Taking Root in the Desert 5 Table of Contents 1 Fiesta Bowl History 2 1987 Fiesta Combat 3 1999 Who Needs Peyton 4 2003 Champion Buckeyes 5 2007 Boise State's Shocker 6 2014 Lighting Up the Scoreboard Penn State vs Miami 11 Baylor vs Central Florida 37 Tennessee vs Florida State 17 Ohio State vs Miami 23 Boise State vs Oklahoma 29 Timeline 42 Bowl Records 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index About the Author 48
Florida State safety David Snell 20 returns a kick against Arizona State in the first Fiesta Bowl on December 27 1971 4
FIESTA BOWL HISTORY TAKING ROOT IN THE DESERT T he college football world looked a lot different in the 1960s At the time the Rose Orange Sugar and Cotton Bowl games dominated the scene There were a few other bowls but college football fans paid the most attention to those four The games were usually played on New Year’s Day When they were all wrapped up the national champion was crowned Some folks in Phoenix Arizona figured their climate was warm enough to stage a bowl game too In 1968 Arizona State University President G Homer Durham came up with the idea of creating a bowl game for the Phoenix area There was no name for it yet but there was lots of interest College football was plenty popular in the state Two local schools the University 1 5
