A few things to keep an eye on in Wednesday’s VIZIO Fiesta Bowl between Arizona and Boise State.
How’d we get here? Boise State, the Mountain West champs, earned a spot in the Fiesta Bowl by finishing as the College Football Playoff Committee’s highest ranked conference champion from the Group of 5. The Broncos were the only team from outside the Power 5 conferences to appear in the final rankings. Arizona, the Pac-12 South champion, lost to Oregon in the conference title game but was ranked high enough and had impressed the committee enough to warrant a spot in one of the New Year’s Six. The fact that the Wildcats were the only team to beat Oregon this season (in the regular season) while also picking up wins over No. 17 Utah and No. 13 Arizona State probably didn’t hurt, either.
Tradition doesn’t matter: So say Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin. Although Boise State is well known for its Fiesta Bowl exploits -- see the games against Oklahoma and TCU from the 2006 and ’09 seasons, respectively -- that has zero bearing on this year’s matchup, according to both coaches. The Wildcats are making their first Fiesta Bowl appearance since 1993, so the Broncos -- previously known as the BCS-busting Broncos -- have played in “bigger” bowl games of late. But it’s worth noting Boise State is 1-4 against major-conference opponents in their past five matchups, including a loss to Ole Miss in this season's opener. For what it’s worth, the Pac-12 has won six of its seven appearances in the Fiesta Bowl.
Record vs. record, strength vs. strength: Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III, who took home a slew of All-America honors and national defensive player of the year awards, leads all of FBS with 27 tackles for a loss, five shy of tying the FBS record. On the opposite side of the ball, Boise State running back Jay Ajayi has already broken Boise State’s record for yards from scrimmage in a season and averages 171.2 yards from scrimmage per game.
QB consistency: Boise State quarterback Grant Hedrick has been awfully accurate this season. He led the FBS in completion percentage during the regular season (70.9 percent) and is trying to become the third Boise State quarterback in the past four seasons to lead the FBS. It's worth noting he threw four interceptions in Boise's two losses, compared to five in their 11 wins. His counterpart, Anu Solomon, led all FBS freshmen with 266 passing yards per game, and his 27 touchdowns were second only to Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett. When the Cats score at least 35 points, they are 3-1, tied with Bowling Green for the most wins under those conditions.
Coaching chops: While Harsin is finishing up his first season at the helm, it’s well known the Broncos went 61-5 with him as the offensive coordinator from 2006-2010. Meanwhile, Rodriguez is the first head coach in program history to reach a bowl game in his first three seasons. If the Wildcats win, he’ll be the first coach to win his first three bowl appearances.
