For the record

The Mountain West Conference has now won three out of four Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowls. The Wolfpack are responsible for two of them while Air Force won in 2016.

The last time…

Arkansas State has played in eight consecutive bowl games dating back to 2011. During that span, the Red Wolves have a 3-5 record. Their last bowl win came over Central Florida in the 2016 Cure Bowl. The game is significant because, well, it’s the last game UCF lost.

Bowl game is brewin’

Saturday’s 11:15 a.m. kickoff time didn’t prevent fans from purchasing beer and wine before and during the Arizona Bowl.

Domestic beers like Miller Lite, Coors Light and Bud Light were available for purchase, along with an impressive array of local craft beer. Barrio Brewing Co. added three new craft beers to the selection at Arizona Stadium: Barrio Rojo, Barrio Citrazona and Barrio Vienna Lager, which was the official beer of the bowl game.

Walk-on earns a scholarship

Nevada head coach Jay Norvell is FIRED UP about giving walk-on wide receiver Ben Putman a full-ride scholarship. Norvell even dropped an Allen Iverson reference. pic.twitter.com/w5ATgznJwR

— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) December 29, 2018

Nevada walk-on wide receiver Ben Putman became Saturday’s unlikely hero when he caught a wheel-route pass down the sideline that put Nevada one yard away from a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Running back Devonte Lee scored immediately after and the Wolfpack took a 10-7 lead.

The 5-foot-9-inch, red-headed junior college transfer was given a scholarship by coach Jay Norvell during the postgame trophy celebration.

“I didn’t even know who he was three months ago,” Norvell said. “All he does is compete.”

Putman caught four passes for a team-high 114 yards.

MVPs

Nevada quarterback Ty Gangi was named the Arizona Bowl offensive MVP while Arkansas State’s B.J. Edmonds took home defensive MVP honors. Gangi completed 18 of 34 passes for 200 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Edmonds recorded eight tackles intercepted one pass.

The big number

5

Number of combined turnovers in Saturday’s game, all of them interceptions.

Run the Race

Tim Tebow: Heisman Trophy winner, former NFL quarterback, minor league baseball player, college football analyst on SEC Network, author and … filmmaker? Arizona Stadium’s scoreboard aired a trailer for Tebow’s new film “Run the Race” just as fans started to arrive Saturday. The movie details a bond between two Christian brothers that play football. When one suffers a career-ending injury, the other plays in his honor. Tebow is the movie’s executive producer, along with his older brother Robby.

Bijan at the bowl

Salpointe Catholic football star Bijan Robinson was honored on the field during the second quarter as the 2018 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl High School Player of the Year.

The junior running back also won the Ed Doherty Award as the top high school football player in Arizona after he led the Lancers to a state championship appearance and broke the program’s single-season rushing record with 2,400 yards.

Robinson is one of the top running backs in the 2019 prospect class. He currently holds scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU, Arizona, USC, Ohio State, UCLA and Michigan.

The big number

32,368

Attendance for the fourth Arizona Bowl. How does it compare to the previous Arizona Bowls? Last year’s matchup between New Mexico State and Utah State drew 39,132, the most fans in the bowl’s brief history.

He said it

The Nevada Wolfpack are your 2018 @novaAZBOWL winners! pic.twitter.com/pL0lH4mzgc

— Arizona Daily Star (@TucsonStar) December 29, 2018

“This is by far my favorite victory. It’s not even close.”

— Norvell, after winning the Arizona Bowl. Norvell formerly coached at the Power Five level with Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA and in the NFL with the Raiders and Colts.