The 2020 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2020, with kickoff at 2:00 p.m. EST (12:00 p.m. local MST).[4] It was the sixth edition of the Arizona Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. On October 30, it was announced that the game would be played behind closed doors without spectators, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona.[5] Sponsored by real estate agency Offerpad, the game was officially known as the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.
| 2020 Offerpad Arizona Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 6th Arizona Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Arizona Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tucson, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Drew Plitt (QB, Ball State) & Bryce Cosby (S, Ball State)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | San Jose State by 9[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Joe Lehring (C-USA)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brad Nessler (play–by–play) Rick Neuheisel (analyst) Jenny Dell (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
With the cancellation of the Sun Bowl, on December 10 it was announced that television coverage of the Arizona Bowl would be moved from CBS Sports Network to the CBS broadcast network.[6]
Teams
editThe game was played between teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Mountain West Conference (MWC),[7] in the first year of a five-year tie-in for the two conferences with the Arizona Bowl.[8][9]
Ball State
editBall State accepted a bid to the Arizona Bowl on December 20, after winning the MAC Championship Game on December 18. The Cardinals entered the contest with a 6–1 record, having won six games in a row after an opening loss to Miami (OH), including a win against Buffalo for the conference championship. Ball State was seeking the first bowl game victory in program history. This contest marked their first appearance in the Arizona Bowl.
San Jose State
editSan Jose State accepted a bid to the Arizona Bowl following the Spartans' win in the Mountain West Championship Game on December 19. The Spartans entered the bowl with a 7–0 record and ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll, having won each of their six regular season games before defeating Boise State in the conference championship game. The Spartans were looking to complete their first undefeated season since 1939.[10] This was the first Arizona Bowl appearance by the Spartans, and their first game against Ball State.[11]
Game summary
edit| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 27 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| No. 22 San Jose State | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
at Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona
- Date: Thursday, December 31, 2020
- Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST (12:00 p.m. MST)
- Game weather: Partly cloudy • Temperature: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind: ESE 8 mph
- Referee: Joe Lehring (Conference USA)
- TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play–by–play), Rick Neuheisel (analyst) and Jenny Dell (sideline)
- ESPN game summary
| Game information |
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Statistics
edit| Statistics | BALL | SJSU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 21 | 18 |
| Plays–yards | 70–402 | 68–347 |
| Rushes–yards | 51–185 | 22–69 |
| Passing yards | 217 | 278 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 12–19–0 | 26–46–4 |
| Time of possession | 31:17 | 28:43 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | Passing | Drew Plitt | 12-for-19, 217 yards, 1 TD |
| Rushing | Will Jones | 89 yards on 22 carries, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Yo'Heinz Tyler | 103 yards on 4 receptions, 1 TD | |
| San Jose State | Passing | Nick Starkel | 25-for-42, 268 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT |
| Rushing | Tyler Nevens | 37 yards on 7 carries | |
| Receiving | Tre Walker | 81 yards on 7 receptions |
References
edit- ^ "Ball State Football Postgame Notes" (PDF). ballstatesports.com. December 31, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "ESPN Game Summary - Ball State vs. San Jose State - December 31, 2020". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Austro, Ben (December 23, 2020). "2020-21 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ "College Football Bowl Schedule | 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "Arizona Bowl will be played Dec. 31; no fans will be allowed at Arizona Stadium". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ "The Arizona Bowl Set for Broadcast on CBS". themw.com. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ "Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl Announces 2020-25 Conference Partnerships". footballbowlassociation.com (Press release). July 26, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
- ^ "College Football Bowl Game Changes to Begin in 2020". Stadium. Sinclair Broadcast Group. March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ "Spartans Claim Conference Championship". sjsuspartans.com. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ "Ball State Cardinals vs. San Jose State Spartans football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
External links
edit- Official website
- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com