Arizona State Sun Devils headed to Sun Bowl to face Duke
Dec 7, 2014, 10:04 PM | Updated: 10:05 pm
After a 9-3 regular season, the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils will have the chance to notch a 10th win against Duke (9-3) in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 27 in El Paso, Texas according to multiple reports.
The Sun Devils had an interesting 2014 campaign, starting 8-1 and ranking as high as sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings. They proceeded to lose two of their next three games, falling to No. 15.
ASU ranks 34th in the nation is yards per game (447) and 19th in points per game (36.4).
Despite bouncing between Taylor Kelly and Mike Bercovici behind center due to injuries (and poor performance in ASU’s latest game), the Sun Devils rank 29th in the country in passing yards per game (276.3). After the Territorial Cup, ASU head coach Todd Graham said Kelly will start his team’s bowl game.
The Sun Devils’ defense has struggled at times this season, allowing 419 yards per game, ranking 86th in the country. Their 27.7 points allowed per game ranks 75th.
Duke relies on a bend-but-don’t-break style of defense to win games, ranking 20th in the country in points allowed per game (20.6) but 69th in yards allowed per game (400).
The Blue Devils average 32.5 points per game, 45th most in the country. Their 398 yards per game ranks 70th.
This is the fourth consecutive trip to the postseason for Arizona State, who has now been ranked at both the beginning and the end of the season for the first time since 1996.
The Sun Devils are 2-0 all-time in the Sun Bowl, with wins over Iowa in 1997 and Purdue in 2004.
