SUN BOWL
19) ARIZONA ST. vs. PURDUE
Dec-31 2:00/CBS
SO WHAT’S THE STORY WITH THIS ONE?
Arizona St.’s last Bowl win was the 1997 Sun Bowl. Purdue’s last bowl win was the 2002 Sun Bowl. But Arizona St. is not happy to be here. Hoping for a big payday at the Holiday Bowl, California’s BCS dis is the Sun Devils’ loss as well. It gets worse as their QB Andrew Walter is out with a shoulder injury. Add more injuries and a suspension to their offense, the ranked team isn’t the favorite in this match-up; especially when many consider Purdue to be a Top 15 team with a little bad luck.
WHO THE HELL ARE THESE TEAMS?
Arizona St. has lost their last three bowl games since their Sun Bowl win. This year, the Sun Devils were 2-0 against Big Ten teams including co-champion Iowa. They also boast wins against Oregon St. and UCLA but their last game featured a loss to state-rival Arizona and the injury of their QB. Andrew Walter’s remarkable arm that slung for 30 touchdowns will not be available. It will be up to WR Andrew Hagen who caught for over a 1000 yards to step up and lead the offense. RB Hakim Hill actually started out third on the depth chart but now is forced to lead the rushing game after the two above him were injured and suspended. Their defense has two very good linebackers in Dale Robinson and Justin Burks but the rest is stale. Overall, ASU averages 34.5 points against.
Purdue is only 1-4 in their last five bowls but come to the Sun after a bizarre season. They started 5-0 including wins against Syracuse and Notre Dame. Then lost their next 4 from the elite of the Big Ten. But they did not loose any of those games by more then three points. They wrapped up by winning their last two games including one against Ohio St. All eyes will be on Kyle Orton who passed for 2,809 yards with 28 touchdowns, only 5 interceptions and a 62.3 completion percentage. His go-to man is Taylor Stubblefield who caught 82 passes for 1,014 yards and 15 touchdowns. Their defense is also solid rarely giving up more then 20 points and is especially strong in the secondary led by CB Antwaun Rogers. Their weakness is on special teams. Their field goal game is only 10/17 and they have yet to find an adequate return man for punts.
WHAT THE HELL IS THE SUN BOWL?
It’s one of the oldest bowls in the land and one of the originals. The first Sun Bowl was in 1935 as it served as a benefit for underprivileged children and to finance improvements of the high school stadium. It matched a local El-Paso high school team and a college team. That was quickly changed the next year and since then the Sun Bowl has been a stable in the college football season. The bowl never did garner the prestige of it’s other fellow old bowls and actually went through some hard times. After fearing a fold, they became the first bowl to have an official sponsor and lose their identity becoming the John Hancock Bowl for ten years.
ARIZONA ST.-27
PURDUE-23
MVP: SAM KELLER
WHAT HAPPENED?
Two touchdowns and two lead changes in the final two minutes of the game. Sam Keller in his first start for the Sun Devils also threw for 370 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. This included a last minute pass to take the lead and finally win the game. It was an even matched back and forth game and at first looked like it was going to be a defensive matchup. At the end of the half, Arizona St. was up 3-2. Sounds like a hockey score. But in the third quarter, Kyle Orton threw an 80 yard pass in the first play of the second half to score a touchdown. At the end of the third quarter the score was 10-9. In the fourth quarterr, both offenses went insane. With less then two minutes to go, Arizona St. was still up 20-16 but with 1:22 remaining, Purdue took the lead 23-20 with a four play, 60 yard drive. But 10 football seconds later, Arizona St. went 80 yards in 4 plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Exceptional game with extra kudos to Sun Devil WR Darian Hagan who caught nine receptions for 182 yards. The crowd was over 50,000 strong for this game and this one was indeed a classic.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Purdue is still an enigma. They had this horrible knack of losing close games and it continues with the bowl game. The Boilermakers just are not playing 60 minutes of football. Hate to say it, but this usually falls on the coaching staff. For the Sun Devils, this was a great ending to a great year that almost ended badly with the injury of their quarterback. This team had alot of heart (and alot of talent too!) could be a force in the Pac-10 for the next couple of years.
