College Football Insider | Bowl Week Recap

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FOOTBALL INSIDER BOWL /// RECAP

BOWL

RECAP 29 th Annual Cactus Bowl

In his 19th bowl appearance, Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder led the Kansas State Wildcats to a 35-17 win over the UCLA Bruins on December 26th in the 29th Annual Cactus Bowl at Chase Field. Down by 10 going into the second half, Kansas State scored 28 unanswered points. The comeback was paced by quarterback Alex Delton, who replaced Skylar Thompson in the first quarter. Delton’s 158 yards on the ground, two rushing touchdowns and a passing TD earned him Offensive Player of the Game honors. Kansas State’s 344 rushing yards are a team record for a bowl game. Denzel Goolsby earned Defensive Player of the Game honors with five tackles, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Click here to see a video recap.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2017 | WEEK 15

BOWL

RECAP 47 th Annual PlayStation ® Fiesta Bowl

Penn State defeated Washington, 35-28, in the 47th Annual PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, improving to a perfect 7-0 record in Fiesta Bowl games. The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 28-7 lead, behind the offensive duo of Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley. Barkley found the end zone twice, including a Fiesta Bowl record 92-yard run, and McSorley hit DaeSean Hamilton with a 48-yard scoring pass to jump out front. The Huskies scored 21 of the game’s next 28 points to cut the deficit to 35-28 on Myles Gaskin’s 69-yard scoring run, his second of the day. A final Washington drive was thwarted and Penn State captured the victory. McSorley won the Offensive Player of the Game honors after throwing for 342 yards and both of his touchdown passes to Hamilton on third-down plays. Barkley rushed for 137 yards and Hamilton added 110 yards receiving. Marcus Allen was named Defensive Player of the Game with seven tackles. With the win, head coach James Franklin picked up his second bowl victory and helped Penn State to its first bowl win since 2014. Click here to see a video recap.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

TEAM

OU T R E ACH

UCLA Cactus Bowl Team UCLA fully embraced the season of giving by enjoying a holiday party with 65 children from the Muscular Dystrophy Association. More than 100 Bruins’ student-athletes and coaching staff joined Fiesta Bowl Charities at Main Event to play laser tag, arcade games and go bowling with the children. As the day concluded the children left with smiles, a Cactus Bowl poster, UCLA gear and memories to last a lifetime. Click here to see a video recap.

Kansas State The full Wildcats team, and Head Coach Bill Snyder, celebrated the holiday at the Salvation Army’s Annual Christmas Dinner with more than 5,000 guests. Teaming up with Fiesta Bowl Charities, the Wildcats student-athletes, coaches and their families had the pleasure of serving home cooked meals, distributing holiday gifts, playing games and assembling crafts. After pictures with Santa and the student-athletes, hundreds of children left the one-of-a-kind holiday celebration with a toy, a Cactus Bowl poster, Wildcat autographs and K-State gear. Click here to see a video recap.

“I’m so pleased that the Cactus Bowl put on the Christmas event that took place with the Salvation Army. It was really an amazing event. And what it really meant, it not only meant a great deal to the people that were there, but it meant a great deal to our players as well because they’re those kind of gentlemen, that they love helping other people.

And they did so and did it with a smile on their face.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

TEAM

OU T R E ACH

Penn State The full Nittany Lions team participated in a fun day of kickball and PlayStation games with children from across the Valley. The Nittany Lions’ studentathletes and coaching staff teamed up with Fiesta Bowl Charities, HopeKids and Children’s Cancer Network to enjoy a day on the kickball fields. Penn State team members coached, encouraged and participated in kickball games with 120 children while signing autographs and handing out team gear. The participants also had the opportunity to climb into the PlayStation gaming truck and play video games with the players. Click here to see a video recap.

Washington It was a day of champions and smiles as University of Washington participated in a unified sports field day with 100 Arizona Special Olympic Athletes.

After the National Anthem, the Athlete Oath, and a gift exchange, it was time for the games to begin. Huskies players and coaching staff were challenged in punt, pass, and kick, and soccer shootouts. The sports rotation was not complete without a visit to the PlayStation gaming truck for some friendly video game competition. As the rotations came to a close, each athlete was given a PlayStation bag filled with goodies and a commemorative PlayStation Fiesta Bowl poster.

Click here to see a video recap.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Penn State Head Coach James Franklin “You’ve got so many kids from so many different backgrounds and perspectives. To me, probably the most valuable guys in our program are the guys that you don’t know anything about. The guys that make the program run, the guys that allow us to practice the way we want to practice, the guys that sacrifice so much with their name not being in the newspaper, with them not scoring touchdowns. But we talk all the time about every single person in our program has a significant role that impacts this team.”

“Overall, we love the Fiesta Bowl. We’re 7-0. It’s a tremendous game. We were treated unbelievably well all week long by our Fiesta Bowl hosts. We had a great experience. Obviously it’s easy to say that after a win, but really the entire experience was fantastic and we’re very appreciative.”

Penn State RB Saquon Barkley

Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder “The Yellow Jackets and the Cactus Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, always amazing.

Like somebody said a moment ago, I’ve been out here 500 times, and we’ve always been treated with great respect. We’ve always been treated with wonderful hospitality. People that genuinely care, do anything and everything they can to help out our players and our staff.”

“It’s an honor to represent those that came before us and to represent the guys that will come after us and to be able to play in such a prestigious bowl like the Fiesta Bowl.”

Washington LB Vita Vea “We have a little saying called ‘team, unit, me.’ Worry about your team first, then your unit, then yourself and make sure you get that order right. Don’t be selfish and worry about yourself – you forget about the team.”

Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen “I’m proud of our guys for how hard they keep playing. We never questioned their heart. Got a lot of guys that play very, very hard and we’re very proud of them.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

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Game Week Recap

Media Day

Check out the photos and videos from game week!

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Media Day boasted interview sessions and a whole lot more. Some new twists this year included grouping players by their academic major, an expanded PlayStation gaming alcove, board game ‘competition’ among teammates and a renewal of Fiesta Bowl mascot Spirit taking on players in a push-up contest. Enjoy some of the scenes from Media Day.

Cactus Bowl LIVE! Oasis Pregame Party 29th Annual Cactus Bowl Fan Fest and Stadium Club 47th Annual PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl

Media Coverage The 2017 Fiesta Bowl between Penn State and Washington was the most-watched non-CFP Fiesta Bowl in the New Year’s Six era with 10.1 million viewers.

• Moore: Penn State, Washington players leave it all on the field in PlayStation Fiesta Bowl • Moore: With Fiesta Bowl tickets every year, Valley family boasts ‘exciting’ family tradition •Fiesta Bowl Parade rolls through Phoenix ahead of big game • Fiesta Bowl Parade 2017 is ready to roll down Central Avenue • Penn State keeps Big Ten bowl party rolling, extends Pac-12 misery • Byron Murphy’s cousins have inspired him his whole life. At the Fiesta Bowl, he’ll have them — and almost 100 others — cheering him on • Sportswriters’ notebook: Dec. 31, 2017

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2018 | BOWL RECAP

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