1970 Peach Bowl

1970 Peach Bowl
3rd Peach Bowl
Grant Field in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted the Peach Bowl.
Arizona State Sun Devils North Carolina Tar Heels (10–0) (8–3) WAC ACC 48 26 Head coach:  Frank Kush Head coach:  Bill Dooley AP Coaches 8 8
1 2 3 4 Total Arizona State 7 14 20 7 48 North Carolina 0 26 0 0 26
Date	December 30, 1970
Season	1970
Stadium	Grant Field
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
MVP	HB Monroe Eley DE Junior Ah You
Referee	Wilburn Clary (ACC; split crew: ACC, WAC)
Attendance	52,126
United States TV coverage
Network	Mizlou
Peach Bowl  < 1969   1971 >

The 1970 Peach Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Background

The Sun Devils were champions of the Western Athletic Conference once again and were aiming for a perfect season. The Tar Heels finished tied for second in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Arizona State was invited after Penn State declined. A blizzard developed before gametime, with rain, sleet, and snow throughout the game. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Game summary

Bob Thomas helped the Sun Devils jump out to a 14–0 lead before the Tar Heels responded in the second quarter with a Don McCauley touchdown run. J. D. Hill caught a touchdown pass from Joe Spagnola to make it 21–7 before the Tar heels exploded for 19 points before the quarter ended. McCauley ran for two touchdowns along with teammate Blanchard to give the Heels a 26–21 halftime lead. But the second half is where the Sun Devils took control, scoring 27 unanswered points on two touchdown runs by both Monroe Eley and touchdown runs by Thomas and Steve Holden to give the Sun Devils their first ever bowl win. Eley rushed for 173 yards to earn co-MVP honors while Junior Ah You earned co-MVP honors for knocking out quarterback Paul Miller. ^{[4] [5]}

Aftermath

The Tar Heels would win three conference titles before Dooley left after the 1977 season. They have returned to this bowl four times since this game, the last time in 2001.

The Sun Devils finished ranked #6 in the polls. They would win five more WAC titles before joining the Pacific-10 Conference in 1978. Kush was fired during the middle of the 1979 season.

The Sun Devils will make their second Peach Bowl appearance in a 2024-25 College Football Playoff quarterfinal vs. the Texas Longhorns.

This was the final Peach Bowl played at Grant Field as it would move to Atlanta Stadium the following year.

Scoring summary

• ASU – Thomas 8 run (Ekstrand kick)
• ASU – Thomas 33 run (Ekstrand kick)
• NC – McCauley 1 run (Craven kick)
• ASU – Hill 67 pass from Spagnola (Ekstrand kick)
• NC – Blanchard 36 pass from Miller (Craven kick)
• NC – McCauley 17 run (kick failed)
• NC – McCauley 4 run (pass failed)
• ASU – Eley 8 run (Ekstrand kick)
• ASU – Holden 13 run (kick failed)
• ASU – Eley 5 run (Ekstrand kick)
• ASU – Thomas 2 run (Ekstrand kick)

References

1. Cory Williams (December 19, 2012). "ASU Football Bowl History: The 1970 Peach Bowl Victory". SBNation. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
2. "Ain't that a Peach: Atlanta bowl has come a long way - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
3. "Help Center - the Arizona Republic".
4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
5. "Help Center - the Arizona Republic".