| 2015 Foster Farms Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 14th San Francisco Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 26, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Levi's Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Santa Clara, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Offense: Tommy Armstrong (Nebraska) Defense: Jaleel Wadood (UCLA) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | UCLA by 6.5[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Cherry (ACC)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 33,527[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN / ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jason Benetti, Rod Gilmore, Shelley Smith (ESPN) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2015 San Francisco Bowl, known as the Foster Farms Bowl for sponsorship purposes, was the fourteenth edition of the college football bowl game, played on December 26, 2015 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Part of the 2015–16 bowl season, it featured the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten.
Teams
Despite winning only five games in the regular season, Nebraska was invited to play in a bowl based on its Academic Progress Rate as there were not enough eligible teams to fill all 82 spots. The 2015 San Francisco Bowl was the thirteenth all-time and first postseason meeting between Nebraska and UCLA, with the series tied 6–6 prior to the game.
Nebraska
UCLA
Game
UCLA, favored by a touchdown, methodically marched down the field to take a 7–0 lead on its opening drive.[3] The Cornhuskers answered with a twelve-play drive to tie the game, but could not slow down the Bruins offense for much of the first half.[3] Midway through the second quarter, Tommy Armstrong lost a fumble in the red zone, and UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen delivered two quick touchdown drives of 86 and 68 yards to give the Bruins a 21–7 lead.[3]
Nebraska mounted two run-heavy drives to tie the game at 21 with less than a minute remaining in the half.[4] On the ensuing drive, Nebraska safety Nate Gerry was ejected for targeting, though both coaches agreed the play should not have been penalized.[5]
The Cornhuskers maintained control to start the second half, holding UCLA to a single yard of offense on six plays in the third quarter.[6] It allowed NU to extend its lead to nine points, which became sixteen less than a minute into the fourth quarter when a three-yard Armstrong touchdown brought the Nebraska run to thirty unanswered points.[6] Rosen led a quick touchdown drive and a successful two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game; UCLA drove into NU territory twice more as time wound down, but came away scoreless after a missed field goal and an interception, allowing Nebraska to run out the clock on a 37–29 victory.[6]
Scoring summary
| Qtr | Time | Drive | Team | Detail | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plays | Yards | TOP | UCLA | NU | ||||
| 1 | 10:17 | 10 | 79 | 4:43 | UCLA | Paul Perkins 1-yd run (Kaʻimi Fairbairn kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 3:50 | 12 | 75 | 6:27 | NU | Imani Cross 1-yd run (Drew Brown kick) | 7 | 7 | |
| 2 | 11:04 | 4 | 86 | 1:38 | UCLA | Kenneth Walker 60-yd pass from Josh Rosen (Fairbairn kick) | 14 | 7 |
| 7:55 | 4 | 68 | 1:36 | UCLA | Nate Starks 26-yd pass from Rosen (Fairbairn kick) | 21 | 7 | |
| 6:23 | 4 | 75 | 1:23 | NU | Terrell Newby 3-yd run (Brown kick) | 21 | 14 | |
| 0:52 | 8 | 73 | 3:31 | NU | Andy Janovich 1-yd run (Brown kick) | 21 | 21 | |
| 3 | 10:37 | 9 | 78 | 4:23 | NU | Stanley Morgan 22-yd pass from Tommy Armstrong (kick failed) | 21 | 27 |
| 4:50 | 11 | 67 | 4:32 | NU | Brown 20-yd field goal | 21 | 30 | |
| 4 | 14:11 | 9 | 51 | 4:01 | NU | Armstrong 3-yd run (Brown kick) | 21 | 37 |
| 11:29 | 8 | 76 | 2:35 | UCLA | Jordan Payton 9-yd pass from Rosen (Rosen pass to Thomas Duarte) | 29 | 37 | |
Team statistics
| Statistic[2] | UCLA | Nebraska |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 31 |
| Rushes–yards | 16–67 | 62–326 |
| Comp.–att.–yards | 26–41–319 | 12–19–174 |
| Total offense | 386 | 500 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Punts–average | 4–41.8 | 3–41.7 |
| Penalties–yards | 7–56 | 6–38 |
| Time of possession | 21:45 | 38:15 |
Starting lineups
| UCLA | Position[2] | Nebraska | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | |||
| 4 Darren Andrews | WR | TE | 11 Cethan Carter |
| 18 Thomas Duarte | 84 Sam Cotton | ||
| 6 Stephen Johnson | WR | 7 Taariq Allen | |
| 9 Jordan Payne | 10 Jamal Turner | ||
| 3 Josh Rosen | QB | 4 Tommy Armstrong | |
| 24 Paul Perkins | RB | 32 Imani Cross | |
| 68 Conor McDermott | LT | 71 Alex Lewis | |
| 72 Christian Garcia | LG | 66 Dylan Utter | |
| 54 Jake Brendel | C | 65 Ryne Reeves | |
| 74 Caleb Benenoch | RG | 58 Zach Sterup | |
| 77 Kolton Miller | RT | 68 Nick Gates | |
| Defense | |||
| 97 Kenny Clark | NT | DT | 7 Maliek Collins |
| 98 Takkarist McKinley | DT | 98 Vincent Valentine | |
| 96 Eli Ankou | DE | 95 Jack Gangwish | |
| 90 Greg McMullen | |||
| 12 Jayon Brown | LB | 52 Josh Banderas | |
| 42 Kenny Young | 15 Michael Rose | ||
| 58 Deon Hollins | OLB | ||
| 51 Aaron Wallace | |||
| 3 Randall Goforth | S | 28 Byerson Cockrell | |
| 2 Jaleel Wadood | 25 Nate Gerry | ||
| 24 Aaron Williams | |||
| 1 Ishmael Adams | CB | 8 Chris Jones | |
| 7 John Johnson | 10 Joshua Kalu | ||
References
- ^ Zach Helfand (December 25, 2015). "UCLA vs. Nebraska: How they match up for the Foster Farms Bowl". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Huskers run over Bruins". HuskerMax. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b c Joey Kaufman (December 26, 2015). "Final: Nebraska uses dominant ground game to rally past UCLA, 37-29". The Orange County Register. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ Jack Wang (December 28, 2017). "UCLA can't stop run in 37-29 bowl game loss to Nebraska". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ Brian Rosenthal (December 27, 2015). "Blackshirts respond after Gerry's controversial ejection". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b c Sam Mckewon (December 26, 2015). "Nebraska's ground game turns the tide, then defense sews it up". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
