2014 Fiesta Bowl (December)

2014 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
Date	December 31, 2014
Season	2014
Stadium	University of Phoenix Stadium
Location	Glendale, Arizona
MVP	Offensive: Boise State WR Thomas Sperbeck; Defensive: Boise State LB Tanner Vallejo
Favorite	Arizona by 3.5
National anthem	Jesse McGuire
Referee	John O'Neill (Big Ten)
Halftime show	The Pride of Arizona (University of Arizona) and the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band (Boise State)
Attendance	66,896
Payout	US$24 million (2014)
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 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.

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

Arizona

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	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

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

[MVP-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.

[Stats-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

[1]

v t e 2014–15 NCAA football bowl game season
New Orleans (Dec. 20) New Mexico (Dec. 20) Las Vegas (Dec. 20) Famous Idaho Potato (Dec. 20) Camellia (Dec. 20) Miami Beach (Dec. 22) Boca Raton (Dec. 23) Poinsettia (Dec. 23) Bahamas (Dec. 24) Hawaii (Dec. 24) Heart of Dallas (Dec. 26) Quick Lane (Dec. 26) St. Petersburg Bowl (Dec. 26) Military (Dec. 27) Sun (Dec. 27) Independence (Dec. 27) Pinstripe (Dec. 27) Holiday (Dec. 27) Liberty (Dec. 29) Russell Athletic (Dec. 29) Texas (Dec. 29) Music City (Dec. 30) Belk (Dec. 30) Foster Farms (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 31) Fiesta (Dec. 31) Orange (Dec. 31) Outback (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Citrus (Jan. 1) Armed Forces (Jan. 2) TaxSlayer (Jan. 2) Alamo (Jan. 2) Cactus (Jan. 2) Birmingham (Jan. 3) GoDaddy (Jan. 4)
College Football Playoff games: Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) National Championship Game (Jan. 12)
All-Star Games: Medal of Honor Bowl (Jan. 10) East−West Shrine Game (Jan. 17) NFLPA Collegiate Bowl (Jan. 17) Senior Bowl (Jan. 24)

v t e Fiesta Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Mountain America Stadium State Farm Stadium College Football Playoff College football playoff at-large Group of Five
Games	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 (January) 1997 (December) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 (January) 2014 (December) 2016 (January) 2016 (December) 2017 2019 (January) 2019 (December) 2021 2022 (January) 2022 (December) 2024 (January) 2024 (December)
Notes	The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1996, 1999, and 2003. There was a Fiesta Bowl in January and December in 1997, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022. Bold indicates College Football Playoff semifinals.