28 23 3 16 3 6 | Nevada 3 16 3 6 28 | |
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. The previous non–championship bowl to feature two teams from the same conference was the 1979 Orange Bowl.
Contents
Team selection
The Arizona Bowl, new for 2015, had tie-ins with Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference. The Sun Belt Conference was available as an alternative in the event that one of the conferences could not provide enough bowl-eligible teams. At the end of the regular season the Mountain West Conference had seven bowl-eligible teams and six guaranteed spots, leaving the placement of individual teams uncertain.
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."
The two teams did not meet in the regular season, as they were in opposite divisions, and were not in the rotation to play each other during the season.
Colorado State Rams
The Colorado State Rams finished the regular season 7–5 (5–3 conference) under first-year head coach Mike Bobo, becoming bowl-eligible for the third straight year after defeating New Mexico.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Nevada Wolf Pack finished the regular season 6–6 (4–4 conference) under third-year head coach Brian Polian, becoming bowl-eligible after defeating San Jose State. This will be Nevada's tenth bowl game in the last eleven seasons.
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 a 3-0 lead. 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 driving down to the Nevada 4 yard line where they were stopped on 4th down. However Nevada went three-and-out so CSU got the ball with very good field position at the 39 yard line. After a long pass down to the 1, Stevens scored on a 1 yard QB keeper to give CSU a 7-6 lead. It didn't last long though before 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 make it 13-10 Nevada. On the ensuing kickoff though, Elijah Mitchell returned it 96 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 19-10. The extra point however was no good. CSU tacked on 3 more points right before the half to make it 19-13 Nevada at halftime. Nevada scored early in the 3rd 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 3 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 TD run. The 2-point-conversion was no good and Nevada went up 28-23. CSU put together a last ditch drive that time ran out on at the Nevada 12 yard line. Nevada won 28-23
Scoring summary :