2024 Fiesta Bowl (January)

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 53rd annual Fiesta Bowl featured Liberty of Conference USA (C-USA) and Oregon of the Pac-12 Conference—teams selected at-large by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The game began at approximately 11:00 a.m. MST and was aired on ESPN.[4][5] The Fiesta Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by vacation rental marketplace Vrbo and was officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
53rd Fiesta Bowl
1234 Total
Liberty 6000 6
Oregon 32877 45
DateJanuary 1, 2024
Season2023
StadiumState Farm Stadium
LocationGlendale, Arizona
MVPOff.:Bo Nix (QB, Oregon)[1]
Def.:Jeffrey Bassa (LB, Oregon)
FavoriteOregon by 16.5[2]
RefereeSteve Marlowe (SEC)[3]
Attendance47,769
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
ESPN Radio
AnnouncersBob Wischusen (play-by-play), Robert Griffin III (analyst), and Kris Budden (sideline) (ESPN)
Mike Couzens (play-by-play), Max Starks (analyst), and Stormy Buonantony (sideline) (ESPN Radio)
Fiesta Bowl
 < 2022 (Dec.) 2024 (Dec.)

Teams

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The teams for the Fiesta Bowl, one of the New Year's Six bowl games, were selected at-large by the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee.

This was the first meeting between Oregon and Liberty.[6]

Liberty

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The Flames entered the bowl undefeated, with a 13–0 record, ranked 23rd in the CFP rankings and 18th in the AP poll. They beat New Mexico State in the 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game, 49–35.

This was Liberty's first Fiesta Bowl. It was also the first appearance by a C-USA team in a New Year's Six bowl game.

Oregon

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The Ducks entered the bowl 11–2 and ranked 8th each of the major polls. Both of their losses were to Washington; once during the regular season and again in the 2023 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.

This was Oregon's fourth Fiesta Bowl; entering the game, they were 2–1 in prior appearances, most recently playing in the January 2021 edition, which they lost. It was also Oregon's final game as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, with the Ducks set to join the Big Ten Conference beginning in 2024.

Game summary

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2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 23 Liberty 6 0 006
No. 8 Oregon 3 28 7745

at State Farm StadiumGlendale, Arizona

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP LIB ORE
1 12:37 6 75 2:23 LIB Bentley Hanshaw 17-yard touchdown reception from Kaidon Salter, Nick Brown kick failed 6 0
1 9:06 8 60 3:31 ORE 37-yard field goal by Camden Lewis 6 3
2 12:53 7 82 3:24 ORE Gary Bryant Jr. 2-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix, Camden Lewis kick good 6 10
2 7:13 10 75 3:59 ORE Terrance Ferguson 2-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix, Camden Lewis kick good 6 17
2 3:50 5 95 2:16 ORE Kenyon Sadiq 2-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix, Camden Lewis kick good 6 24
2 0:03 5 68 1:09 ORE Traeshon Holden 17-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix, Camden Lewis kick good 6 31
3 11:11 7 75 3:49 ORE Tez Johnson 24-yard touchdown reception from Bo Nix, Camden Lewis kick good 6 38
4 14:13 13 82 7:27 ORE Bucky Irving 1-yard touchdown run, Grant Meadors kick good 6 45
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 45

Statistics

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Statistics LIB ORE
First downs 15 28
Plays–yards 52–294 71–584
Rushes–yards 28–168 29–183
Passing yards 126 401
Passing: compattint 15–24–2 33–42–0
Time of possession 24:45 35:15
Team Category Player Statistics
Liberty Passing Kaidon Salter 15/24, 126 yards, TD, INT
Rushing Quinton Cooley 8 carries, 79 yards
Receiving CJ Daniels 8 catches, 79 yards
Oregon Passing Bo Nix 28/35, 363 yards, 5 TD
Rushing Bucky Irving 14 carries, 117 yards, TD
Receiving Tez Johnson 11 catches, 172 yards, TD

References

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  1. ^ @zacharycneel (January 1, 2024). "No surprise, Bo Nix wins the Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP Award. Jeffrey Bassa wins the Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP Award" (Tweet). Retrieved January 1, 2024 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Parks, James (December 11, 2023). "College football bowl schedule, game odds, point spreads for 2023-24". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  3. ^ Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  4. ^ Straka, Dean. "2023-24 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  5. ^ "Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Kicks Off on January 1, 2024". Fiesta Bowl. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  6. ^ "Oregon Ducks vs. Liberty Flames football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
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