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2024 Fiesta Bowl (December)

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Postseason college football bowl game College football game
2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal
54th Fiesta Bowl
Penn State Nittany Lions Boise State Broncos
(12–2) (12–1)
Big Ten Mountain West
31 14
Head coach: 
James Franklin		 Head coach: 
Spencer Danielson
APCoachesCFP
554
APCoachesCFP
889
1234 Total
Penn State 14377 31
Boise State 0770 14
DateDecember 31, 2024
Season2024
StadiumState Farm Stadium
LocationGlendale, Arizona
MVPOff.:Tyler Warren (TE, Penn State)
Def.:Zakee Wheatley (S, Penn State)
FavoritePenn State by 11.5
National anthemValley Youth Theatre Choir
RefereeSteve Marlowe (SEC)
Attendance63,854
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersBob Wischusen (play-by-play)
Louis Riddick (analyst)
Kris Budden (sideline)
Tom Luginbill (sideline)
Fiesta Bowl
 < 2024 (Jan.) 2025 > 

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 54th annual Fiesta Bowl featured Boise State and Penn State, and was one of the 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season. It was also one of the College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinal games, beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. MST and airing on ESPN. Sponsored by online vacation rental marketplace Vrbo, the game was officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

Background

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl was a quarterfinal game for the College Football Playoff (CFP). Boise State, being the ninth-ranked team in the final CFP rankings and winning their conference championship game, received a bye in the CFP's new 12-team format and was selected to play in the bowl game as the third seed in the CFP playoff. The playoff's 11th seed, SMU (ranked 10th in the final CFP poll), and sixth seed, Penn State (ranked fourth in the final CFP poll), met on December 21 for the other spot in the Fiesta Bowl, with Penn State winning, 38–10. This was the first-ever meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Broncos.

Penn State defeated Boise State and advanced to the Orange Bowl, to face the winner of the Sugar Bowl.

First round Fiesta Bowl
3 Boise State 14
11 SMU 10 6 Penn State 31
6 Penn State 38

Teams

This was the first meeting between Penn State and Boise State. Both teams had previously appeared in multiple Fiesta Bowls, with undefeated records: Boise State was 3–0 in prior appearances, most recently the December 2014 edition, while Penn State was 7–0 in prior appearances, most recently the December 2017 edition.

Boise State Broncos

Main article: 2024 Boise State Broncos football team

Boise State entered the game as the Mountain West Conference champions, with a 12–1 record (7–0 in conference). The Broncos' only loss was to Oregon on September 7.

Penn State Nittany Lions

Main article: 2024 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Penn State compiled an 11–1 record (8–1 in conference) during the regular season, losing only to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions qualified for the Big Ten Championship Game, which they fell to top-ranked Oregon 45–37. Penn State was then selected to compete in the CFP playoff; ranked fourth in the final CFP rankings, they received the sixth seed in the playoff bracket. Facing SMU in a first-round game, Penn State took a 28–0 lead into halftime en route to a 38–10 victory. The Nittany Lions entered the Fiesta Bowl with a 12–2 record.

Game summary

College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 4 Penn State 14 3 7731
No. 9 Boise State 0 7 7014

at State Farm Stadium • Glendale, Arizona

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP Penn State Boise State
1 6:40 9 72 4:01 Penn State Tyler Warren 11-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good 7 0
1 3:35 4 56 1:21 Penn State Omari Evans 38-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good 14 0
2 8:41 8 52 4:21 Boise State Tyler Crowe 8-yard touchdown run, Jonah Dalmas kick good 14 7
2 0:00 9 41 1:01 Penn State 40-yard field goal by Ryan Barker 17 7
3 11:38 5 83 2:28 Boise State Matt Lauter 53-yard touchdown reception from Maddux Madsen, Jonah Dalmas kick good 17 14
3 7:22 11 75 4:16 Penn State Tyler Warren 13-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good 24 14
4 4:54 7 79 4:26 Penn State Nicholas Singleton 58-yard touchdown run, Ryan Barker kick good 31 14
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 14

