2018 Arizona Bowl

2018 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl
4th Arizona Bowl
Arkansas State Red Wolves Nevada Wolf Pack
(8–4) (7–5)
Sun Belt Mountain West
13 16
Head coach: 
Blake Anderson		 Head coach: 
Jay Norvell
1234OTTotal
Arkansas State 0703313
Nevada 0307616
DateDecember 29, 2018
Season2018
StadiumArizona Stadium
LocationTucson, Arizona
MVPTy Gangi (QB, Nevada) & B. J. Edmonds (S, Arkansas State)
FavoriteArkansas State by 1.5
RefereeTom Stapleton (MAC)
Attendance32,368
PayoutUS$413,000
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBSSN
AnnouncersRich Waltz, Aaron Murray and John Schriffen
Arizona Bowl
 ← 2017  2019 → 

The 2018 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2018. It was the fourth edition of the Arizona Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Nova Home Loans mortgage broker company, the game was officially known as the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl.

Teams

The game was played between Arkansas State from the Sun Belt Conference and Nevada from the Mountain West Conference. In prior games between the two programs, Nevada held a 3–2 lead in the series.

Arkansas State Red Wolves

On November 27, bowl organizers announced that Arkansas State would represent the Sun Belt Conference in the Arizona Bowl. The Red Wolves compiled an 8–4 record during the regular season, and were co-champion of the Sun Belt West Division along with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, both of whom had 5–3 conference records.

Nevada Wolf Pack

Nevada received and accepted a bid to the Arizona Bowl on November 29. The Wolf Pack entered the bowl with a 7–5 record (5–3 in conference).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ARST NEV
2 5:09 10 43 5:07 NEV 36-yard field goal by Ramiz Ahmed 0 3
2 3:08 6 75 2:01 ARST Marcel Murray 2-yard touchdown run, Blake Grupe kick good 7 3
4 1:06 10 74 2:39 NEV Devonte Lee 1-yard touchdown run, Ramiz Ahmed kick good 7 10
4 0:00 8 61 1:06 ARST 32-yard field goal by Blake Grupe 10 10
OT 6 18 ARST 24-yard field goal by Blake Grupe 13 10
OT 5 25 NEV Reagan Roberson 11-yard touchdown reception from Ty Gangi 13 16
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 13 16

Statistics

1 2 3 4OT Total
Red Wolves 0 7 0 33 13
Wolf Pack 0 3 0 76 16
Statistics ARST NEV
First downs2515
Plays–yards93–49974–285
Rushes–yards47–22440–85
Passing yards275200
Passing: comp–att–int26–46–318–34–2
Turnovers
Time of possession29:3130:29
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Arkansas State PassingJustice Hansen26/46, 275 yds, 3 INT
RushingWarren Wand16 car, 140 yds
ReceivingOmar Bayless7 rec, 129 yds
Nevada PassingTy Gangi18/34, 200 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
RushingToa Taua22 car, 56 yds
ReceivingBen Putman4 rec, 114 yds

References

  1. ↑ @CoachMoose (December 29, 2018). "Congratulations @tygangi on a great finish to your college career" (Tweet). Retrieved December 29, 2018 – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ Finley, Ryan (December 29, 2018). "'It's heartbreaking': Defense carried Arkansas State to within a minute of Arizona Bowl win". tucson.com. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  3. ↑ Fawkes, Ben (December 10, 2018). "Odds for every 2018–19 CFB bowl game". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  4. ↑ @JustinESports (December 29, 2018). "Arizona Bowl attendance by year" (Tweet). Retrieved December 29, 2018 – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "2018 Bowl Schedule". CFP.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  6. ↑ "2018-19 College Football Playoff and bowl schedule". ESPN. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Arkansas State, Nevada set to face off in Arizona Bowl". December 2, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Arkansas State Red Wolves football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Arkansas State to play in Dec. 29 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl". Arizona Daily Star. November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018 – via tucson.com.