Fiesta Bowl Recap: Boise State Holds Off Arizona, 38-30

Boise State came out firing on all cylinders Wednesday afternoon in Glendale, getting out to 21-0 and 28-7 leads against the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats. After picking up a field goal in the final seconds of the first half, the Broncos took a 31-17 lead into the locker room, which was all they needed in a 38-30 Fiesta Bowl victory.

The win is the third Fiesta Bowl championship Boise State has taken in the past eight years. And there was a little bit of that old 2007 magic in this year’s edition.

When up 14-0 after big touchdown plays to both Jay Ajayi and Chaz Anderson, the Broncos once again found themselves in Arizona territory at the 16 yard line.

And then came the ol’ “Statue Left” play.

Yep, head coach Bryan Harsin dialed up the Statue of Liberty play, which resulted in a 16-yard touchdown for Jay Ajayi as he ran over a couple Wildcats on his way to the endzone, including safety Jared Tevis, who suffered an elbow injury that ended his day.

“Just overall a great play by everybody outĀ there executing it,” Harsin said after the game. “It is fun to have that play in thisĀ game, too.”

Arizona had its chances in the second half, as the Wildcats only surrendered three yards of total offense in the third quarter after giving up 397 in the first two quarters.

But the highly-touted RichRod offense couldn’t get anything going the entire night, mostly because of poor decision making and many overthrows by redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon. It also didn’t help that starting running back Nick Wilson was forced out of the game in the second quarter because of a head injury.

The Wildcat defense did not allow a single point in the second half. The one Boise touchdown came on a pick-six by Solomon thrown to Donte Deayon. That defense gave Arizona one last chance to drive down the field and tie the game.

On 2nd-and-19 at their own 49, Solomon connected with sophomore wide receiver Cayleb Jones on a 43-yard pass to get the Wildcats down to the eight yard line. After spiking the ball and an incompletion out of the endzone, there were eight seconds left.

The protection broke down, and Solomon scrambled to his right to keep the play alive. But the Boise defenders ran him down, and brought him to his knees inbounds, ending the game.

Boise State finishes the 2014 season 12-2, while Arizona finishes it 10-4. The Bronco win left Harsin wondering if Boise State would get its chance in the College Football Playoff in the near future.

Will Boise get that chance? Probably not. But they certainly took advantage of the Fiesta Bowl stage again this year.

*Section Photo credit to Ross Franklin, Associated Press; Featured Photo (above) credit to FoxSports

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