THE GAME - The Arizona State Sun Devils will face the No. 19 Fresno State Bulldogs in the 27th edition of Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 15 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.
ASU will play in its 31st bowl game overall and the team's seventh bowl appearance in the last eight seasons. It will be the Sun Devils' second appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl, joining its 2011 appearance. ASU is 14-15-1 all-time in Bowl Games.
The 27th Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 15, at 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. ET) at Sam Boyd Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ABC, featuring the top choice from the Mountain West against the sixth pick from the Pac-12 Conference. Fresno State will serve as the home team in the contest.
This will be the fourth matchup between ASU and Fresno State in history, though it will be the first one in the modern era of college football. The two teams played in 1931, 1933 and 1941 – all Sun Devil victories.
Fresno State has recorded 11 wins for the sixth time in program history and have never recorded 12 wins in a year. The Bulldogs have won 20 of their last 24 games and have a nation-leading streak of 24 straight games holding opponents under 30 points.
Held every December since 1992, the Las Vegas Bowl has boasted sold-out attendance for eight of the last 13 years at Sam Boyd Stadium, including the second-largest team sporting event crowd in state history of 42,213 people in 2015.
This will mark the sixth consecutive year and seventh time overall that the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will appear on ABC. It will be the seventh consecutive Saturday kickoff and 12th in the event's history. It will also be the bowl's 12th day game. The Las Vegas Bowl will be heard throughout the country and overseas by Sports USA and along the American Forces Radio Network. The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl is one of 14 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.
AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...
- Be just the fourth time in the Pac-12 era (since 1978) that ASU beat Arizona and won a Bowl Game in the same season (1978, 2005, 2012).
- Be the first time EVER that ASU defeated both UCLA and USC as well as Arizona and won a Bowl Game.
- Mark Herm Edwards as just the 5th Sun Devil head coach ever to win 8 games in his first season at the helm (Dan Devine, John Cooper, Dennis Erickson, Todd Graham).
- Give ASU 8 wins in a season for the first time since 2014.
- Be just the seventh time in program history that ASU won three games over ranked teams in the same season and just the fourth time in the past 32 seasons (2014 (4), 2013, 1997)
- End ASU's streak of two straight bowl losses and move ASU back to .500 all-time in bowl games (currently at 14-15-1).
MILESTONE COUNTDOWNS
324 passing yards needed for Manny Wilkins to move into 4th in program history (8,819, currently at 8,495).
332 passing yards needed for Wilkins to move into 3rd in program history (8,827, currently at 8,495)
1 rushing touchdowns needed for Wilkins to tie the Sun Devil career record for a quarterback (21, currently at 20).
42 rushing yards needed for Eno Benjamin set the single season school rushing record (1,565, currently at 1,524)
2 rushing touchdowns needed for Benjamin to move into the Top-5 in single-season history (17, currently at 15).
3 rushing touchdowns needed for Benjamin to move into the Top-4 in single-season history (18, currently at 15).
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. ASU has had a 100-yard rusher in 12 of its last 17 games dating back to last year (Demario Richard with 4 and Eno Benjamin with 8).
2. Sun Devil freshmen (true or redshirt) have combined for 3,302 play snaps on defense this season with two games left to play. Comparatively, freshmen combined for just 918 total defensive snaps played in 2017 and 1,035 in 2016.
3. Only three Pac-12 TRUE freshmen have played at least 650 defensive snaps this season and all of them play for Arizona State (Merlin Robertson/749, Darien Butler/690, Aashari Crosswell/722).
4. Arizona State holds the FBS active streak for consecutive games scoring more than 7 points, currently doing so in 133 straight games.
5. No ASU running back has lost a fumble in 875 consecutive carries, dating back to the 2016 season - a streak of 31 consecutive games.
6. Tyler Johnson had 18 QB pressures over the final six weeks of the season, the second-most in the Pac-12 Conference among outside linebackers and tied for 11th-most nationally in that time span.
7. ASU has held opponents to just 3.5 points per 4th quarter - the 5th lowest total in FBS as ASU's outscored opponents 119-42 in the frame. ASU was 112th last season (8.9 points per 4th), 124th (10.7 points) in '16, 121st (11.1 point) in '15 and 101st (8.6 points) in '14.
