The city of El Paso and the Sun Bowl have special places in the annals of Arizona State football lore as the first-ever postseason bowl game appearance and the highest total of visits to any single bowl game have come at the site at which the Sun Devils will conclude their 2019 season.
Including the 2019 matchup with Florida State – ASU’s seventh all-time Sun Bowl appearance – Arizona State ranks third all-time in most Sun Bowl appearances behind Texas Tech (nine) and UTEP (eight). Arizona State’s three Sun Bowl wins create a six-way tie with Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA, and Wyoming for third-most behind Stanford’s four and UTEP’s five.
The Sun Bowl first played in 1935, is historic in its own right as it is the second oldest bowl game behind the Rose Bowl.
In this edition of Sun Devil Science, we chronicle the history of Arizona State in the Sun Bowl game.
January 1, 1940 – Arizona State 0, Catholic University 0
The sixth annual Sun Bowl played in front of somewhere between 13,000 to 15,000 fans in El Paso, featured the Bulldogs from Arizona State Teachers College in the school’s first-ever bowl game against the Catholic University Cardinals from Washington, D.C. – currently a Division III team.
The 1939 Bulldogs featured All-Border Conference honorees Noble Riggs and Al Sanserino at guard, Joe Hernandez at halfback and ASU Hall of Famer Wayne “Ripper” Pitts at fullback. Arizona State, coached by Dixie Howell, entered the Sun Bowl with an 8-1-1 record and for just the second time in school history claimed its conference title.
The only scoreless tie in the history of the Sun Bowl, Arizona State outgained Catholic 205 to 198, with all of the Bulldogs’ yards coming on the ground and the Cardinals accumulating a whopping 16 yards through the air in addition to 182 rushing yards. The two teams combined for 23 punts and 13 penalties.
January 1, 1941 – Western Reserve 26, Arizona State 13
Coming to El Paso from Cleveland, Western Reserve, then a member of the Big Four Conference, entered the game with a 7-1 record. Now known as Case Western Reserve, the football program currently plays in the NCAA’s Division III and its postseason appearance against Arizona State is the only bowl game in program history.
The Bulldogs, again guided by Dixie Howell, entered the game as the back-to-back Border Conference champions with a 7-1-2 overall record and a 3-0-1 slate in conference play. Arizona State that season had all-conference members in end Sam Andrews, center Ray Green, halfback Hascall Henshaw and guard Al Sanserino.
Western Reserve’s efforts were highlighted by a first-quarter touchdown run by Steve Belichick, father of Bill Belichick, to give the Red Cats a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs would enter halftime with a 13-7 edge as a result of a touchdown reception by Wayne Pitts and then a dazzling 94-yard touchdown run by Henshaw, who had 147 rushing yards on the day. Western Reserve would score 19 unanswered points in the second half to claim a 26-13 victory.
December 31, 1997 – Arizona State 17, Iowa 7
The year after claiming the Pac-10 Conference championship, securing a Rose Bowl berth and coming within minutes of a national championship, ASU, under the direction of head coach Bruce Snyder, traveled to El Paso for its first back-to-back bowl appearances since 1985-86 and its first Sun Bowl appearance in more than a half-century.
The Sun Devils finished 8-3 in the regular season and third in the Pac-10 behind Washington State and UCLA, while their Sun Bowl opponent, the Iowa Hawkeyes, had a 7-4 regular-season record and tied for sixth in the Big Ten Conference.
Featuring First-Team All-American linebacker and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year Pat Tillman, First-Team All-American defensive lineman and Pac-10 Morris Trophy winner Jeremy Staat, Second-Team All-American offensive lineman Kyle Murphy and Third-Team All-American offensive lineman Grey Ruegamer, ASU had to operate without typical starting quarterback Ryan Kealy as he suffered a serious injury in the team’s regular-season finale.
With backup Steve Campbell as the starter – and cornerback Jason Simmons momentarily filling in at quarterback – ASU heavily relied on its standout running backs duo of senior Michael Martin and sophomore J.R. Redmond that helped ASU total 268 rushing yards, along with a stellar defensive effort that limited Iowa to just one touchdown and merely 19 total rushing yards while notching six sacks on the Hawkeyes.
As a result of his 169 rushing yards on 27 carries with a touchdown, Martin was named the C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player, while Staat was named the game’s Jimmy Rogers, Jr. Most Valuable Lineman.
ASU entered the game ranked No. 18 by the Associated Press and the victory boosted the Sun Devils to a No. 14 final ranking.
December 31, 2004 – Arizona State 27, Purdue 23
After an 8-3 regular-season record, the Sun Devils, then coached by Dirk Koetter, traveled to El Paso to face a Purdue team that earlier in the season had risen as high as No. 5 in the national rankings before a four-game regular-season losing skid.