Statistics

Team statistical comparison
Statistic Penn State Boise State
First downs 21 25
First downs rushing 10 7
First downs passing 8 14
First downs penalty 3 4
Third down efficiency 5–13 8–15
Fourth down efficiency 0–0 0–1
Total plays–net yards 66–387 75–412
Rushing attempts–net yards 41–216 40–108
Yards per rush 5.3 2.7
Yards passing 171 304
Pass completions–attempts 13–25 23–35
Interceptions thrown 0 3
Punt returns–total yards 0–0 1–19
Kickoff returns–total yards 0–0 2–30
Punts–average yardage 6–47.2 4–40.8
Fumbles–lost 1–1 2–1
Penalties–yards 10–98 13–90
Time of possession 25:56 34:04
Penn State statistics
Nittany Lions passing
C–A Yds TD–INT
Drew Allar 13–25 171 3–0
Nittany Lions rushing
Car Yds TD
Kaytron Allen 17 134 0
Nicholas Singleton 12 87 1
TEAM 1 −1 0
Drew Allar 11 −4 0
Nittany Lions receiving
Rec Yds TD
Tyler Warren 6 63 2
Omari Evans 2 55 1
Harrison Wallace III 3 37 0
Luke Reynolds 2 16 0
Boise State statistics
Broncos passing
C–A Yds TD–INT
Maddux Madsen 23–35 304 1–3
Broncos rushing
Car Yds TD
Ashton Jeanty 30 104 0
Tyler Crowe 1 8 1
Jambres Dubar 2 −1 0
Maddux Madsen 7 −3 0
Broncos receiving
Rec Yds TD
Matt Lauter 4 96 1
Cameron Camper 3 66 0
Prince Strachan 4 40 0
Latrell Caples 4 30 0
Matt Wagner 2 24 0
Ashton Jeanty 3 22 0
Austin Bolt 2 14 0
Ben Ford 1 12 0

References

  1. Snyder, Ryan (January 1, 2025). "Zakee Wheatley and Tyler Warren take home MVP honors in Fiesta Bowl following Penn State's win over Boise State". on3.com. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  2. Austro, Ben (December 9, 2024). "2024-25 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  3. Cobb, David. "2024-25 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  4. "College Football Playoff announces Fiesta Bowl kickoff time for 2024 quarterfinals". Arizona Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Leasure, Bailey (December 8, 2024). "No. 3 seed Boise State selected to play in Fiesta Bowl in CFP quarterfinal". ArizonaSports.com. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  6. Goodwin, Shaun (December 8, 2024). "What to know about Penn State, SMU. The Broncos will face one of them in Fiesta Bowl". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  7. "Penn State controls SMU, wins 38-10 in CFP first round matchup". NCAA.com. December 21, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  8. ^ "Boise State Broncos vs. Penn State Nittany Lions football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  9. "CFP_2024-25_STANDARDIZED_BRACKET 12.08.24 KC-NEW" (PDF). collegefootballplayoff.com. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  10. Ortiz, Jenna (December 8, 2024). "Boise State selected to play in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl with potential Penn State matchup next". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  11. Goodwin, Shaun; Keyser, Jim (December 7, 2024). "Boise State has Mountain West title, playoff berth..." Idaho Statesman. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  12. "No. 6 Seed Penn State Football Advances to CFP Quarterfinal with 38-10 Win Over No. 11 Seed SMU". gopsusports.com. December 21, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  13. "(6) Penn State vs. (3) Boise State - Stat feed". Statbroadcast.com. December 31, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  14. ^ "Penn State vs. Boise State (Dec 31, 2024) - Play-by-play". ESPN. December 31, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.

External links

2024–25 NCAA football bowl game season
All-Star Games
Hula Bowl (Jan. 11)
Tropical Bowl (Jan. 18)
East–West Shrine Bowl (Jan. 30)
Senior Bowl (Feb. 1)
HBCU Legacy Bowl (Feb. 22)
Fiesta Bowl
History & conference tie-ins
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# denotes national championship game; † denotes College Football Playoff semifinal game; ‡ denotes College Football Playoff quarterfinal game

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