1972 Fiesta Bowl

1972 Fiesta Bowl
Missouri Tigers	Arizona State Sun Devils
(6–5)	(9–2)
Big Eight	WAC
35	49
Head coach: ; Al Onofrio	Head coach: ; Frank Kush
AP	Coaches
15	13
Date	December 23, 1972
Season	1972
Stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Location	Tempe, Arizona
MVP	HB Woody Green (Arizona State); DB Mike Fink (Missouri)
Attendance	51,138
United States TV coverage
Network	Mizlou

The 1972 Fiesta Bowl matched the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Missouri Tigers.

Background

The Tigers were making their first Fiesta Bowl appearance after finishing with a 6-5 record and a 3-4 record in the Big Eight Conference. The Sun Devils were champions of the WAC for the fourth straight year and appearing in their second straight Fiesta Bowl.

Game summary

Arizona State took the lead early with a Woody Green touchdown run, and added on with another Green run to have a 14-0 lead at the end of the first. Don Johnson narrowed the lead for Missouri, but ASU responded with a Brent McClanahan's touchdown run, later adding on with a Danny White touchdown pass to Ed Beverly to have a 28-7 lead at halftime. Chuck Link caught a touchdown pass from John Cherry to narrow the lead, but the extra point missed, making it only 28-13. Not to be deterred, Link caught another touchdown pass and converted the conversion to make it 28-21 as the third quarter came to a close. The Sun Devils struck back, as Green scored his third touchdown of the day to make it 35-21. But on the kickoff return, Mike Fink returned it 100 yards to make the lead only 7 once again. Beverly caught his second touchdown of the day from White to make it 42-28, and after a failed Missouri drive, Green scored his fourth and final touchdown of the day to give ASU a commanding 49-28 lead. Tommy Reamon ran in for a touchdown late to make the final score 49-35, as ASU won its second straight Fiesta Bowl. ASU set two records that still stand for most total yards (718) and first downs (33), which helped them win despite four turnovers compared to Missouri's three, which hurt them more. Woody Green, who ran for 202 yards on 25 carries for four touchdowns, was named Offensive MVP. ^[1]

Aftermath

ASU would make three more Fiesta Bowls before the decade ended, winning two of them. Missouri has not made an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl since this game.

Statistics

Statistics	ASU	Missouri
First Downs	33	16
Yards Rushing	452	229
Yards Passing	266	182
Return Yards	44	61
Total Yards	762	472
Punts-Average	3-43.6	6-37.8
Fumbles-Lost	2-1	1-0
Interceptions	3	3
Penalties-Yards	6-50	2-10

References

↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-03.

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[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-03.

Fiesta Bowl Game
History & conference tie-ins	History Sun Devil Stadium State Farm Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters College Football Playoff At-Large Group of Five Bid
Games	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014 2016 2016 2017 2019
Notes	The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1996, 1999, and 2003. There was a Fiesta Bowl in January and December in 1997, 2014, and 2016. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its December 2016 edition.