Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl notes: 1st half points most in bowl history

The 92nd edition of the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl between Duke and Arizona State was a memorable one as the Blue Devils defeated the Sun Devils, 42-39, in front of 44,975 fans at Sun Bowl Stadium.

Duke's offense continues strong play

Duke's 42 points were no surprise as the Blue Devils scored 30 or more points seven times entering Wednesday's game. Duke has scored more than 40 points five times this season.

Arizona State now 5-3-1 in the Sun Bowl

Arizona State played in its very first Sun Bowl in 1940 against Catholic University and the game finished in 0-0 tie.

The Sun Devils played Case Western Reserve in the 1941 game (26-13 loss), played Iowa in the 1997 Sun Bowl (17-7 win), played Purdue in the 2004 Sun Bowl (27-23 win), played Duke in the 2014 Sun Bowl (36-31 win), played North Carolina State in the 2017 game (52-31 loss) and played Florida State in the 2019 game (Sun Bowl (20-14 win).

After Wednesday's game, ASU lost its third Sun Bowl game.

First-half points are a record

The 52 points scored were a Sun Bowl record, surpassing the 51 scored between Northwestern and UCLA in the 2005 game.

Duke led Arizona State, 28-24, at halftime.

Arizona State kicker Jesus Gomez makes 54-yarder

Gomez's 54-yard field goal was the longest made field goal since USC's Quin Rodriguez made a 50-yarder in 1990.

Former New Mexico State defensive standout Myles Rowser starts for ASU

Rowser has 79 total tackles for Arizona State. He played at New Mexico State during the 10-win season for the Aggies.

He finished the game with five tackles

Arizona State running back Jason Brown had season-best effort

Brown entered the Sun Bowl with just 17 yards rushing all year, but finished with 120 yards vs. Duke.

Duke back-to-back nine winning seasons

The Blue Devils now have consecutive nine-win seasons for the second time in school history. The last time the program achieved that feat was in 2013 and 2014.

Arizona State WR Jalen Moss with huge game

Moss had had just 144 yards receiving coming into the game, but had 129 yards.

Former NFL star Hines Ward on coaching staff with Arizona State

Ward started his coaching career with the Steelers in 2017 and he was with the Jets as an offensive assistant in 2019 and 2020. He worked with Florida Atlantic in 2021.

He coaches receivers for the Sun Devils.

The Georgia Bulldog and Pittsburgh Steeler star, and the MVP of Super Bowl XL, registered 3,031 yards from scrimmage with 16 touchdowns for Georgia. As a quarterback, he posted 918 yards with three touchdowns while completing 60 percent of his passes. 

Ward was a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1998 NFL Draft, playing all 14 of his seasons there and earning four Pro Bowl trips. He won two Super Bowls with the franchise. In Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks, he posted five catches for 123 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown on the way to the MVP honors.

Sun Bowl record for total offense between two teams

The two teams combined for 1,158 yards, breaking the old record of 1,037 yards between UCLA and Northwestern in 2005.

Arizona State had 619 yards of offense, and Duke had 539 yards.

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at [email protected]; @fchavezeptimes on X

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Sun Bowl highlights, game notes: ASU, Duke compete at high level