👋 GOOD MORNING

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 — Good morning and happy New Year’s Eve! Today’s edition is all about the Peach Bowl, and we sure hope you’ll join us for our game watch tomorrow morning at Gila River Resorts and Casinos – Wild Horse Pass. It’s going to be a special time, and we’re basically taking over the entire upper level, so hopefully you join us! You can find additional details below our Peach Bowl Q&A section.

As 2024 comes to a close, I’d like to deliver a heartfelt thank you for your help in getting this newsletter off the ground. The past year has been anything but conventional in my professional life, but the support of my family, colleagues (past and present) and you, has been something I’ll carry with me forever.

Here’s to 2025 — as a reminder there will be no PHNX Daily published tomorrow, but Thursday’s edition will have complete reactions from the Sun Devils’ first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Let’s run it back NEXT YEAR! On to the show!

---

Q&A With Peach Bowl Champion Jim Kelley

By Erik Ruby / PHNX Sun Devils

Tomorrow is the day.

After a long, exciting NCAA season, the ASU football team is set for its College Football Playoff showdown against Texas in the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils have played in the Peach Bowl once before, in 1970, in which it defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 48-26, capping a season in which it finished in the top-10 for the first-ever time.

Our very own Erik Ruby caught up with Jim Kelley, who helped that team to its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference title, and here’s what he had to say:

A Look at the 1970 Peach Bowl Champion Sun Devils

ER: Jim, thank you for taking the time today. To start out, what made your team so special that season? What did coach Frank Kush expect from you and your teammates?

JK: He just didn’t accept not doing your job, let’s put it that way. You had to do your job all the time. It didn’t matter if your job was to be a pass blocker, that’s your job. You have to do your job. Run blocking, you need to do your job. He didn’t accept not doing your job, matter of fact, he was rather harsh if you didn’t do your job.

ER: Do you see any similarities between Kush and current coach Kenny Dillingham?

JK: I haven’t gotten to watch Dillingham, the coach, much, except on the field. He did do something smart, though. He’s more the director, is what I saw. Coach Kush was directly involved all the time with calling plays. He called all the plays. But, the quarterback could change the play at the line of scrimmage. We had certain calls where we could change the play at the line of scrimmage. Frank just made sure we were responsible, and made sure we did the job. Everybody had a job to do, and everybody did it.

Activating The Valley, Then and Now

ER: What was the fan support like for that 1970s Peach Bowl champion team?

JK: We were the only show in town. The Cardinals hadn’t gotten to town. It was huge. I was at a get together the other night, and people were asking if I played for Coach Kush, and I said, ‘Yes.’ I think the fan base has started coming back. When you win, you’re going to get more fans there, and they have won this year.

ER: This year’s Sun Devils team has proven all the doubters wrong from day one. What is that like, as a player and as a team, when you can prove the doubters wrong?

JK: It’s unbelievable. I can’t describe that feeling. If you prove everybody wrong and you turn up best in the conference, it’s just an amazing, amazing feeling of, hey, we did the job. We did everything right.

ER: What was the culture like on your team?

JK: We were pretty close. There’s a group of us that still live in The Valley, and we get togehter about once every two months. We were pretty close. Plus, you have to realize, in those days, freshmen were inelibile, so you only had three classes to deal with. Our class, the sophomores, we were real close with the seniors. They directed us, and we turned around and did the same thing with the sophomores the following year.

ER: What have you seen from Dillingham that makes him so endearing to both the players and Sun Devils fans?

JK: The fans, they’re seeing that he wants to be part of the program, and he wants to be with the program, so the players start buying into that. They see how much energy he has for the program, and they want to but into that. It’s easily bought into at that age. Hey, I’m playing for someone who wants to do this for this program.

Delivering Messages to Up-And-Coming Programs

ER: When you’re dealing with higher expectations, what’s the message that Kush delivered to your team?

JK: It came down to, did we want to win? We were behind at halftime. It just came down to the fact, do you want to win? One other thing to point out about our team, it was our sophomore year, and this is the way Kush handled things. He might need to rant and rave when he needed to rant and rave, but when we were sophomores, we were 5-0 and we were playing New Mexico University, and they were 0-5. We came into the stadium, it was fairly empty because it was a cold, rainy night. Our stadium here at ASU.

We were behind at halftime, 28-7, and Coach Kush walked into the room, he didn’t start yelling and screaming. We got booed coming off the field. Coach Kush came into the locker room and said, ‘Hey, did you guys hear the crowd?’ Within three minutes, we had tied the game. So, he roused you when it was necessary, and with the hard guy routine, and he also would appear to your sense of, hey, we need to get the job done.

ER: Last question for you, and thanks so much again for your time. Is there any message you would like to give this year’s team as it prepares to face Texas in the Peach Bowl?

JK: The main thing I want to point out, is, you guys have done your job all year long. You’ve played your position. Each person has played their position, you got your big plays in, and you’ll always get your big plays in if you play your position. Everybody’s done that all year long. They are so disciplined. Just keep the discipline going. They are so disciplined, that they just keep doing the job. That’s the main thing. You do your job, and big plays will come, and keep your job going. Do what you are coached to do, and you will come out on top.

Full PHNX Sun Devils Coverage

---

🧢 TIP OF THE HAT BY BRANDED BILLS

The Iowa Hawkeyes waved during their bowl game in Nashville, knowing the kids at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital were watching back home. You love to see it.

At the end of the first quarter of every Iowa home football game, players and fans will turn to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and wave to pediatric patients.

Despite being in Nashville for their bowl game, they kept the tradition going today ❤️ pic.twitter.com/OF3S2Hm9FT

— ESPN (@espn) December 30, 2024