1975 Fiesta Bowl

The 1975 Fiesta Bowl matched the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Background

The Cornhuskers started the season off 10-0 and had risen from being ranked #6 in the preseason to #2 in the AP Polls and were set up for a Big 8 title and potential national championship hopes before losing to Oklahoma in the last game of the season that cost them a full share of the Big 8 Conference title. The Sun Devils won their 5th WAC title in six years and were appearing in their fourth Fiesta Bowl in five years. This was Nebraska's first ever Fiesta Bowl.

Game summary

Ultimately, it was Danny Kush started and ultimately ended the scoring in this game that arguably put the game on the map. He gave ASU an early lead in the first quarter, but Monte Anthony gave Nebraska the lead on his touchdown run. With less than a minute remaining in the half, the Sun Devils would drive down the field and narrow the lead to 1 with another Kush field goal. Anthony added in another touchdown run in the third quarter to make Nebraska's lead 14-6. Trailing once again, John Jefferson would catch a touchdown pass from Fred Mortensen, who had taken over at QB after Sproul was briefly hurt on a sneak earlier in the game. Wanting to tie the game, Larry Mucker caught a pass from Mortensen to convert the conversion and make it 14-14. After Nebraska failed to make a successful drive, ASU was given the ball back. Dennis Sproul, ready to QB for ASU after a brieft injury, drived his team down the field and Kush kicked a 29 yard field goal with 4:50 remaining in the lead to give Arizona State the lead as the Sun Devils held Nebraska scoreless the rest of the game as ASU won their fourth Fiesta Bowl. John Jefferson was named Offensive MVP after catching 8 passes for 115 yards. Despite outgaining ASU on rushing, ASU outyarded them in passing and total yards and had less turnovers (2 to Nebraska's 3) while only needing one touchdown the whole game.^[1]

Aftermath

Arizona State would finish ranked #2 in the final AP Polls, their highest finish in school history. They would win one more WAC title before moving to the Pacific-10 Conference in 1978. Both teams would return multiple times to the Fiesta Bowl in later years, Nebraska five times and ASU twice.

Statistics

References