Bowl Games 2011: Arizona State Will Redeem Itself vs. Boise State in Las Vegas

The Arizona State Sun Devils will be going up against the Boise State Broncos in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas. This will be a great opportunity for the Sun Devils to redeem themselves for what they threw away at the end of the season. 

This game will be the final game for coach Dennis Erickson and perhaps the last game where Chris Petersen will be coaching Boise State, as his contract is up. The Sun Devils will be in for quite a matchup, but there is no doubt that they can turn it on and potentially win this game.

The Broncos are 11-1 this season, but playing in the Mountain West Conference has given them a much easier route to that record than the Sun Devils had. The Sun Devils are 6-6, but they started out the year 5-1 with notable wins over the Missouri Tigers and the USC Trojans.

The end of their season didn't fare as well, as the team fell apart and lost four consecutive games to the UCLA Bruins, Washington State Cougars, Arizona Wildcats and Cal Golden Bears. These losses don't paint a pretty picture for the Sun Devils' chances against the Broncos, but they should be able to learn from these losses with their extended rest so that they can win this game.

There is no doubt that the Broncos can easily win this game, and there is no reason to believe in the Sun Devils following their collapse. Still, if they can get back into their form from the beginning of the year, they could shock the Broncos.

They will need huge games from everyone, including quarterback Brock Osweiler and running back Cameron Marshall. Both players will need to be playing at the top of their game, as when they do the Sun Devils are hard to stop.

The Sun Devils will also need their defense to come back into early-season form. They were able to stop teams at will and forced 25 turnovers going into December. Unfortunately, they were only able to force four in December. If they can get back into form, they could stop the high-flying Broncos.

The one thing that could potentially hold the Sun Devils back is that their coach is a lame duck. Erickson has already been fired, but the team is going to have to be motivated and play with discipline. If they play any worse than they did when Erickson was in full control, this team will not succeed. They need to win this game to convince any potential coach that they are ready to compete in 2012.

They were given a gift to be playing a team that should have been in a BCS bowl game. The Sun Devils need a win like this in order to realign what they had going for them. A win over any smaller team just wouldn't mean as much for what was lost this season.