2014 Fiesta Bowl results: Boise State crashes yet another party

The major bowls began on Wednesday, and the narratives flowed like New Year’s Eve champagne. Here’s a look at Wednesday’s key numbers.

Georgia Tech headed into Wednesday night’s Orange Bowl battle with the No. 1 offense in the country, according to Off. F/+. The Yellow Jackets had averaged 6.1 yards per play against Virginia Tech (No. 4 in Def. F/+) and 5.8 against Clemson (No. 1), and they had emasculated lesser defenses: 8.9 against North Carolina (No. 108), 8.1 against Pitt (No. 73), 7.6 against NC State (No. 70), 7 against Georgia Southern (No. 74). Paul Johnson doesn’t recruit many blue-chippers, and he runs the opposite of a trendy offense, but his spread option clicked as never before.

Another year, another Boise State Fiesta Bowl victory. After a slow start to the season, the Broncos finished a strong debut campaign under Bryan Harsin Wednesday with a 38-30 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in Glendale.

Boise State got off to a quick start, scoring three straight touchdowns in the first quarter. The first was a 56-yard run on Jay Ajayi’s first touch of the game, the second was a 57-yard touchdown pass to converted defensive back Chaz Anderson and the third was a Statue of Liberty touchdown run for Ajayi. After Arizona responded with a touchdown, Ajayi went full extension for his third touchdown of the half. The Wildcats ended up scoring 10 more points before the half, but a late Boise field goal made it 31-17 at the break.

Rich Rod is either very upset Arizona can’t seem to crack Boise State and pull ahead in the Fiesta Bowl, or this is the most immaculate Brad Pitt impersonation from the end of Se7en we’ve seen in 2014.

It’s okay, guy, 2015 is around the corner.

Trey Griffey is a wide receiver for the Arizona Wildcats. He also has a father you might have heard of:

You’re still the Swingman in our hearts, Junior. Even if you’re more of the Shutterman now.

On his first touch of the Fiesta Bowl, Jay Ajayi burst 56 yards up the middle to give Boise State a 7-0 lead over Arizona. Later in the first quarter, the running back scored again on a Statue of Liberty play.

The junior may have topped himself again in the third quarter, with this fantastic dive and reach for the score, answering Arizona’s first touchdown of the game and making it 28-7 Boise.

Earlier this season, new Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin came through with a bit of a call-back to the Broncos’ previous era by scoring against Wyoming on a Statue of Liberty play. Wednesday against Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl, they did it again.

via ESPN

The big games are here. New Year’s Eve has arrived, and with it come some of the most highly-anticipated matchups of bowl season. Three top-20 teams square off Wednesday, with each game being broadcast on ESPN and streamed on WatchESPN.

Things kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET with the return of the Peach Bowl, as two teams who barely missed the playoff field will face off in Atlanta. Top-10 programs Ole Miss and TCU will clash in a game that will see two of the nation’s top defenses pitted against each other. The Rebels likely have the edge defensively, but the Horned Frogs have one of the best playmakers in the nation at quarterback in Trevone Boykin.

The New Year’s Six bowls begin on Wednesday, completing the slow, steady ramping up of bowl season. After Stage 1 of bowl season (pre-Christmas, mid-major battles) came a fun Stage 2 (post-Christmas games between mostly 7-5 and 8-4 power teams). Now it’s time for the two-day, Stage 3 main event.

Here are the most important matchups for Wednesday’s bowls.

Game time: 4 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Bowl season can make for some pretty crazy travel plans for college football teams. Geography isn’t always a major factor in bowl decisions, but the new College Football Playoff selection committee took locality into account when creating parts of the six biggest bowls, the New Year’s Six (the two Playoff games and four other major games).

Here’s a look at which NY6 teams made out the best, which ones had the most brutal travel plans, and which fans will just get to take a short bus trip.

The regular season is over. The Champions have been crowned. But we still have some work to do before we can crown a champion of the Underdogs.

Boise State beat Fresno State for the Mountain West title by a pair of scores, but actually lost a first-place vote this week -- to Marshall. The Thundering Herd tumbled dramatically a week ago after falling to Western Kentucky in OT, but apparently a narrow win over a solid Louisiana Tech squad for the C-USA title was enough to restore some faith. Northern Illinois, which pummeled Bowling Green in the MAC Championship, wasn’t as lucky.

After years of being a BCS bowl, the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl has become one of the new hosts for the College Football Playoff. While it won’t host a national semifinal this year, it does end up being the major bowl that hosts an at-large team against one of the nation’s best “Group of Five” mid-major teams, from the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt. This year, that team is Boise State.

Nestled in the Arizona desert, the Fiesta Bowl tends to be one of the more entertaining bowl games each season. Here is everything you need to know to prepare for this year’s game: