2015 Arizona Bowl

Inaugural edition of the Arizona Bowl August 2023 December 2025 Arizona Bowl Nova Home Loans December 29 2015 2015 Arizona Stadium Tucson, Arizona University of Nevada, Reno Nevada Wolf Pack 6–6 Mountain West Brian Polian 3 16 3 6 Colorado State University Colorado State Rams 7–5 Mountain West Mike Bobo 0 13 7 3 Offense: James Butler (RB-NEV)Defense: Ian Seau (DE-NEV) Colorado State by 31 2https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2596631-bowl-games-2015-16-latest-odds-predictions-for-entire-schedule Bowl Games 2015–16: Latest Odds, Predictions for Entire Schedule Bleacher Report December 7, 2015 December 12, 2015 Silverman, Steve Tracy Jones (AAC) Los Lobos Band 20,425 ASN/Campus Insiders Ron Thulin, Doug Chapman, Monica McNutt (sideline) and Shae Peppler (sideline) Nova® Home Loans Arizona Bowl Will Reach More Than 88 Million Households On American Sports Network http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nova-home-loans-arizona-bowl-will-reach-more-than-88-million-households-on-american-sports-network-300197000.html West Palm Beach, FL American Sports Network PRNewswire December 23, 2015 December 23, 2015 yes The 2015 Arizona Bowl (known as the 2015 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl for sponsorship reasons) was a post-season college football bowl game between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Colorado State Rams played on December 29, 2015, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. It was the inaugural edition of the Arizona Bowl and the final game of the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. In an unusual circumstance for a postseason bowl game, both teams were from the Mountain West Conference 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.http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2015/12/06/colorado-state-football-arizona-bowl-nevada/76795278/ Colorado State heads to Arizona Bowl to face MW foe Nevada Fort Collins Coloradoan December 6, 2015 December 6, 2015 Lyell, Kellyhttp://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/10/01/nova-home-loans-arizona-bowl-announced/73156358/ Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl announced The Arizona Republic October 1, 2015 December 12, 2015 Finley, Ryan Team selection The Arizona Bowl, new for 2015, had tie-ins with Conference USA (C-USA) and the Mountain West Conference. If one of those conferences did not have enough bowl-eligible teams, the Sun Belt Conference was an alternative.http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2015/12/07/what-you-need-know-arizona-bowl/76946342/ What you need to know about the Arizona Bowl Fort Collins Coloradoan December 7, 2015 December 10, 2015 Lyell, Kelly 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.http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2015/11/29/wolf-pack-enters-bowl-game-two-big-questions/76526984/ Wolf Pack enters bowl game with two big questions Reno Gazette-Journal November 29, 2015 December 12, 2015 Murray, Chris 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 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, 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."Commissioner calls bowl matchup of two MWC teams 'a travesty' https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/14307451/mountain-west-commissioner-craig-thompson-upset-nevada-wolf-pack-colorado-state-rams-nova-home-loans-arizona-bowl Kyle Bonagura ESPN.com 7 December 2015 30 December 2015 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 2015 Nevada Wolf Pack football team The Nevada Wolf Pack finished the regular season 6–6 (4–4 in conference) under third-year head coach Brian Polian, becoming bowl-eligible after defeating San Jose State.http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2015/11/16/wolf-pack-bowl-eligible-but-bowl-bound/75897574/ Wolf Pack bowl eligible, but is it bowl bound? Reno Gazette-Journal November 17, 2015 December 12, 2015 Murray, Chris This game was Nevada's tenth bowl appearance in eleven seasons.http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2015/11/11/pack-notes-nevada-one-win-away-bowl-game/75617748/ Pack notes: Nevada one win away from bowl game Reno Gazette-Journal November 11, 2015 December 12, 2015 Murray, Chris Colorado State Rams 2015 Colorado State Rams football team The Colorado State Rams finished the regular season 7–5 (5–3 in conference) under first-year head coach Mike Bobo, becoming bowl-eligible for the third straight year after defeating New Mexico.http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2015/11/21/csu-new-mexico-football-game-recap/76191298/ CSU football beats New Mexico to become bowl eligible Fort Collins Coloradoan November 22, 2015 December 12, 2015 Stephens, Matt L. Game summary Colorado State won the toss and elected to receive. The Rams drove downfield into Nevada territory before quarterback Nick Stevens 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 :NEV CSU 1 7:21 NEV 10 39 5:19 FG 19 Brent Zuzo 3 0 2 14:13 NEV 8 53 4:53 FG 37 Brent Zuzo 6 0 2 7:04 CSU 2 39 0:39 RushTD Nick Stevens 1 good Wyatt Bryan 6 7 2 6:38 NEV 2 82 0:20 RushTD James Butler 77 good Brent Zuzo 13 7 2 1:46 CSU 11 81 4:44 FG 20 Wyatt Bryan 13 10 2 1:33 NEV – – – KickTD Elijah Mitchell 96 no good Brent Zuzo 19 10 2 0:08 CSU 13 58 1:17 FG 29 Wyatt Bryan 19 13 3 9:16 NEV 12 53 5:39 FG 40 Brent Zuzo 22 13 3 3:55 CSU 12 75 5:21 RushTD Jamsen Odon 9 good Wyatt Bryan 22 20 4 3:40 CSU 8 42 3:25 FG 38 Wyatt Bryan 22 23 4 1:06 NEV 8 72 2:28 RushTD James Butler 4 run by James Butler failed 28 23 28 23 http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=112015&a=1 2015 Arizona Bowl: Nevada vs. Colorado State Stats Stat Broadcast 2015-12-29 Statistics Statistics NEV CSU First downs 18 30 Total offense, plays–yards 53–345 84–532Rushes–yards (net) 40–271 42–222 Passing yards (net) 74 310Passes, Comp–Att–Int 6–13–0 22–42–1 Time of Possession 27:30 32:30 References 30em External links Box score at ESPN Arizona Bowl Highlights via YouTube Arizona Bowl Category:Arizona Bowl Category:Nevada Wolf Pack football bowl games Category:Colorado State Rams football bowl games Arizona Bowll