Arizona State football has important history with the Peach Bowl
Dec 27, 2024, 10:37 AM
Arizona State football returns to the Peach Bowl for the first time since 1970, almost 20 years before ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham was even born.
And yet the impact from that snowy night in Atlanta has impacted football in the Valley a half-century later as ASU prepares for Texas in a significant national showcase for the program.
The 10-0 Sun Devils under head coach Frank Kush won the Western Athletic Conference but had been struggling to find invitations to bowl games with only two on the West Coast at the time — both in California.
ASU had an opportunity in Atlanta to prove itself on a national stage at the third annual Peach Bowl against No. 9 North Carolina, and the Sun Devils won the game 48-26 in unfamiliar conditions.
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“The last time we had Frank Kush and his No. 8 Arizona State team here, it rained in the first quarter, sleeted in the second quarter, snowed in the third quarter and iced in the fourth quarter,” Peach Bowl CEO Gary Stokan told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo.
“I’ll never forget, Vince Dooley — the coach of Georgia at the time, his brother Bill was the head coach of North Carolina who was Arizona state’s opponent in old Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech — he said, ‘I was never so cold in my life.'”
Arizona State quarterback Joe Spagnola and wide receiver J.D. Hill led the top-three scoring offense in the country throughout the season, and ASU jumped ahead 21-7. After trailing 26-21 at halftime, the Sun Devils dominated the snowy second half for the win.
Kush’s program finished the season ranked No. 6 in the nation.
This year, there are 47 bowl games, and any team that goes .500 against FBS opponents clinches a spot. In 1970, there were 11, and ASU had not played in one since the 1950 Salad Bowl as a Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association team.
“They had the Arizona State fans, the people in the Valley said, ‘Hey, it’s 80 degrees in Phoenix today, why don’t we start one of these?'” Stokan said. “Because Kush had a tough time getting into the bigger bowls at the time, and they knew that Arizona State was going to be pretty good in the future, so they start meeting with the Peach Bowl people. Between those meetings, the Fiesta Bowl was created, so it’s a unique link to the Valley from the Peach Bowl.”
The wheels were in motion for a Valley bowl game since 1968, but with guidance from Peach Bowl leadership, the first Fiesta Bowl from Sun Devil Stadium commenced in 1971. ASU defeated Florida State and started a string of three straight Fiesta Bowl wins.
Arizona State continued to dominate the WAC until a move to the Pac-10 in 1978, which along with the debut of dozens of bowl games over the decades opened door to more postseason football.
Like the 1970 event, Arizona State has a national showcase on New Year’s Day against a blue blood opponent, Texas. ASU stepped up on the grand stage of the Big 12 championship by blowing out Iowa State 45-19 in Dallas on Dec. 7.
The Sun Devil players are aware of the program’s Peach Bowl history, as they received first-hand accounts from Kush’s undefeated 1970 squad.
“One of the cool moments we’ve had this season was at our banquet couple weeks ago. The 1970 Peach Bowl team had about a dozen members in attendance, just coincidentally, as we’d found out that morning that we’re going to Peach Bowl,” ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told Burns & Gambo. “They were wearing their Peach Bowl watches and talking about the game from almost 40-plus years ago at this point.”
Arizona State will land in Atlanta on Sunday, and they will use Georgia Tech’s facilities for practice ahead of the big game on New Year’s Day.
“I know the Peach Bowl is going to roll out the red carpet along with the CFP staff, and so we’ll hit the ground running,” Rossini said. “The benefit of having a couple days around it is embrace the pageantry, have that welcome reception to really just enjoy the fact that we’re in the CFP and then quickly get get a good night’s rest, wake up the next morning and be focused on game time.”
