The No. 20 Boise State University football team rode the momentum from a hot start and a late defensive stop to hold off a charging No. 10 University of Arizona squad en route to a 38-30 victory at the 44th Annual VIZIO Fiesta Bowl.
The Broncos (12-2, 8-1 MWC) opened up a 21-0 lead 10 minutes into the first quarter but were unable to pull away from the scrappy Wildcats (10-4, 7-2 Pac-12), who kept things interesting until the end in front of 66,896 fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Jay Ajayi rushed for 134 yards in the game – 107 in the first half – and three first-half touchdowns to help pace the Broncos to their early lead. Quarterback Grant Hedrick completed 24-of-31 for 309 yards and a touchdown with one interception while Thomas Sperbeck caught 12 passes for 199 yards to earn Offensive MVP honors.
Tanner Vallejo finished with 14 tackles and 1.5 sacks to earn Defensive MVP accolades, while Donte Deayon return an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter for BSU's only touchdown of the second half.
Trailing 38-30, The Wildcats had two chances to even the game up in the final five minutes of regulation, driving inside the BSU 40 with under four minutes remaining in regulation before throwing four consecutive interceptions to turn the ball over to the Broncos with 3:20 remaining.
After forcing a quick Boise State three-and-out, UA received the ball on its own 20-yard line with 2:53 left and no timeouts for one final shot at completing the comeback. Terris Jones-Grigsby converted on a pivotal fourth-and-one early in the drive and five plays later, Anu Solomon found Cayleb Jones down the field for a 43-yard snag at the Boise State eight-yard line with 25 seconds remaining to set up a dramatic half minute of action.
After a quick spike, Solomon looked for David Richards in the back of the end zone but the ball fell incomplete after Richards slipped. On the following play, Solomon was unable to find any of his receivers and was sacked by Kamalei Correa with under 10 seconds left in the game and the Wildcats were unable to get lined up in time before the final seconds ticked off the clock, giving the Broncos their third Fiesta Bowl trophy in the program's history.
The defensive stand in the second half was much needed for the Broncos, who had just 74 yards of total offensive in the second half after racking up a whopping 397 yards in the first.
Boise State managed just one score in the second half as Deayon picked off Solomon at the Arizona 16-yard line with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter for the Broncos' only score of the second half.
The Bronco offense was on full display in the first half, however, ripping off two scoring plays of 56 and 57 yards within the first six minutes of action in Glendale. On the opening drive of the game, Ajayi broke through the first level and saw nothing but daylight as he romped 56 yards to the house to give BSU an early 7-0 lead.
After forcing a quick UA punt, Hedrick found Chaz Anderson on a 57-yard bomb on the team's second possession of the quarter to open things up to 14-0. With the play, BSU became just the third team in Fiesta Bowl history to have two scoring plays of 50 or more yards in one game.
The rout looked to be on as BSU forced another UA punt on the ensuing drive and helped fans relive the 2007 Fiesta Bowl as Ajayi took a handoff on a Statue of Liberty play, giving a monstrous stiff arm to a UA defender for good measure on his way to the end zone and the Broncos led 21-0 with 5:12 remaining in the first.
Arizona would answer with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard Solomon rush to bring the Wildcats back with 14 at 21-7. The combined 28 points scored in the first quarter by the two teams was the most in Fiesta Bowl history.
The Wildcats finally forced a BSU punt on the following drive but promptly turned the ball back over on a Solomon interception in UA territory and the Broncos took advantage as Ajayi dove for the pylon from a yard out for his third touchdown of the half to put BSU back up 28-7.
Arizona would score 10 unanswered following a 36-yard Casey Skowron field goal with 30 seconds remaining in the half but Boise State quickly drove 57 yards on four plays, taking a 31-17 lead into the locker room on a 36-yard Dan Goodale field goal.
The 31 points tied the second-most points scored by a team in the opening half of the Fiesta Bowl behind only Nebraska's 1996 total of 35.
That would mark the end of the Bronco offensive threats, however, as BSU would cross into UA territory just twice in the second half – punting once and fumbling away the ball on another trip.
Solomon finished 28-of-49 on the day for 335 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Wildcats. Nick Wilson led all UA rushers with 86 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown but was forced to sit out the second half following a hard hit late in the first. Jones-Grigsby added 39 yards on the ground and 40 receiving yards in relief of Wilson.
Tra'Mayne Bondurant helped lead the stifling UA defense in the second half, finishing with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. All-American Scooby Wright III added 10 tackles with two tackles for loss.
With the victory, Boise State moves to 3-0 all-time in the Fiesta Bowl and joins Penn State (6-0) as the only other team to retain an undefeated record in the bowl game in three or more appearances.