In front of what at the time was the largest crowd in the history of the Sun Bowl and now stands as the third-largest (51,288), similar to its 1997 Sun Bowl appearance, ASU was forced to start its backup quarterback due to an injury suffered by starter Andrew Walter in the regular-season finale against Arizona.
Sophomore quarterback Sam Keller showed no jitters in his collegiate starting debut, as he threw for 370 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, outperforming his more highly acclaimed counterpart Kyle Orton of Purdue.
A back-and-forth game that featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, Purdue scored what appeared to be a game-clinching touchdown to secure a 23-20 lead with 1:14 remaining in the game. However, ASU quickly scattered down the field and a 19-yard screen pass to Rudy Burgess – his second such touchdown reception of the game – gave the Sun Devils their 27-23 edge that proved to be the final score.
Keller was named the game’s C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player, while Burgess rushed 20 times for 125 yards and caught three passes for 64 yards with two touchdowns and Derek Hagan totaled 182 receiving yards on nine catches with a touchdown.
On defense, Justin Burks had a team-high 13 tackles and a forced fumble while Dale Robinson had 11 tackles including 3.0 for loss with a sack. Both safety Josh Barrett and defensive lineman Jimmy Verdon had fumble recoveries for the Sun Devils.
After the win, ASU finished No. 19 in the final Associated Press poll.
December 27, 2014 – Arizona State 36, Duke 31
A memorable season under head coach Todd Graham that saw ASU enter the serious conversation for the inaugural College Football Playoff, the Sun Devils faced the Blue Devils to conclude the 2014 season.
ASU jumped out to a 20-3 lead midway through the second quarter after a pair of touchdown runs by true freshman Demario Richard and a pair of Zane Gonzalez field goals, but by halftime, Duke would narrow the gap to a 20-17 Sun Devil advantage.
The Sun Devils distanced the margin in the third quarter with yet another touchdown by Richard and another field goal by Gonzalez, giving ASU a 30-17 lead entering the final quarter.
From there, the Blue Devils stormed back with a pair of touchdowns – the second of which on a trick play pass that gave Duke a 31-30 lead with 5:03 to play.
Boosted by an electric 96-yard kickoff return by true freshman Kalen Ballage that nearly went for a touchdown, in just one play the Sun Devils reclaimed the lead with a four-yard score by Richard. Duke would drive down to the Arizona State 14-yard line needing just to get in the end zone to win the game, but a Kweishi Brown interception in the end zone with 45 seconds remaining sealed the victory for ASU.
With the win, ASU claimed its third straight Sun Bowl victory and secured its first back-to-back 10-win seasons since 1972-73. The Sun Bowl win also gave ASU a No. 12 ranking in the final Associated Press poll – the program’s highest end of season poll ranking since 1996.
In his final college game, quarterback Taylor Kelly completed 24-of-34 passes for 240 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions, and 24 net rushing yards. D.J. Foster was ASU’s leading rusher with 79 yards on 11 carries and added three receptions for 42 yards, while Jaelen Strong had 103 receiving yards on seven receptions.
Defensively, four Sun Devils collected at least 10 tackles including Antonio Longino (17), Marcus Hardison (13), Salamo Fiso (12) and Jordan Simone (10). Simone added a fumble recovery.
Richard earned the game’s C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player trophy after rushing for 41 yards with two touchdowns and catching five passes for 22 yards with two touchdowns to a total of four touchdowns on the day.
Boosted by his late kick return, Ballage was awarded the John Folmer Most Valuable Special Teams Player trophy, while Marcus Hardison earned the Jimmy Rogers, Jr. Most Valuable Lineman trophy.
December 29, 2017 – North Carolina State 52, Arizona State 31
Having been relieved of his duties a little over a month earlier, head coach Todd Graham ended his tenure at Arizona State with a bowl game appearance in El Paso.
The Sun Devils were never able to gain any traction in the game as ASU fell behind 14-0 early in the second quarter and 28-10 at halftime. North Carolina State would extend the lead to 38-10 early in the fourth quarter and though ASU would inch closer with consecutive touchdowns that would create a 38-24 score, the Wolfpack closed out the game with a 52-31 margin of victory.
ASU quarterback Manny Wilkins completed 25-of-40 passes for 352 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions, adding 13 rushing yards with a touchdown. N’Keal Harry had game-highs of nine receptions for 142 yards with a touchdown, while Kyle Williams had seven catches for 85 yards including a touchdown.
Jay Jay Wilson had a team-high 12 total tackles, while Khaylan Kearse-Thomas had seven tackles including a sack.
The 2017 Sun Bowl is listed as having been attended by 39,897 fans – the first and only time since 1982 that the game failed to draw at least 40,000 attendees.
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