THE GAME - The Sun Devils will conclude the 2019 campaign in the 86th Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. ASU will play in its 32nd bowl game overall and the team's eighth bowl appearance in the last nine seasons. It will be the Sun Devils' seventh overall appearance in the Sun Bowl, appearing in 1940, 1941, 1997, 2004, 2014 and 2017.
The 86th Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl will be played Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 12 noon MT (2:00 p.m. ET) at Sun Bowl Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on CBS, for the 52nd year, featuring teams from the ACC and the Pac-12 Conference. The game will be available over the local airwaves on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Arizona State will serve as the home team in the contest.
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THE SEMINOLES - Florida State leads the overall series against the Sun Devils, 3-1, though the two programs have not played each other since 1984. The teams first met in the 1971 Fiesta Bowl before squaring off in Tampa in 1979 and playing in Tempe in 1983 and 1984. The Seminoles are 9-2 all-time against current members of the Pac-12. Florida State will appear in the postseason for an NCAA-best 38th time in the last 40 seasons. The Seminoles are returning to the Sun Bowl for the first time since 1966 and also played in the 1954 Sun Bowl, which was the second bowl appearance in program history.
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KICKING OFF
- Kyle Williams has at least one pass reception in 40 consecutive games, good for fourth in ASU history and needing just one in the bowl game ti tie Derek Hagan for third.
- The win over Arizona marked the 11th time in 12 games that ASU held an opponent to 155 or fewer rushing yards (217 vs. UCLA). The Devils had just five such games last season. ASU had 11 total games including a bowl game accomplishing that feat in 2006, though only 10 in the regular season. ASU had 10 such games out of 11 regular season games in the 1996 season. It is the first time since the expansion to 12-game regular seasons that ASU has accomplished this feat.
- Jayden Daniels hasn't thrown an interception on 129 consecutive pass attempts, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. That last interception, however, came on a half-ending Hail Mary attempt against Utah. With that removed, Daniels would have a streak of 197 consecutive passes without an interception over his last six games and change.
- The Devils have turned the ball over just 12 times this season - the 10th-lowest total in the FBS. ASU is 11th nationally in turnover margin this season (0.83). ASU forced a turnover on 14.9 percent of opponent possessions this season, good for 18th nationally. ASU (11th in 2018) is one of just four teams nationally to rank in the Top-25 in turnover margin in each of the last two seasons (Georgia Southern, Syracuse, LSU) and only ASU and Syracuse have been in the Top-15 in the last two seasons.
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AN ASU VICTORY WOULD...
- Be ASU's first bowl victory since the 2014 Sun Bowl win over Duke.
- Improve ASU to 15-16-1 all-time in bowl games.
- Be ASU's first three-game win streak to end a season since 2012 and be just the third time since joining the Pac-12 that the Sun Devils have accomplished the feat.
- Marks ASU's first season with at least eight victories since 2014.
- Improve ASU to 4-2-1 all-time in the Sun Bowl.
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MILESTONE COUNTDOWNS
- 277 passing yards for Jayden Daniels to move into 10th in ASU single-season history (currently at 13th at 2,748 yards, behind Manny Wilkins' 3,025 in 2018).
- Less than 4 interceptions for Jayden Daniels to set the school record for fewest interceptions in a season on over 300 attempts (currently 2 on 310 behind Manny Wilkins' 6 on 393 attempts in 2018)
- 1 catch needed for Kyle Williams to move into third in ASU history in consecutive games with a reception (currently tied for fourth with 40 behind Derek Hagan's 41 straight games.).
- 5 catches needed for Kyle Williams to climb into sixth-place on ASU's All-Time career catches list (currently seventh at 159 behind Eric Guliford's 164).
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#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. ASU (11th in 2018) is one of just four teams nationally to rank in the Top-25 in turnover margin in each of the last two seasons (Georgia Southern, Syracuse, LSU) and only ASU and Syracuse have been in the Top-15 in the last two seasons.
2. ASU's 4 interceptions thrown on the year are tied for the 4th-lowest total nationally. ASU is one of just five non-triple option offenses to rank in the Top-25 in fewest interceptions in the last two seasons.
3. In 11 of 12 games, the ASU defense has held an opponent to 155 or fewer rushing yards (217 vs. UCLA). The Devils had just 5 such games last season. It is the first time since the expansion to 12-game regular seasons that ASU has accomplished this feat.
4. Aashari Crosswell (@YkgAashari) has been credited with just one missed tackle this season, a total that leads the nation's 300+ graded safeties.
