At the onset of the 2011 season, the ASU football team had aspirations of playing in a BCS bowl game.
As the year wore on, that goal faded away with mounting losses. But on Sunday, the Sun Devils (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12) accepted an invitation to the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas for a matchup with a BCS caliber team, Boise State.
ASU will travel to the campus of UNLV to meet the No. 8 Broncos (11-1, 6-1 MWC) Dec. 22 at Sam Boyd Stadium on ESPN for its first bowl appearance since 2007.
“We are looking forward to the chance to play a big time opponent on a national stage,” junior quarterback Brock Osweiler said in a statement. “Las Vegas is an exciting location and we are thrilled to be able to play in a bowl game for our fans against a team like Boise State.”
The game will be the last time coach Dennis Erickson leads the Sun Devils. He was fired Nov. 28 after posting a 31-30 record over five years in Tempe.
“The goal at the beginning of the year for any college football team is to play in a bowl game,” Erickson said. “I am so proud of our players and my coaching staff. We are grateful to the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas and the city of Las Vegas for giving us this opportunity. We are honored to be a part of it. We are playing one of the nation's top teams in Boise State as well.”
The only other time the two schools met, the Sun Devils defeated the Broncos 56-7 in 1996. BSU ran past Utah 26-3 in last year’s Maaco Bowl Las Vegas.
“To be able to go to a bowl game in a city like Las Vegas and play an opponent like Boise State, wow,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Bo Moos said. “(It’s) one last chance to play on national TV against a ranked opponent. That is why you play this game.”
The payout for each participating team is $1,100,000 and the cheapest tickets are $25. This will be ASU’s first bowl trip to Nevada.
“We are thrilled to finally host Arizona State from the Pac-12 side,” Maaco Bowl Las Vegas Executive Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said in a press release. “The Sun Devils are a traditionally marquee program that we know is excited about playing in its first bowl game in four years. ASU has a strong following in Southern Nevada.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
