# 2024 Fiesta Bowl (December)

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 54th annual Fiesta Bowl featured Boise State and Penn State, and was one of the 2024–25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season. It was also one of the College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinal games, beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. MST and airing on ESPN. Sponsored by online vacation rental marketplace Vrbo, the game was officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

## Background

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl was the first-ever quarterfinal game for the College Football Playoff (CFP). Boise State, being the ninth-ranked team in the final CFP rankings and winning their conference championship game, received a bye in the CFP's new 12-team format and was selected to play in the bowl game as the third seed in the CFP playoff. The playoff's 11th seed, SMU (ranked 10th in the final CFP poll), and sixth seed, Penn State (ranked fourth in the final CFP poll), met on December 21 for the other spot in the Fiesta Bowl, with Penn State winning by a score of 38–10.
This was the first-ever meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Broncos. Penn State defeated Boise State and advanced to the semifinal round at the Orange Bowl, to face the winner of the Sugar Bowl.
| First round | First round | First round | Fiesta Bowl | Fiesta Bowl | Fiesta Bowl |
| | | | 3 | Boise State | 14 |
| 11 | SMU | 10 | 6 | Penn State | 31 |
| 6 | Penn State | 38 | | | |

## Teams

This was the first meeting between Penn State and Boise State. Both teams had previously appeared in multiple Fiesta Bowls, with undefeated records: Boise State was 3–0 in prior appearances, most recently the December 2014 edition, while Penn State was 7–0 in prior appearances, most recently the December 2017 edition.

### Boise State Broncos

Boise State entered the game as the Mountain West Conference champions, with a 12–1 record (7–0 in conference). The Broncos' only loss was to Oregon on September 7.

### Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State compiled an 11–1 record (8–1 in conference) during the regular season, losing only to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions qualified for the Big Ten Championship Game, which they fell to top-ranked Oregon 45–37. Penn State was then selected to compete in the CFP playoff; ranked fourth in the final CFP rankings, they received the sixth seed in the playoff bracket. Facing SMU in a first-round game, Penn State took a 28–0 lead into halftime en route to a 38–10 victory. The Nittany Lions entered the Fiesta Bowl with a 12–2 record.

## Game summary

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Penn State | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| No. 9 Boise State | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
at State Farm Stadium • Glendale, Arizona
* Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2024
* Game time: 5:40 p.m. MST
* Game weather: n/a (retractable roof closed)
* Game attendance: 63,854
* Referee: Steve Marlowe
* TV announcers (ESPN): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Louis Riddick (analyst), Kris Budden and Tom Luginbill (sideline)
* ESPN Box score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | Penn State | Boise State |
| 1 | 6:40 | 9 | 72 | 4:01 | Penn State | Tyler Warren 11-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 1 | 3:35 | 4 | 56 | 1:21 | Penn State | Omari Evans 38-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good | 14 | 0 |
| 2 | 8:41 | 8 | 52 | 4:21 | Boise State | Tyler Crowe 8-yard touchdown run, Jonah Dalmas kick good | 14 | 7 |
| 2 | 0:00 | 9 | 41 | 1:01 | Penn State | 40-yard field goal by Ryan Barker | 17 | 7 |
| 3 | 11:38 | 5 | 83 | 2:28 | Boise State | Matt Lauter 53-yard touchdown reception from Maddux Madsen, Jonah Dalmas kick good | 17 | 14 |
| 3 | 7:22 | 11 | 75 | 4:16 | Penn State | Tyler Warren 13-yard touchdown reception from Drew Allar, Ryan Barker kick good | 24 | 14 |
| 4 | 4:54 | 7 | 79 | 4:26 | Penn State | Nicholas Singleton 58-yard touchdown run, Ryan Barker kick good | 31 | 14 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 31 | 14 |

### Statistics

Team statistical comparison :
| Statistic | Penn State | Boise State |
| First downs | 21 | 25 |
| First downs rushing | 10 | 7 |
| First downs passing | 8 | 14 |
| First downs penalty | 3 | 4 |
| Third down efficiency | 5–13 | 8–15 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Total plays–net yards | 66–387 | 75–412 |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 41–216 | 40–108 |
| Yards per rush | 5.3 | 2.7 |
| Yards passing | 171 | 304 |
| Pass completions–attempts | 13–25 | 23–35 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 3 |
| Punt returns–total yards | 0–0 | 1–19 |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 0–0 | 2–30 |
| Punts–average yardage | 6–47.2 | 4–40.8 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Penalties–yards | 10–98 | 13–90 |
| Time of possession | 25:56 | 34:04 |
Penn State statistics :
| Nittany Lions passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Drew Allar | 13–25 | 171 | 3–0 |
| Nittany Lions rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Kaytron Allen | 17 | 134 | 0 |
| Nicholas Singleton | 12 | 87 | 1 |
| TEAM | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Drew Allar | 11 | −4 | 0 |
| Nittany Lions receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Tyler Warren | 6 | 63 | 2 |
| Omari Evans | 2 | 55 | 1 |
| Harrison Wallace III | 3 | 37 | 0 |
| Luke Reynolds | 2 | 16 | 0 |
Boise State statistics :
| Broncos passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Maddux Madsen | 23–35 | 304 | 1–3 |
| Broncos rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Ashton Jeanty | 30 | 104 | 0 |
| Tyler Crowe | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Jambres Dubar | 2 | −1 | 0 |
| Maddux Madsen | 7 | −3 | 0 |
| Broncos receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Matt Lauter | 4 | 96 | 1 |
| Cameron Camper | 3 | 66 | 0 |
| Prince Strachan | 4 | 40 | 0 |
| Latrell Caples | 4 | 30 | 0 |
| Matt Wagner | 2 | 24 | 0 |
| Ashton Jeanty | 3 | 22 | 0 |
| Austin Bolt | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| Ben Ford | 1 | 12 | 0 |