2015 Russell Athletic Bowl

2015 Russell Athletic Bowl
26th Russell Athletic Bowl
North Carolina Tar Heels Baylor Bears (11–2) (9–3) ACC Big 12 38 49 Head coach:  Larry Fedora Head coach:  Art Briles AP Coaches CFP 10 11 10 AP Coaches CFP 18 19 17
1 2 3 4 Total North Carolina 7 10 14 7 38 Baylor 14 14 14 7 49
Date	December 29, 2015
Season	2015
Stadium	Orlando Citrus Bowl
Location	Orlando, Florida
Favorite	Baylor by 3 [1]
Referee	John O'Neill (Big Ten)
Attendance	40,418
Payout	US$TBD
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN/ESPN Radio
Announcers	Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, & Dr. Jerry Punch (ESPN) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, & Joe Schad (ESPN Radio)
Russell Athletic Bowl  ← 2014   2016 →

The 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 29, 2015, at the Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The 26th edition of the Russell Athletic Bowl featured the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference against the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Conference. It began at 5:30 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. The game's naming rights sponsor was the Russell Athletic uniform company. ^[2]

Teams

The game featured the North Carolina Tar Heels against the Baylor Bears.

North Carolina Tar Heels

See also: 2015 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

After finishing their season 11–2, the Tar Heels accepted their invitation to play in the game. ^[3]

This was the Tar Heels' second Russell Athletic Bowl; they had previously won the 1995 Carquest Bowl, defeating Arkansas by a score of 20–10.

Baylor Bears

See also: 2015 Baylor Bears football team

After finishing their season 9–3, the Bears accepted their invitation to play in the game. ^[4]

Game summary

The Bears set an all-time bowl game record with 645 total rushing yards. ^[5]

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UNC BU 1 8:37 13 69 3:11 UNC Brandon Fritts 9-yard touchdown reception from Marquise Williams, Nick Weiler kick good 7 0 1 4:25 13 75 4:12 BU Lynx Hawthorne 6-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 7 7 1 0:15 6 83 1:53 BU Devin Chafin 2-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 7 14 2 12:28 9 26 2:47 UNC 32-yard field goal by Nick Weiler 10 14 2 9:35 8 75 2:53 BU Johnny Jefferson 11-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 10 21 2 2:16 10 67 3:55 BU Johnny Jefferson 27-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 10 28 2 0:35 10 75 1:41 UNC Marquise Williams 4-yard touchdown run, Nick Weiler kick good 17 28 3 11:45 9 75 3:15 UNC Marquise Williams 1-yard touchdown run, Nick Weiler kick good 24 28 3 3:07 8 61 3:21 BU Terence Williams 3-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 24 35 3 2:04 1 80 0:14 BU Johnny Jefferson 80-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 24 42 3 0:47 6 75 1:17 UNC Bug Howard 27-yard touchdown reception from Marquise Williams, Nick Weiler kick good 31 42 4 10:24 13 75 5:23 BU Terence Williams 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Callahan kick good 31 49 4 2:20 5 64 0:57 UNC Kendrick Singleton 7-yard touchdown reception from Marquise Williams, Nick Weiler kick good 38 49 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 38 49

Statistics

Statistics	UNC	BU
First Downs	28	38
Total offense, plays – yards	73–487	103–756
Rushes-yards (net)	36–244	84–645
Passing yards (net)	243	111
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	22–36–1	10–18–1
Time of Possession	22:54	37:06

References

1. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2015
2. "North Carolina To Face Baylor In The 26th Annual Russell Athletic Bowl". Russell Athletic Bowl. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
3. "Carolina To Face Baylor In Russell Athletic Bowl". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
4. "Football Accepts Russell Athletic Bowl Invitation". BaylorBears.com. Baylor University. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
5. "Baylor sets all-time bowl rushing record vs. UNC". December 29, 2015.