To many of us, the college football season flies ball all too quickly regardless the structure of the schedule. However, when skimming through ASU’s 2016 slate this preseason an added hitch became noticeable in that the Sun Devils’ home schedule came to a close uncharacteristically early with their Nov. 10 finale at Sun Devil Stadium against Utah. Several factors influence this and the ongoing stadium reconstruction benefits from a few weeks’ head start, but fans likely are at least a little bummed to have the last home game of the 2016 season happen so soon.
Not only does this Nov. 10 date feel early in the season for ASU to conclude its home schedule, but it in actually ranks as one of the very earliest points in the calendar year that Arizona State plays its final home game. Dating back to the 1949 season, this is the sixth-earliest point in the year that ASU plays its home finale and is the earliest date since 2002.
Earliest Final Home Games at ASU (1949-Present)
6. 2016 – Nov. 10
After a 5-1 start, the Sun Devils have dropped three straight to enter its home finale with a 5-4 record. ASU hosts Utah, ranked as high as 12th in the major polls, before heading to Seattle to face Washington, which if the season ended today would be the fourth team included in the College Football Playoff. From there, the Sun Devils head to Tucson to take on rival Arizona, which has already lost seven games and therefore will be ineligible for postseason play for the first time since 2011. Should ASU fail to win at least one of its final three games, the Sun Devils would fail to be bowl eligible – barring an exception similar to what Nebraska received last year – for the first time since 2010.
4t. 2002 – Nov. 9
In a rare 13-game regular season, ASU had already claimed bowl eligibility prior to Senior Day with its 7-3 record entering its home finale against California. The Sun Devils entered that game with some momentum, having won three of the previous four games including a momentous win in Eugene over No. 6 Oregon. In the final home game, however, the Devils were downed by the Golden Bears by a score of 55-38, which would be the second of three straight losses as ASU then lost 34-13 to No. 8 USC in the Coliseum. After a bye week, ASU then claimed the Territorial Cup with a 34-20 victory over Arizona in Tucson and ended the season with a 34-27 loss to No. 6 Kansas State in the Holiday Bowl.
4t. 1996 – Nov. 9
Senior Day for perhaps the most memorable season in Arizona State history was additionally unforgettable as the Sun Devils clinched the Pac-10 Championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl with its 35-7 victory over California in their final home game of 1996. After that landmark win, ASU had a bye week before heading south to completely dismantle Arizona by a final tally of 56-14. Following its unblemished regular season, Arizona State took on Ohio State in the 1997 Rose Bowl and fell mere moments from what would ultimately become a National Championship but fell to the Buckeyes by a score of 20-17.
3. 1998 – Nov. 7
In one of ASU’s most disappointing seasons in recent memory, the Devils scored their most decisive win of the year in their home finale by downing California by a score of 55-22 to complete a three-game win streak. From that point, ASU had two tries to win its sixth game and accomplish bowl eligibility but was smashed at Oregon by a score of 51-19 and then after a bye week lost its second straight matchup with Arizona by a score of 50-42 in Tucson to end the 1998 season with a 5-6 record and no postseason appearance.
2. 2000 – Nov. 4
ASU entered its final home game with a 5-3 record, but in their third consecutive overtime game, the Sun Devils fell to USC by a score of 44-38 in two extra sessions. The Sun Devils then lost at Stanford before a bye week which was then followed by a trip to Tucson where the Devils defeated Arizona for the second consecutive year to help ASU achieve bowl eligibility in head coach Bruce Snyder’s final year at ASU. In Snyder’s final game, the Sun Devils fell to Boston College in the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day.
1. 1990 – Nov. 3
The 2-5 Sun Devils entered their home finale against Oregon State and scored what would tie for the largest margin of victory on the year with a 34-9 win over Oregon State to break a five-game losing streak. From there, ASU notched another 25-point win with a 51-26 triumph over Washington State before a bye week. ASU then lost to Arizona in the last of the infamous nine-year streak in which the Sun Devils failed to defeat the Wildcats. To end the 1990 season, Arizona State lost to Houston by a score of 62-45 in the Coca-Cola Classic played in Japan, in which Cougar QB David Klingler threw for 716 yards to set the FBS record that lasted until 2014.
