1972 Fiesta Bowl

American college football game December 2025 August 2023 Fiesta Bowl 2nd Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil Stadium (cropped).jpg Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, hosted the Fiesta Bowl. December 23 1972 1972 Arizona State Sun Devils 9–2 WAC Frank Kush 15 13 14 14 0 21 Woody Green (ASU HB)Mike Fink  (Missouri DB) Missouri Tigers 6–5 Big 8 Al Onofrio NR NR 0 7 14 14 Hughes Lindsey Nelson, Eddie Doucette bg Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona 51,138 The 1972 Fiesta Bowl was the second edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday, December 23. Part of the 1972–73 bowl game season, it matched the unranked Missouri Tigers of the Big Eight Conference and #15 Arizona State Sun Devils of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HCwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5-cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5786%2C3516532 Lawrence Daily Journal-World Kansas Associated Press Can MU slow Sun Devils at Fiesta Bowl tonight? December 23, 1972 11https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UaQqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dVsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7160%2C5970042 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Ferguson George Mizzou, ASU square off for Fiesta December 22, 1972 B8 Arizona State never trailed, gained over 700 yards on offense, and won again on its home field, 49–35.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NqlVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9-ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4563%2C6302248 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Green-led Sun Devils roll past Missouri December 24, 1972 3Bhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FdBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AAIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7256%2C4225009 Toledo Blade Ohio Associated Press Arizona St. Fiesta king December 24, 1972 B3 This was the first of two consecutive Fiesta Bowls played at night. Teams 1972 NCAA University Division football season Missouri 1972 Missouri Tigers football team The Tigers finished the regular season with a 6–5 overall record, 3–4 in the Big Eight Conference, with upset wins over Notre Dame, Colorado, and Iowa State. This was Missouri's first bowl appearance in three years. Arizona State 1972 Arizona State Sun Devils football team The Sun Devils were champions of the WAC for the fourth straight year, the only conference loss was by two points at Wyoming in late September. The other blemish was a home loss to independent Air Force. ASU had won the previous year's inaugural Fiesta Bowl. Game summary Televised by Hughes, the kickoff on Saturday night was shortly after 6 p.m. MST. It was the only bowl game of the day, played after the first two NFL divisional playoff games. Arizona State took the lead early with two touchdown runs by All-American halfback Woody Green, taking a 14–0 lead at the end of the first. Missouri fullback Don Johnson scored from a yard out to narrow the lead, but ASU responded with fullback Brent McClanahan's one-yard run, followed by Danny White's 34-yard touchdown pass to split end Ed Beverly to increase the lead to 28–7 at halftime. Missouri's Chuck Link caught a touchdown pass from quarterback John Cherry to narrow the lead, but the extra point missed, making it only 28–13. Not to be deterred, Link caught another touchdown pass and converted the conversion to make it 28–21 as the third quarter came to a close. The Sun Devils struck back, as Green scored his third touchdown of the day to make it 35–21. But on the kickoff return, Mike Fink returned it 100 yards to cut the lead back to seven. Beverly caught his second touchdown of the day from White to make it 42–28, and after a failed Missouri drive, Green scored his fourth touchdown to give ASU a commanding 49–28 lead. Tiger halfback Tommy Reamon had 31-yard touchdown run to make the final score 49–35, as ASU won its second straight Fiesta Bowl. ASU set two records that still stand for most total yards (718) and first downs (33), which helped them win despite four turnovers compared to Missouri's three, which hurt them more. Green ran for 202 yards on 25 carries (8.1 avg.) for four touchdowns and was named Offensive MVP;https://www.fiestabowl.org/fiesta-bowl/fiesta-bowl-game-history/game-results-recaps/1972-fiesta-bowl.php 1972 Fiesta Bowl - Arizona State vs. Missouri January 3, 2015 https://archive.today/20150103232437/https://www.fiestabowl.org/fiesta-bowl/fiesta-bowl-game-history/game-results-recaps/1972-fiesta-bowl.php January 3, 2015 dead in addition, backfield mate McClanahan had 171 yards on 26 carries (6.6 avg.) with a touchdown. Scoring First quarter Arizona State – Woody Green 2-yard run (Juan Cruz kick) Arizona State – Green 12-yard run (Cruz kick) Second quarter Missouri – Don Johnson 1-yard run (Greg Hill kick) Arizona State – Brent McClanahan 1-yard run (Cruz kick) Arizona State – Ed Beverly 34-yard pass from Danny White (Cruz kick) Third quarter Missouri – Chuck Link 48-yard pass from John Cherry (kick failed) Missouri – Link 4-yard pass from Cherry (Link pass from Cherry) Fourth quarter Arizona State – Green 2-yard run (Cruz kick) Missouri – Mike Fink 100-yard kickoff return (Hill kick) Arizona State – Beverly 53-yard pass from White (Cruz kick) Arizona State – Green 21-yard run (Cruz kick) Missouri – Tommy Reamon 31-yard run (Hill kick) Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! 3Missouri3!! Arizona State |- | First downs || 16 || 33 |- | Yards rushing || 44–229 || 65–452 |- | Yards passing || 182 ||266 |- | Passing || 12–27–3 || 13–24–3 |- | Return yards || 61 || 44 |- | Total Offense || 71–411 || 89–718 |- |Punts–Average ||6–37.8 || 3–43.6 |- |Fumbles–Lost || 1–0 || 2–1 |- |Turnovers || 3 || 4 |- |Penalties–Yards ||2–10 ||6–50 |} Source: Aftermath While in the WAC, Arizona State appeared in three more Fiesta Bowls, winning its next two (1973, 1975). Through , Missouri has yet to return to the Fiesta Bowl. References External links Fiesta Bowl – December 23, 1972 Fiesta Bowl Category:Fiesta Bowl Category:Arizona State Sun Devils football bowl games Category:Missouri Tigers football bowl games Category:December 1972 sports events in the United States Fiesta Bowl