The 2015 Arizona Bowl (known as the 2015 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl for sponsorship reasons) was a post-season
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
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada.
H ...
and the
Colorado State Rams
The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sp ...
played on December 29, 2015, at
Arizona Stadium
Arizona Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12 Conference.
Original ...
in
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. It was the inaugural edition of the
Arizona Bowl
The Arizona Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2015 season. The game is held at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, and starting in 2020 has tie-ins with the Mountain West Conference and Mid-Ameri ...
and the final game of the
2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...
for both teams. In an unusual circumstance for a postseason bowl game, both teams were from the
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...
due to issues fulfilling the bowl's conference tie-ins, resulting in the first bowl game to feature conference opponents since the
1979 Orange Bowl
The 1979 Orange Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1978–79 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and #6 Neb ...
.
Team selection
The Arizona Bowl, new for 2015, had tie-ins with
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(C-USA) and the
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...
. If one of those conferences did not have enough
bowl-eligible
Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...
teams, the
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...
was an alternative. At the end of the regular season, Mountain West had seven bowl-eligible teams and six guaranteed spots, leaving the placement of individual teams uncertain. When neither C-USA or Sun Belt were able to provide a team to the Arizona Bowl, a matchup between two Mountain West teams was the result, marking the first time since the
1979 Orange Bowl
The 1979 Orange Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1978–79 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and #6 Neb ...
that a non-championship bowl game was played between members of the same conference.
[
The outcome drew the ire of Mountain West commissioner ]Craig Thompson
Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books ''Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), ''Blankets'' (2003), '' Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), '' Habibi'' (2011), and '' Space Dumplins'' (2015). Tho ...
, who criticized how the NCAA selected teams with losing records to gain bowl eligibility "on an equal footing with 6–6 teams", explaining that "our Conference representatives argued steadfastly for an approach whereby all 6–6 teams would first be placed according to primary and secondary agreements among the conferences and bowl games. Our position was that only then would the safety net of 5–7 teams be activated for those games which had not yet secured participants, rather than allow those teams to fulfill conference agreements and usurp 6–6 teams from conferences with backup agreements."
The two Mountain West teams selected for the Arizona Bowl had not met in the regular season, as they were in opposite divisions, and were not in the rotation to play each other during the season.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Nevada Wolf Pack finished the regular season 6–6 (4–4 in conference) under third-year head coach Brian Polian
Brian Stewart Polian (born December 22, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the special teams coordinator for LSU. He is the former head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack football team. He is the son of former Natio ...
, becoming bowl-eligible after defeating San Jose State
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
. This game was Nevada's tenth bowl appearance in eleven seasons.
Colorado State Rams
The Colorado State Rams finished the regular season 7–5 (5–3 in conference) under first-year head coach Mike Bobo
Robert Michael Bobo (born April 9, 1974) is an American college football coach who is currently the Offensive Analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs. He was recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Auburn Tigers. He was the hea ...
, becoming bowl-eligible for the third straight year after defeating New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.
Game summary
Colorado State won the toss and elected to receive. The Rams drove downfield into Nevada territory before quarterback Nick Stevens
Nick Stevens (born 3 January 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League and former coach of South Australian National Football League club Glenelg. He played in four pre-season premierships, with Port Adel ...
fumbled and the Wolfpack pounced on it at the Rams 41-yard line. From there, Nevada drove to the Rams 2-yard line where they were forced to settle for a 19-yard Brent Zuzo field goal to take the lead, 3–0. The Wolfpack forced a punt and kicked another field goal—this one a 37-yarder—to go up, 6–0. The Rams got a drive going on their next possession, advancing to the Nevada 4-yard line where they were stopped on fourth down. However, Nevada went three-and-out and CSU got the ball back with very good field position at the 39-yard line. After a long pass down to the 1-yard line, Stevens scored on a QB keeper to give CSU the lead, 7–6. It didn't last long though, as Nevada running back James Butler burst through a hole in the defense for a 77-yard rushing touchdown that put the Pack back up, 13–7. On their next drive, CSU drove down the field and made a short 20-yard field goal to trim the lead to 13–10 for Nevada. On the ensuing kickoff, Elijah Mitchell returned it 96 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 19–10. The extra point, however, was no good. CSU kicked a field goal right before halftime to make it 19–13 Nevada at the break. Nevada scored early in the third quarter on a field goal to make it 22–13. CSU was not out of it yet, as they went on a 12-play 75-yard drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown by Jamsen Odon. At the end of three quarters, Nevada led, 22–20. Nevada's next drive resulted in a turnover on downs, and both teams traded punts before CSU nailed a 38-yard field goal to take a 23–22 lead. Nevada then put together a very dramatic late-game drive that ended up with Butler scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was no good and Nevada was up, 28–23. CSU put together a last-ditch drive that time ran out on, at the Nevada 12-yard line. The final score remained at 28–23, for a Nevada win.
Scoring summary :
Statistics
References
External links
Box score
at ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
Arizona Bowl Highlights
via YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{Colorado State Rams bowl game navbox
Arizona Bowl
The Arizona Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2015 season. The game is held at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, and starting in 2020 has tie-ins with the Mountain West Conference and Mid-Ameri ...
Arizona Bowl
Nevada Wolf Pack football bowl games
Colorado State Rams football bowl games
Arizona Bowll