For the ACC vs. Pac-12 matchup in the 2019 Sun Bowl, the Arizona State Sun Devils and Florida State Seminoles were chosen to face off in the nation's second-oldest bowl game on New Year's Eve.
For Florida State, it's been 53 years since they've made an appearance in the Sun Bowl, and they have everything to prove in this game. The Sun Devils and the Seminoles were on and off this season, both finishing 4th in their divisions and just really dealing with the ups and downs the season had thrown at them. It's not easy being in the ACC in a conference with teams like Clemson and Virginia, and then getting routing by Florida at the end of the season didn't help matters for them. The ACC as a whole in on the come-up in terms of football, which definitely makes each game tighter than in seasons prior.
Same way for ASU, they've had some great historical moments this season like beating Michigan State for the second time in a row and beating at the time #6 Oregon at home, but still losing to teams like UCLA and Oregon State were definitely some major downers during the season.
Recently, WR Brandon Aiyuk announced he would be sitting out of the bowl game to stay healthy for the 2020 NFL draft. Aiyuk finished the season with 65 receptions and 1192 receiving yards ranking him 10th in the NCAA for receivers. Running back Eno Benjamin will also be entering the 2020 NFL draft and will, in turn, be sitting out of the Sun Bowl. Benjamin finished the season with 10 rushing touchdowns and 1083 total rushing yards, ranking him 35th in the NCAA for running backs. Without their signature wide receiver and star running back, ASU's offense may be a little shaky, but we'll wait and see.
Overall both these teams are on the same playing field when it comes to adversity with their own conferences and track record and seem like a very good matchup between each other. Both teams are undergoing coaching changes, with ASU's Rob Likens being fired after the Territorial Cup game several weeks ago, and Florida State positioning former Memphis Tigers head coach, Mike Norvell, as their new head coach of the program. It'll be interesting to see how these two teams match up given their big coaching changes in a short amount of time.
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