The 1970 Peach Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

between the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

and the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

Background

The Sun Devils were champions of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

once again and were aiming for a perfect season. The Tar Heels finished tied for second in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. Arizona State was invited after Penn State declined. A blizzard developed before gametime, with rain, sleet, and snow coming out in all throughout the game.

Game summary

Bob Thomas helped the Sun Devils jump out to a 14–0 lead before the Tar Heels responded in the second quarter with a Don McCauley touchdown run.

J. D. Hill J. D. Hill (born October 30, 1948) is an American former professional player who was a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. He played college football at Arizona Sta ...

caught a touchdown pass from Joe Spagnola to make it 21–7 before the Tar heels exploded for 19 points before the quarter ended. McCauley ran for two touchdowns along with teammate Blanchard to give the Heels a 26–21 halftime lead. But the second half is where the Sun Devils took control, scoring 27 unanswered points on two touchdown runs by both Monroe Eley and touchdown runs by Thomas and Steve Holden to give the Sun Devils their first ever bowl win. Eley rushed for 173 yards to earn co-MVP honors while Junior Ah You earned co-MVP honors for knocking out quarterback Paul Miller.

Aftermath

The Tar Heels would win three conference titles before Dooley left after the 1977 season. They have returned to this bowl four times since this game, the last time in 2001. The Sun Devils finished ranked #6 in the polls. They would win five more conference titles before Kush's ouster in 1979. The Sun Devils have not returned to this game since. This was the final Peach Bowl played at Grant Field as it would move to

Atlanta Stadium Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

the following year.

Scoring summary

*ASU – Thomas 8 run (Ekstrand kick) *ASU – Thomas 33 run (Ekstrand kick) *NC – McCauley 1 run (Craven kick) *ASU – Hill 67 pass from Spagnola (Ekstrand kick) *NC – Blanchard 36 pass from Miller (Craven kick) *NC – McCauley 17 run (kick failed) *NC – McCauley 4 run (pass failed) *ASU – Eley 8 run (Ekstrand kick) *ASU – Holden 13 run (kick failed) *ASU – Eley 5 run (Ekstrand kick) *ASU – Thomas 2 run (Ekstrand kick)

References

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

Peach Bowl Arizona State Sun Devils football bowl games North Carolina Tar Heels football bowl games 1970 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) December 1970 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub