2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

The 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 29, 2012 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California in the United States. The 11th edition of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl began at 1:00 p.m. PST and aired on ESPN2. It featured the Arizona State Sun Devils from the Pacific-12 Conference (PAC-12) against the Navy Midshipmen, who were conference independent. It was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The game, which the Sun Devils won with a score of 62–28, and drew 34,172 attendees.

As stipulated in a deal made in 2009 with bowl organizers, the Navy Midshipmen accepted their invitation to play in the game on November 3 after earning six wins in their first nine games of the season. After the Sun Devils attained bowl eligibility and defeated their in-state rival Arizona Wildcats to earn a 7–5 regular season record, the team accepted their bowl invitation on December 2.

The pre-game buildup focused on the contest between Navy's triple option rushing attack and the Sun Devils' defensive squad. After a quarterback change, the Midshipmen rushing offense had become one of the most prolific in the nation, but the team's passing offense ranked near the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Arizona State's balanced offense hinged on its quarterback efficiency, and had the potential to set a number of school records for the season. Defensively, the team ranked as one of the best in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, but its rushing defense had allowed an average of 172 yards per game. Most analysts predicted a victory for the Sun Devils. Navy sold over 10,000 tickets to the game, while Arizona State sold over 5,000.

Team selection
In September 2009, organizers of the Emerald Bowl (since retitled the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl to reflect its new sponsor) announced that they had renewed their contract with the Pacific-12 Conference for four years, with the sixth bowl eligible team from the conference playing against a team from the Western Athletic Conference in the 2010 and 2013 editions of the game and the Navy Midshipmen in the 2012 game, should they become bowl eligible. Prior to the start of the 2012 season, college football analyst Phil Steele projected that the Navy would play the California Golden Bears, but changed his projected Pacific-12 team in late October to the Arizona State Sun Devils. On November 3, CBSSports.com writer Jerry Palm projected that Navy would play the Arizona Wildcats in the game. Navy received $750,000 for its participation in the game, while Arizona State received $950,000. The bowl game's executive director, Gary Cavalli, received $375,176 in compensation.

Navy
The Midshipmen, representing the United States Naval Academy, began their 2012 season with a 50–10 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Emerald Isle Classic in Dublin, Ireland. They earned a 1–3 record for their first four games, but began a five-game winning streak with a victory over the Air Force Falcons in overtime on October 6. After defeating the Florida Atlantic Owls for their fifth straight victory to bring their season record to 6–3, the Midshipmen accepted the first invitation of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on November 3. Midshipmen athletic director Chet Gladchuk cited the team's positive experiences at the 2004 Emerald Bowl as a primary reason for returning to play in the game. The Midshipmen won that game against the New Mexico Lobos with a score of 34–19; it was highlighted by a drive from the Midshipmen in the third and fourth quarters that set an NCAA record for longest drive in a college football game.

For the remainder of the season, the Midshipmen lost to the Troy Trojans and defeated the Texas State Bobcats before playing the final game of the season, the 113th Army–Navy Game. After the Arizona State Sun Devils accepted their invitation, Midshipmen head coach Ken Niumatalolo stressed that his team still considered the game against the Army Black Knights for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy more pressing than preparing for the bowl game: "We have played a very tough schedule this year and there is no doubt that Arizona State will be as talented as any team we've faced. However, right now our only focus is on Saturday's game against Army. It's the biggest game of the year and this year it has added significance with the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on the line. We will worry about Arizona State after the Army game."

- Navy Midshipmen Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo

The Midshipmen won the game with a score of 17–13, their 11th straight victory in that series. The 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was the first postseason contest for the Midshipmen since losing the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl to the San Diego State Aztecs. The team had lost four of its last five postseason games.

Arizona State
The Sun Devils, representing Arizona State University (ASU) began their first season under head coach Todd Graham by winning four out of their first five games, their sole loss coming against the Missouri Tigers 20–24. They lost against their next four PAC-12 Conference foes, giving them a 5–5 record through the first 10 games of the season. With two games left, the team needed at least one more win to become bowl eligible. The Sun Devils defeated the Washington State Cougars on November 17 to earn bowl eligibility.

On November 23, they defeated the 24th-ranked Arizona Wildcats in their final regular season game to win the Territorial Cup and finish the season at 7–5, its best record since the 2007 season. After the game, bowl organizers announced that one of the two Arizona teams would receive the second invitation to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, with the other team likely going to the 2012 New Mexico Bowl. Both schools lobbied heavily for an invitation to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, and ASU officials stated that the date of the New Mexico Bowl would conflict with the school's final examination schedule. The Sun Devils accepted their invitation to play in the bowl game on December 2. The contest was the second straight bowl game for ASU; the Sun Devils lost the 2011 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas against the Boise State Broncos the previous year.

Pre-game buildup
The game was the first ever meeting between the two teams, and was the 18th bowl appearance for the Midshipmen and the 26th for the Sun Devils. Both teams were allotted 15 extra practices after the regular season to prepare for the bowl game. After its final regular season game against Arizona, the Sun Devils had 37 days to prepare for the Navy Midshipmen. Arizona State coach Todd Graham used part of his extended practice schedule to prepare younger athletes on the team's roster for the upcoming season. From the day it defeated Army, the Midshipmen had 21 days to prepare for the bowl game; however, due to the demanding final examination schedule at the United States Naval Academy and the unusual length of Navy's football season, head coach Ken Niumatalolo gave his team extra recovery time after the Army–Navy Game. The team began one-hour practices at 6 a.m. to avoid conflicts with the school's examination schedule. Both teams expected to use the game to increase their recruiting presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Members of both teams participated in community service activities in the days prior to the contest, with the Midshipmen and the Sun Devils handing out meals at St. Anthony's Dining Room and Glide Memorial Church, respectively, on Christmas day.

Navy offense
The Midshipmen offense focused on its flexbone-style triple option offensive scheme, which was ranked sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game. Although the team scored 10 or fewer points in three of its first four games, it averaged almost 32 points per game in its seven games prior to facing Army. During pre-game walk-throughs, the team prepared its new system to relay offensive plays, a series of oversized cards divided into four sections of various colors and symbols.

Freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds started every game since the team's win against the Air Force Falcons, and was the third freshman to start at quarterback in the team's history. He rushed for 628 yards on 140 carries during the season, while senior slotback Gee Gee Greene led the team in rushing yards with 765. Greene played in every Midshipmen game since 2009, and his 1,996 rushing yards prior to the Army game ranked him second among Navy slotbacks behind Shun White. Sophomore fullback Noah Copeland also ran for 694 yards during the season. Slotback Bo Snelson was removed as a team captain before the Emerald Isle Classic, but was reinstated before the Army–Navy Game. He replaced senior slotback John Howell in Navy's 12–0 loss to the San Jose State Spartans.

As is typical with triple option teams, the Midshipmen rarely threw the ball, attempting 143 passes in its first eleven games; however, Reynolds completed 10 of 17 passes for 130 yards during the game against Army, earning the game's Most Valuable Player award. With 758 career receiving yards, Greene would need 73 more in the bowl game to surpass Reggie Campbell for most by a Navy slotback.

Arizona State offense
Using a balanced spread offense system, the Arizona State Sun Devils entered the game with the third-best scoring offense in the Pacific-12 Conference. Sophomore quarterback Taylor Kelly led the team with 2,772 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. He also threw nine interceptions, seven of which came during the Sun Devils' four-game losing streak. The team's receiving corps included six players with at least 300 yards for the season. Senior running back Cameron Marshall led the team in rushing yards with 524, but his role in the team's offense had diminished somewhat since the previous season. Junior running back Marion Grice also ran for 520 yards during the season, in addition to 406 yards receiving. Grice's status for the bowl game was placed in doubt after he took leave from the team to attend to the death of his brother. As of December 27, he was expected to play in the game after a brief hiatus.

Coming into the game, some Sun Devils players had opportunities to secure school records. Kelly entered the game with a 65.9% pass completion percentage for the season, and was likely to break the school record held by Brock Osweiler set during the 2011 season. He was also likely to break Rudy Carpenter's single-season passing efficiency record, set during the 2007 season. Tight end Chris Coyle was likely to tie or break the school records for receptions and touchdowns by a tight end in a season, both held by Zach Miller. Punter Josh Hubner also had an opportunity to break the single-season record for average yards per punt.

Navy defense
Immediately after returning from the Army–Navy Game, 11th-year Midshipmen defensive coordinator Buddy Green began to prepare his team's 3–4 defensive scheme for the Sun Devils' offense. Although the Midshipmen had faced similar spread offenses earlier in the season, Green noted the balance between running and passing plays that the Sun Devils had employed, saying "they do some things that are similar to a lot of the teams we play, but I don’t think there has been one opponent that incorporates all the elements that [Arizona State] has in its package." Coming into the bowl game, the Midshipmen ranked 55th in yards allowed per game and 31st in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score an average of 22 points per game.

After an early-season series of personal issues and injuries depleted the Midshipmen defensive line, Navy had established a rotating system using 11 different linemen to keep players fresh during games. The Midshipmen also used unconventional position moves to adapt to opponents. For example, for the bowl game, Greene moved defensive end Danny Ring to nose tackle to better handle opponents' running backs. The team ranked 94th and 102nd in the nation in sacks and tackles for losses, respectively.

Linebacker Keegan Wetzel led the team in tackles. Prior to the team's game against the Army Black Knights, Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller reinstated senior linebacker Brye French, considered a team leader on defense throughout the season, as a team captain. Although the team's defensive secondary unit had been plagued with injuries early in the season, the squad had found some stability by the time it played the final game of the regular season. After the team's game against the Texas State Bobcats, cornerback Kwazel Bertrand was named the FBS Independent Defensive Player of Week.

Arizona State defense
The Sun Devils' defense ranked 26th in the nation in total defense, second in tackles for loss, and second in sacks; however, it ranked 74th in rushing defense, allowing opponents to gain an average of 172 yards per game on the ground. The team's defensive squad was led by players such as Keelan Johnson, who ranked 11th in the nation for interceptions; Carl Bradford, who was 16th in the nation for tackles for loss and 17th for sacks; Brandon Magee, who was third in the nation for solo tackles; and defensive tackle Will Sutton, who was fifth in the nation in tackles for loss and 13th in sacks. Sutton, who had also forced three fumbles and broken up five passes, was voted as the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year in the Pacific-12 Conference and became the Sun Devils' 15th ever consensus All-American player. Prior to the bowl game, Sutton told reporters that he didn't know whether he would forego his senior season and enter the 2013 NFL Draft after the game.

Pre-game media attention focused on to the ability of Arizona State's defense to stop Navy's triple option offense. ESPN.com analyst Kevin Gemmell wrote that "Watching Sutton... and the rest of the Sun Devils defense square off with the Navy offense is going to be one of the more fascinating chess matches of the postseason." Writing for SportsPageMagazine.com, Terese Karmel wrote that "The key to the game could be the matchup between the Sun Devils' defense (second in the nation in sacks with 48) against the Naval Academy's young quarterback, Keenan Reynolds." After the Sun Devils accepted their invitation, head coach Todd Graham began to prepare the team to face Navy's run-heavy offense. Graham spoke about preparing defensively for Navy's triple option offense: "Obviously it's completely different and defensively it's tough. You can't underestimate their abilities. We've been working on it for a couple of days and it will take us a while, but it's hard to simulate it in any way, and much more difficult this week. I've spent a lot of time defending that type of offense, so I think we have a pretty god idea of how to do it. It's still not very easy because of the blocking and how they go about it, it's a very difficult scheme to defend. We're preparing for it – it's not easy, but we'll get it done."

- Sun Devils Head Coach Todd Graham

Defensive coordinator Paul Randolph stated that the team would not focus solely on stopping the run, however, citing Reynolds' recent passing performances as reasons for emphasizing discipline in the team's defensive secondary.

Predictions
With some exceptions, most sports analysts predicted that Arizona State would win the contest. All six of the college football commentators surveyed by CBSSports.com predicted an Arizona State victory, and of the eight analysts surveyed by River Region Sports, six predicted that the Sun Devils would win the game, while two selected the Midshipmen. Basing his prediction off of the Sun Devils' balanced offensive scheme, NBC Sports writer John Tamanaha predicted that Arizona State would defeat Navy with a score of 42–23. Sporting News predicted that if Arizona State could avoid turnovers during the game, the Sun Devils would win the game. Analyst Will Harris predicted a 42–24 victory for the Sun Devils for ESPN.com, citing Todd Graham's bowl record and Navy's undersized defense as his reasons for his confident projection. Phil Steele and Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel also predicted that Arizona State would win, rating the game among their most confident predictions. Spread bettors favored the Sun Devils by $14 1⁄2$ points.

