2014 Fiesta Bowl (December)

The 2014 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2014, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 44th Fiesta Bowl was one of the New Year's Bowls of the College Football Playoff.^[6] It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that conclude the 2014 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the Vizio consumer electronics company and is officially known as the Vizio Fiesta Bowl.

2014 Vizio Fiesta Bowl
CFP New Year’s Six 44th Fiesta Bowl
Boise State Broncos Arizona Wildcats (11–2) (10–3) Mountain West Pac-12 38 30 Head coach:  Bryan Harsin Head coach:  Rich Rodriguez AP Coaches CFP 21 21 20 AP Coaches CFP 12 11 10
1 2 3 4 Total Boise State 21 10 7 0 38 Arizona 7 10 10 3 30
Date	December 31, 2014
Season	2014
Stadium	University of Phoenix Stadium
Location	Glendale, Arizona
MVP	Offensive: Boise State WR Thomas Sperbeck[1] Defensive: Boise State LB Tanner Vallejo[1]
Favorite	Arizona by 3.5[2]
National anthem	Jesse McGuire[3]
Referee	John O'Neill[4] (Big Ten)
Halftime show	The Pride of Arizona (University of Arizona) and the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band (Boise State)
Attendance	66,896[4]
Payout	US$24 million (2014)[5]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Todd McShay (ESPN)
Nielsen ratings	4.6 (7.4 Million viewers)
Fiesta Bowl  < 2014 (Jan.) 2016 (Jan.) >

The game was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, with kickoff at 4:00 pm ET (2 pm MT).

Teams

The two participants for the game were determined by the College Football Playoff selection committee, and consisted of at-large selections and/or the highest ranked team from the "Group of Five" conferences.

This was the first overall meeting between these two teams.

Boise State

Main article: 2014 Boise State Broncos football team

Arizona

Main article: 2014 Arizona Wildcats football team

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BSU ARIZ 1 13:18 4 78 1:42 BSU Jay Ajayi 56-yard touchdown run, Dan Goodale kick good 7 0 1 9:17 6 88 2:30 BSU Chaz Anderson 57-yard touchdown reception from Grant Hedrick, Dan Goodale kick good 14 0 1 5:12 6 80 2:11 BSU Jay Ajayi 16-yard touchdown run, Dan Goodale kick good 21 0 1 1:23 11 65 3:49 ARIZ Anu Solomon 1-yard touchdown run, Casey Skowron kick good 21 7 2 11:56 5 22 2:40 BSU Jay Ajayi 1-yard touchdown run, Dan Goodale kick good 28 7 2 8:03 13 83 3:53 ARIZ Nick Wilson 1-yard touchdown run, Casey Skowron kick good 28 14 2 0:30 4 5 0:23 ARIZ 42-yard field goal by Casey Skowron 28 17 2 0:03 4 57 0:27 BSU 36-yard field goal by Dan Goodale 31 17 3 9:11 14 50 4:18 ARIZ 24-yard field goal by Casey Skowron 31 20 3 1:57 – – – BSU Interception returned 16 yards for touchdown by Donte Deayon, Dan Goodale kick good 38 20 3 0:41 5 75 1:16 ARIZ Samajie Grant 51-yard touchdown reception from Anu Solomon, Casey Skowron kick good 38 27 4 6:11 10 50 3:06 ARIZ 24-yard field goal by Casey Skowron 38 30 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 38 30

Source: ^[4]

Statistics

Statistics[4]	BSU	ARIZ
First downs	22	29
Plays–yards	69–471	106–492
Rushes–yards	34–162	56–157
Passing yards	309	335
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	24–35–1	28–49–2
Time of possession	29:01	30:59

Fiesta Bowl history

Prior to the 2014–15 NCAA football season, the Fiesta Bowl became one of the six bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff (CFP). This game between Boise State and Arizona ended the Fiesta Bowl's 16-year tie-in with the Big 12; since 1999, the Big 12 champion had hosted the Fiesta Bowl when it is not playing in the national championship game.

The preceding Fiesta Bowl was actually played on New Year's Day, which naturally was also in 2014. There therefore were two 2014 Fiesta Bowls.

References

1. Murphy, Brian (January 1, 2015). "Boise State's Sperbeck, Vallejo named Fiesta Bowl MVPs". idahostatesman.com. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
2. "College Football Lines, NCAA College Football Lines At Bovada Online Sportsbook". Bovada. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
3. @DrJesseMcGuire (December 31, 2014). "Fiesta Bowl 2014. Playing the National Anthem today! Get ready!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
4. "Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
5. American dream: UCF, others eye unlikely, unprecedented BCS berth
6. About the College Football Playoff