Boise State vs. Arizona State: What You Need to Know About the Las Vegas Bowl

For the second year in a row, the Boise State Broncos went 11-1 but still got shut out of a BCS bowl game, and because of that, their season will once again conclude in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl.

They're set to take on a 6-6 Arizona State team that will be coached by Dennis Erickson, who was fired a few weeks ago, rather than a top-flight opponent.

Last year, the Broncos shut down Utah in this very game, and they'll be looking to do the same thing to the Sun Devils on Thursday night.

This will be the final collegiate game for Boise State's Kellen Moore, the winningest quarterback in college football history, and a lot will be expected out of him and his teammates, as the Broncos are by far the biggest favorite of this year's bowl season.

The Sun Devils have talent, though, and if they play up to their potential, which admittedly hasn't happened a lot this season, they should definitely be able to give the boys in blue a good fight.

Here's a look at what you need to know about the two teams that are set to battle it out in Sin City.

The Basic Details

Date: Dec. 22, 2011

Time: 8:00 pm ET

Channel: ESPN

The Spread: Boise State (-14)

Sponsor: MAACO

Conferences Represented: Boise State—Mountain West, Arizona State—Pac-12

Stadium: Sam Boyd Stadium

City: Las Vegas, Nevada

Last Year's Result: Boise State 26, Utah 3

Boise State's 2011 Resume

Overall Record: 11-1

Conference Record: 6-1

Sagarin Schedule Rank: 75

Who They Beat: Georgia (35-21), Toledo (40-15), Tulsa (41-21), Nevada (30-10), Fresno State (57-7), Colorado State (63-13), Air Force (37-26), UNLV (48-21), San Diego State (52-35), Wyoming (36-14), New Mexico (45-0)

Who Beat Them: TCU (36-35)

Arizona State's 2011 Resume

Overall Record: 6-6

Conference Record: 4-5

Sagarin Schedule Rank: 32

Who They Beat: UC Davis (48-14), Missouri (37-30), USC (43-22), Oregon State (35-20), Utah (35-14), Colorado (48-14)

Who Beat Them: Illinois (17-14), Oregon (41-27), UCLA (29-28), Washington State (37-27), Arizona (31-27), California (47-38)

Boise State by the Numbers

Offense

Points Per Game: 43.3

Yards Per Game: 483

Passing Yards Per Game: 310

Rushing Yards Per Game: 173

Yards Per Play: 6.4

Defense

Points Per Game: 18.3

Yards Per Game: 315

Passing Yards Per Game: 195

Rushing Yards Per Game:120

Yards Per Play: 5.13

Special Teams

Field Goal Percentage: 66 %

Yards Per Punt: 41.8

Yards Per Kick Return: 20.9

Yards Per Punt Return: 11.8

Key Numbers

Turnovers (Gained vs. Lost): 24-15

Third-Down Conversions: 51 %

Red-Zone Percentage: 81 %

Arizona State by the Numbers

Offense

Points Per Game: 33.9

Yards Per Game: 451

Passing Yards Per Game: 310

Rushing Yards Per Game: 141

Yards Per Play: 6.1

Defense

Points Per Game: 26.3

Yards Per Game: 419

Passing Yards Per Game: 271

Rushing Yards Per Game: 148

Yards Per Play: 6

Special Teams

Field Goal Percentage: 66 %

Yards Per Punt: 41.7

Yards Per Kick Return: 24.1

Yards Per Punt Return: 15.3

Key Numbers

Turnovers (Gained vs. Lost): 29-21

Third-Down Conversions: 40 %

Red-Zone Percentage: 81 %

Boise State's Key Player: QB Kellen Moore

What's left to say about Kellen Moore that hasn't already been said?

Any time you wear the tag of winningest quarterback in college football history, that pretty much speaks for itself.

Moore has been one of the most efficient, consistent, and more importantly, the most entertaining quarterbacks that we've seen in the college ranks in years, and it's going to be sad to see him go, since it feels like he's been around for the past 10 years or so.

The senior signal-caller has been the face of Boise State's rise to national prominence, and there's no way the Broncos would be in the position they are today without him.

His career numbers are outstanding—14,374 passing yards, 140 touchdowns and just 26 interceptions.

But the most important number is 49.

That's the number of wins that Moore has accumulated in his four years at Boise State.

He'll be looking to make that an even 50 when he takes on Arizona State and its 107th ranked secondary on Thursday night, as he looks to put a final stamp on his remarkable collegiate career.

Arizona State's Key Player: RB Cameron Marshall

Oregon's LaMichael James casts a big shadow over the many other talented running backs in the Pac-12, and because of James, it's hard for any of the other backs in the conference to garner a whole lot of national publicity.

Still, just because Arizona State's Cameron Marshall didn't receive a ton of national publicity this season, that doesn't mean that he isn't one of the most dangerous backs in the country.

Marshall racked up over 1,000 yards on the ground and scored 18 touchdowns in 2011, and he was a perfect complement to Arizona State's potent passing game.

The 5'11'', 215-pound junior is a strong and physical runner, who can pound the ball inside the tackles and do damage to a defense.

Marshall will be one of the best running backs that Boise State has seen this season, and it will be interesting to see if the Broncos are up to the challenge of slowing him down.

Breakdown/Prediction

Motivation is something that can play a huge factor in a bowl game, and it's something that I think will definitely play a big part in the Las Vegas Bowl.

It's fair to wonder about just what type of attitude and effort both of these teams will be playing with in this game.

Boise State had national championship aspirations this season, and to say that the team is disappointed to end up back in the Las Vegas Bowl yet again is certainly an understatement.

Then you've got Arizona State, a team that nobody's expecting to hang around in this game. And admittedly, if you look at it on the surface, there's a good reason to assume that. The Sun Devils are the biggest underdog of the bowl season, they've lost five out of their last six games and they just fired head coach Dennis Erickson after the team's fourth straight mediocre campaign.

When you factor all of that in, obviously, we should expect QB Kellen Moore and the Broncos to roll, right?

Well, like I said before, attitude is going to be a key factor in this game, and I'll say it now, if Arizona State comes to play, the Sun Devils have the type of athletes to go toe-to-toe with the Smurfs.

QB Brock Osweiler is one of the most underappreciated commodities in college football, and he's got the type of skills to light up any secondary he goes up against, especially one that got burnt to a crisp by Casey Pachall, Josh Boyce, Brandon Carter and TCU not too long ago. 

Osweiler and RB Cameron Marshall are two of the best offensive players that Boise State has had to go up against this season, and there's no telling how the Broncos will be able to handle them.

Sure, Kellen Moore will make his fair share of plays against a bad Arizona State secondary, but don't be surprised if he gets outplayed by Osweiler and ultimately comes up short in his final collegiate game.

For the past few weeks, the Sun Devils have been told that they don't belong on the same field as Boise State, but if you've ever been to Las Vegas before, you know that anything can happen on any given night.

Prediction: Arizona State 38, Boise State 34