Ticket sales
Each team was required to sell a minimum of 11,500 tickets to the game. Navy began selling tickets in November, with the athletics department selling tickets priced between $25 and $75. Arizona State athletics began selling tickets in December, charging between $50 to $85. As of December 4, tickets were selling on the secondary market for an average of $99. Both institutions conducted campaigns to increase fan turnout at the game. Arizona State sold $75 individual travel packages to students, including a game ticket, bus transportation, and a hotel stay. Navy allowed donors to purchase tickets to the game for active military personnel and veterans. On December 17, bowl director Gary Cavalli stated that Navy had sold over 10,000 tickets. Although Arizona State aimed to sell another 10,000, the school had sold approximately 5,000 by December 19. Cavalli estimated that the game would sell around 35,000 tickets total. For every ticket sold, bowl sponsors will donate one meal each to the San Francisco Food Bank, the St. Anthony Foundation, and the Glide Foundation.

Game summary
The 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl began at 1:00 p.m. PST on December 29, 2012, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. Since AT&T Park typically hosts the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball, the venue had to be converted to accommodate the bowl game. As a result, both teams were placed on the same sideline during the game. As the designated visiting team, the Navy Midshipmen wore white jerseys, pants, and helmets; the Arizona State Sun Devils wore black jerseys, white pants and white helmets as the designated home team. The Sun Devils' uniform also included a black-and-white circular helmet sticker with the number 57 to honor Emerson Harvey, the school's first black student athlete in 1937. In a pre-game ceremony, Will Sutton received the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year award as the best defensive player in the Pacific-12 conference in 2012. Prior to kickoff, the Midshipmen marched onto the field in service dress. The Glide Memorial Church Ensemble performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" with a 100 yd American flag. At the conclusion of the national anthem, four United States Navy F/A-18 Hornet aircraft performed a flyover past the stadium. Arizona Senator John McCain performed the game's coin toss with an Oreo (to represent the game's sponsor, Kraft Foods).

Media coverage
The contest was broadcast on ESPN2, with Dave Pasch providing play-by-play, Brian Griese providing color commentary, and Jenn Brown with sideline coverage. Live online streaming was available through WatchESPN. ESPN also reached a deal with social media service Twitter to provide bowl game highlights via expanded tweets; for the first time, viewers could watch the highlights without leaving Twitter. The game was also covered on multiple broadcast radio stations; Touchdown Radio featured Roxy Bernstein handling play-by-play and Gino Torretta with color commentary. Additionally, the game was available on Sirius and XM satellite radio on SiriusXM channel 91. Television coverage began during Arizona State's first play from scrimmage when a basketball game between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels went over its allotted time slot.

First quarter
Using an up-tempo offense, Sun Devils quarterback Taylor Kelly quickly moved his team 75 yards on the team's first drive, ending with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rashad Ross. On the first Midshipmen drive, the team moved two yards before Midshipmen quarterback Keenan Reynolds was sacked by Carl Bradford. Reynolds landed awkwardly on his elbow, and conferred with trainers on the sideline. On Arizona State's next drive, running back Marion Grice ran ten yards for another touchdown to bring the score to 14–0 in favor of the Sun Devils. The Midshipmen responded with a 10-play, 44-yard drive that included a fourth down conversion from running back Greene, but the drive stalled at the Sun Devils' 31-yard line, resulting in a turnover on downs. Kelly and Grice led the Sun Devils on their next drive. Sun Devils running back D.J. Foster was injured on a helmet-to-helmet collision on the third play of the drive, resulting in a 15-yard penalty against the Midshipmen. Foster did not return for the remainder of the game. Kelly capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, bringing the score to 21–0 at the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter
The Midshipmen began their next drive at their own 16-yard line. On the sixth play of the drive, Midshipmen freshman fullback Chris Swain ran 36 yards to the Arizona State 18-yard line. After dodging an unblocked Sun Devil defender, Reynolds threw a three-yard pass to wide receiver Matt Aiken, brining the score to 21–7. Arizona State needed five more plays to score again, ending with Kelly's pass to Alonzo Agwuenu to make the score 28–7. Navy's next 13-play drive did not result in any points after kicker Nick Sloan missed a 34-yard field goal. On the third play of the Sun Devils' next drive, Kelly threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Rashad Ross to increase their lead. Navy's final drive of the half stalled, leaving the score at 34–7.