Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt (9) strikes a pose after dropping a pooch-kick on the San Jose State two yard line late in the fourth quarter of the Arizona Bowl, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., December 31, 2020. Photo by Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Seen and heard from Ball State's 34-13 win over San Jose State in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl on Thursday. 

Maybe it’s the sideline?

Ball State cruised by San Jose State 34-13 on Thursday, becoming the first team in Mid-American Conference history to win the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.

The Mountain West Conference dominated the Arizona Bowl in recent years, winning five of the first six contests with only New Mexico State (2017) as the outlier. The Mountain West winners have been Wyoming (2019), Nevada (2018, 2015) and Air Force (2016).

SJSU became the latest football team to lose as a home team at Arizona Stadium. In fact, no home team won a game at Arizona Stadium in 2020.

The Wildcats lost all three of their home games during the condensed season in 2020. UA hasn’t tasted victory in Tucson since September 2019, when quarterback Grant Gunnell made his first collegiate start in Arizona’s 20-17 win over UCLA. Following the Wildcats’ road win over Colorado a week later, Arizona began a 12-game losing streak that ended Kevin Sumlin’s tenure at the UA.

The last home team to win a football game at Arizona Stadium was Wyoming, which — while occupying the home sideline — held off Georgia State in last year’s Arizona Bowl.

The big number

Ball State linebacker Brandon Martin (7) brings the hardware as the Cardinals line up for pictures with the championship trophy from their 34-13 win over San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., December 31, 2020.

39

Years it took Ball State to win a bowl game as a Division I football program. The Cardinals spent the first 19 seasons as a football team competing at the junior-college level, and didn’t move up to Division II until 1973. Ball State played five seasons in the Division FCS classification before becoming a FBS program in 1981.

Before Thursday, the Cardinals had seven attempts to win a bowl game, with the closest shot at winning a 23-20 loss to Arkansas State in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl.

The Cardinals stamped their historic season by winning the school’s first MAC championship since 1996 and the Arizona Bowl.

The last time...

San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan watches the replay on the big screen to see if Ball State really intercepted his Spartans in the fourth quarter of the Arizona Bowl, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., December 31, 2020.

This week marked the first time Ball State traveled to Tucson. San Jose State hadn’t played at Arizona Stadium since 1985, when UA blanked them 41-0. San Jose State last won in Tucson in 1965, when Dick Tomey, the man who led both the UA and SJSU programs, was a defensive backs coach at Davidson.

Broadcasting legend returns to Tucson

With the Arizona Bowl taking over the national New Year’s Eve bowl spotlight on CBS, longtime broadcaster Brad Nessler was in the booth managing play-by-play duties. Thursday marked Nessler’s first broadcast in Tucson since the 1996 Copper Bowl.

Where in the world is Ball State?

Ball State head coach Mike Neu runs back to his players with the championship trophy after the Cardinals beat San Jose State 34-13 in the Arizona Bowl, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., December 31, 2020. Photo by Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Nestled between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne in Delaware County, Indiana is Muncie, a town with a population 1/10th of the size of Tucson.

Muncie was initially referred to as Muncietown but the town’s name was shortened in 1845, and officially became a city 20 years later.

So why isn’t the city’s university named University of Muncie or Muncie State? Ball State got its name from the Ball brothers — and no, not Lonzo and LaMelo. Lucius, William, Edmund, Frank and George Ball were industrialists who founded Ball Corporation, a manufacturing company known for its production of jars, cans and lids. Ball Corporation is currently worth just over $1.2 billion.

Notable Ball State alumni include “Late Night” and “Late Show” host David Letterman, actress Joyce DeWitt of “Threes Company” fame, Garfield comic strip creator Jim Davis and “Papa” John Schnatter, the founder of the Papa John’s pizza chain.

Bowl gift

Each member of the Ball State and San Jose State football teams received a Lululemon backpack, a portable BBTek speaker and wireless headphones as gifts.

Another big number

2,132

Seconds that ticked away on the game clock until San Jose State scored its first points on Thursday. The Spartans’ first score was a kickoff return for a touchdown by Charlie Bostic, which cut Ball State’s deficit 34-6.

He said it

Ali Farhang, chairman of the Arizona Bowl Committee, leads the bowl organizing committee in an event logistics meeting on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star

“It took a lot of work by many dedicated people to make the Arizona Bowl a reality. But it was all well worth it. A national audience got to see the spectacular beauty of Tucson. Today was a huge win for our community. Ball State won the game, Tucson won the day.” — Arizona Bowl chairman Ali Farhang

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Contact sports content producer Justin Spears at 573-4312 or jspears@tucson.com. On Twitter @justinesports