On December 27, 2014 - exactly 11 years ago today - Arizona State football won its first major non-New Year's Six bowl game since 2004. The then-No. 15 Sun Devils topped Duke 36-31 in the Hyundai Sun Bowl held in El Paso, Texas.
Then-ASU head coach Todd Graham led the team to its second bowl win and back-to-back 10-win seasons in his third year at the helm, giving many Sun Devil fans hope for an upswing in the program's prospects. That was especially true considering ASU climbed as high as No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings as late as Nov. 9, back when it was just a four-team bracket.
For those that may remember watching this game (yours truly was a mere high school senior who had only just learned he was accepted to ASU a week or two prior), ASU demonstrated a resilience and an ability to rebound that felt like the program was finally turning a corner.
Running back Demario Richard found the endzone four times - once in each quarter as the only Sun Devil to do so in the game - and accounted for 24 of the team's 36 points. Kicker Zane Gonzalez nailed all three of his field goal and extra point attempts which proved crucial in the West Texas shootout.
Quarterback Taylor Kelly threw for 240 yards and two of those Richard TDs. His efforts enhanced wide receiver Jaelen Strong's NFL Draft stock, who reeled in seven catches for 103 yards. Strong had impressed college football fans nationwide earlier in the season with his Jael Mary catch on Oct. 4 to shock No. 16 USC with a last-second game-winning touchdown.
Duke didn't make things easy on the Devils though. Fellow future NFLer Jamison Crowder returned a punt 68-yards for a touchdown at the end of the first half to claw the Blue Devils back to within three points. Crowder was also responsible for the trick play touchdown toss to teammate Isaac Blakeney that gave Duke a one-point lead in the fourth quarter.
ASU's backup running back Kalen Ballage - who fans would come to know and love over the next few seasons - gave the Blue Devils a taste of their own medicine with a kickoff return to within the opposing 10-yard line, setting up Richard for the go-ahead, game-winning score.
But the drama didn't end there. Duke went marching down the field with just over 4 minutes to play in regulation and threatened to score its own walk-off TD but defensive back Kweishi Brown stepped in front of Crowder in the back corner of the endzone for a game-sealing interception.
Arizona State meets Duke for a rematch in the 2025 Sun Bowl
11 years later, the Sun Devils and Blue Devils will clash once again in El Paso. This time it's Duke that is coming off a revival season as highly unexpected champions of the ACC while ASU is licking its wounds from an injury-filled follow up to its own surprising conference title run the year before.
Arizona State (8-4) and Duke (8-5) will meet for just the second time in program history with the first meeting, of course, coming in the same bowl game 11 years ago. This will also be the Blue Devils' second all-time appearance in the Sun Bowl compared to ASU's eighth, the most frequented bowl in program history for the Sun Devils.
ASU holds a 4-2-1 record in the Sun Bowl, last participating in 2019 and emerging victorious 20-14 over Florida State.
The 2025 Sun Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 31 with kickoff set for Noon MST on your local CBS station and streaming on Paramount+.