011–present)

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