8. ASU hasn't finished in Top-100 in fewest sacks allowed per game since 2011 (74th). In fact, since 2003 (as far back as easily accessible team rankings go), ASU has finished in the top-100 just 3 times, and never better than 70th. ASU is currently tied for 19th in the FBS with 1.25.
9. Merlin Robertson is the first freshman to lead the team in tackles since Jason Shivers in 2001 and the first freshman to lead the team in tackles for loss and sacks since Junior Onyeali in 2010.
10. Aashari Crosswell led the team in interceptions with three (t-6th among FBS freshmen) while recording 121 yards in interception returns – the latter good for the ninth-most nationally and the most for a freshman in the country
BY THE NUMBERS
875 - No ASU running back has LOST a fumble in 875 consecutive carries, dating back to the 2016 season - a streak of 31 games. That includes 300 running back carries this season (NOTE: this stat includes only running backs on rushing plays and does not include running backs on receptions). Of note on the above stat, the fumble that ended the streak occured on a direct snap play to a running back (Kalen Ballage against UCLA in 2016). If only conventional running plays were included, the streak of carries without losing a fumble is 1,214 carries over 44 games, dating back to Utah in 2015.
650 - Only three Pac-12 TRUE freshmen have played at least 650 defensive snaps this season and all of them play for Arizona State (Merlin Robertson/749, Aashari Crosswell/722, Darien Butler/690). Sun Devil freshmen (true or redshirt) have combined for 3,302 play snaps on defense this season with the bowl game left to play. Comparatively, freshmen combined for just 918 total defensive snaps played in 2017 and 1,035 in 2016. Robertson's 749 snaps are the 5th-most among any Power Five true freshman in the country.
133 - Arizona State holds the FBS active streak for consecutive games scoring more than 7 points, currently doing so in 133 straight games. The Sun Devils last scored a touchdown or less when they were shutout, 28-0, against eighth-ranked USC in the 2008 season. They have scored 30 or more points in 75 of those games (56.4 percent). The Sun Devils scored at least 30 points in each of their victories during it's three-game winning streak. ASU is 6-0 this year when scoring 30 or more points. Conversely, it only allowed opponents to score more than 30 three times, going 2-1 in those games.
42 - Eno Benjamin needs just 42 rushing yards to set ASU's all-time single season school record. Benjamin is currently third in the nation with 1,524 rushing yards as he eyes Woody Green's 1972 school record of 1,565. He tied for third nationally in total rushing yards and his 15 rushing touchdowns are seventh in the country. Both totals lead the Pac-12 Conference. Benjamin ranks 3rd among Power-Five running backs with that 81.5 score, though he only had 23 career rushes prior to this season. He and Oregon State freshman Jermar Jefferson are the only Top-25 highest graded Power Five running backs that did not have at least 100 career carries prior to this season.
3 - The Sun Devil have also closed games strongly, holding opponents to just 3.5 points per fourth quarter - the 5th lowest total nationally and lowest in the Pac-12. That allowed ASU to outscore opponents 119-42 in the frame this season. ASU was 4-1 in games decided by three points or less, the most wins by any team in the nation in the category. ASU was 6-14 in tilts of 3 points or less in the previous 10 seasons. The tough scoring defense has kept ASU in every game this season, with nine games this year being decide by one possession - tied with Texas for the most in the FBS this year. Unfortunately, all 5 of ASU's losses came in one-possession games.
0 - Cohl Cabral was one of just 15 Power Five centers to not allow a sack this season. He was the third-highest graded center in the Pac-12 as a run blocker (63.3) Cabral had a positive run impact on 9.8 percent of plays this season, the 20th-best total among all FBS centers. The Devils have 6 games this season not allowing a sack (UTSA, UW, OSU, USC, UTAH, ARIZ). Since AT LEAST 2000, ASU had never had more than 2 games in a SEASON where it didn't allow a sack. ASU's 15 sacks allowed this season are 19th nationally. A year ago, ASU finished 124th in the nation with 41 sacks allowed and 119th in 2016 with 41 sacks allowed as well.
FOR COMPLETE GAME NOTES AND OTHER SUPERLATIVES, SEE PDF LINK ABOVE