5. .@jayd__5 has not thrown an interceptions in 129 consecutive pass attempts, the 8th longest active streak in the country. He needs 17 more to set the ASU school record in the category.
6. The Sun Devils have given up just two plays over 50 yards this season, tied for the 5th-fewest nationally. It was 9th in the category last season (3) after being ranked in the bottom-10 nationally in the 4 previous seasons.
7. Senior wide receiver @kylewilliamsVI has caught at least one pass in 40 consecutive games, dating back to his freshman season - good for fourth in ASU history and the fourth-longest active streak in the FBS.
8. Chase Lucas has been credited just just one touchdown against him in coverage this season, tied for 18th among the nation's corners and second in the Pac-12.
9. Jermayne Lole recorded 68 tackles this season, the third most for a Sun Devil defensive lineman since 1990 behind only Shante Carver (79 in 1993) and Terrell Suggs (73 in 2002).
10. The Sun Devils are looking to end the season on a three-game winning streak for just the third time since joining the Pac-12 (1978 and 2012).
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68 - Jermayne Lole recorded 68 tackles this season, the third most for a Sun Devil defensive lineman since 1990 behind only Shante Carver (79 in 1993) and Terrell Suggs (73 in 2002). He had the 12th-highest positive run impact score in the country at 23.6% among players graded as interior linemen (percentage of run defense snaps where player earned a positive grade from Pro Football Focus).Lole's 37 defensive stops this season led the nation's defensive interior linemen - two more than any other lineman in the nation. Lole was credited with just a single missed tackle this season, tied for fourth among FBS defensive linemen.
12 - The Devils have turned the ball over just 12 times this season - the 10th-lowest total in the FBS. ASU is 11th nationally in turnover margin this season (0.83). ASU forced a turnover on 14.9 percent of opponent possessions this season, good for 18th nationally. ASU (11th in 2018) is one of just four teams nationally to rank in the Top-25 in turnover margin in each of the last two seasons (Georgia Southern, Syracuse, LSU). ASU's four interceptions thrown on the year are tied for the 4th-lowest total nationally. ASU is one of just five non-triple option offenses to rank in the Top-25 in fewest interceptions in the last two seasons.
11 - In 11 of 12 games, the ASU defense has held an opponent to 155 or fewer rushing yards (217 vs. UCLA). The Devils had just 5 such games last season. ASU had 11 total games including a bowl game accomplishing that feat in 2006, though only 10 in the regular season. ASU had 10 such games out of 11 regular season games in the 1996 season. It is the first time since the expansion to 12-game regular seasons that ASU has accomplished this feat. ASU's rushing defense ranked 21st nationally at 116.8 yards per game - the best ranking at the end of the regular season since the 2009 Sun Devils were 19th (108.58 rushing yards per game).
2 - The Sun Devils have given up just two plays over 50 yards this season, tied for the 5th-fewest nationally. ASU was also tied for 9th nationally in allowing just 3 plays of over 50 yards last year after sitting in the bottom 10 nationally in the previous four years. ASU's run defense has been especially efficient, currently 5th in the country with only 36 rushing plays allowed over 10 yards. In the last two seasons, the Sun Devil secondary has allowed just 13 total passing plays over 40 yards. For perspective, it had 12 alone in 2017, 22 in 2016 and 24 in 2015 – the latter two ranked second to last and last, respectively, in the nation.
1 - Among safeties with at least 200 snaps on run defense, Aashari Crosswell was not credited with a missed tackle on a running play this season, marking him the only safety in the country to lay such a claim. His one missed tackle on the season, period, was tied for first among over 300 FBS safeties in the country. Aashari Crosswell was the 15th-highest graded defender in the Pac-12 with his score of 76.1 while fellow safety Cam Phillips was the 24th-ghest graded defender in the league (73.4). Both safeties earned a spot on the Pro Football Focus Pac-12 All-Conference team.
0 - Jayden Daniels hasn't thrown an interception in 129 consecutive pass attempts, tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The last interception, however, came on a half-ending Hail Mary attempt against Utah. With that removed, Daniels would have a streak of 197 consecutive passes without an interception over his last six games and change. The third-longest streak in ASU history without an interception was Mike Pagel (136) in 1980 and the school record is Rudy Carpenter's streak of 146 straight in 2005 (Manny Wilkins went 145 straight in 2017). Daniels is easily on pace to set the ASU school record for fewest interceptions with over 300 attempts (currently Wilkins' 6 in 393 in 2018).