2016 Fiesta Bowl (January)

2016 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl
2016 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl
CFP New Year’s Six; 45th Fiesta Bowl
Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Ohio State Buckeyes
(10–2)	(11–1)
Independent	Big Ten
28	44
Head coach: ; Brian Kelly	Head coach: ; Urban Meyer
Date	January 1, 2016
Season	2015
Stadium	University of Phoenix Stadium
Location	Glendale, Arizona
MVP	J. T. Barrett & Eli Apple
Favorite	Ohio State by 3.5
Referee	Hubert Owens (SEC)
Halftime show	OSU & ND Bands
Attendance	71,123
Payout	US$24 million (2014)
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Announcers	Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, & Todd McShay (ESPN); Adam Amin, Kelly Stouffer, & Olivia Harlan (ESPN Radio)
Fiesta Bowl
< 2014 (Dec.)	2016 (Dec.) >

The 2016 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on January 1, 2016 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 44th Fiesta Bowl was one of the New Year's Bowls. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season.

The game was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, with the kickoff time set for 1:00 P.M. ET (11 A.M. MT). Sponsored by obstacle racing series BattleFrog, it was officially known as the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl.^[3]

Coincidentally, it took place 10 years after the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, that was also played by Ohio State and Notre Dame. That was also the last time Notre Dame participated in the Fiesta Bowl.

Ohio State wound up beating Notre Dame, 44–28.

Teams

The participants for the game were determined by the College Football Playoff selection committee, and consisted of at-large selections and/or the highest ranked team from the "Group of Five" conferences. The two participants were the #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–2) vs. the #7 Ohio State Buckeyes (11–1).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ND	OSU
1	9:53	9	80	3:01	OSU	Ezekiel Elliott 2-yard touchdown run, Sean Nuernberger kick good	0	7
1	7:41	3	43	0:45	OSU	Michael Thomas 15-yard touchdown reception from J. T. Barrett, Sean Nuernberger kick good	0	14
2	7:34	13	70	5:38	ND	Josh Adams 3-yard touchdown run, Justin Yoon kick good	7	14
2	9:53	11	62	2:39	OSU	Ezekiel Elliott 1-yard touchdown run, Sean Nuernberger kick good	7	21
2	1:48	6	63	2:04	OSU	Ezekiel Elliott 1-yard touchdown run, Sean Nuernberger kick good	7	28
2	0:29	9	75	1:19	ND	DeShone Kizer 1-yard touchdown run, Justin Yoon kick good	14	28
3	8:58	7	58	2:54	ND	Chris Brown 4-yard touchdown reception from DeShone Kizer, Justin Yoon kick good	21	28
3	6:37	6	75	2:21	OSU	Ezekiel Elliott 47-yard touchdown run, Sean Nuernberger kick good	21	35
4	12:10	10	44	4:14	OSU	37-yard field goal by Sean Nuernberger	21	38
4	11:27	2	83	0:43	ND	Will Fuller 81-yard touchdown reception from DeShone Kizer, Justin Yoon kick good	28	38
4	6:09	13	42	5:18	OSU	38-yard field goal by Sean Nuernberger	28	41
4	2:42	4	5	1:36	OSU	35-yard field goal by Sean Nuernberger	28	44
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							28	44

Source:^[1]

Statistics

Statistics^[1]	ND	OSU
First Downs	24	27
Total offense, plays – yards	70–405	85–496
Rushes-yards (net)	32–121	54–285
Passing yards (net)	284	211
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	22–38–1	19–31–1
Time of Possession	27:15	32:45

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "2015 Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
^ "American dream: UCF, others eye unlikely, unprecedented BCS berth - CBSSports.com". Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
^ "BattleFrog Announced as Title Sponsor of 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl". Fiesta Bowl.

[Stats-1] "2015 Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved January 1, 2016.

[2] "American dream: UCF, others eye unlikely, unprecedented BCS berth - CBSSports.com". Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.

[3] "BattleFrog Announced as Title Sponsor of 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl". Fiesta Bowl.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 2015–16 NCAA football bowl game season
New Mexico (Dec. 19) Las Vegas (Dec. 19) Camellia (Dec. 19) Cure (Dec. 19) New Orleans (Dec. 19) Miami Beach (Dec. 21) Famous Idaho Potato (Dec. 22) Boca Raton (Dec. 22) Poinsettia (Dec. 23) GoDaddy (Dec. 23) Bahamas (Dec. 24) Hawaii (Dec. 24) St. Petersburg (Dec. 26) Sun (Dec. 26) Heart of Dallas (Dec. 26) Pinstripe (Dec. 26) Independence (Dec. 26) Foster Farms (Dec. 26) Military (Dec. 28) Quick Lane (Dec. 28) Armed Forces (Dec. 29) Russell Athletic (Dec. 29) Arizona (Dec. 29) Texas (Dec. 29) Birmingham (Dec. 30) Belk (Dec. 30) Music City (Dec. 30) Holiday (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 31) Outback (Jan. 1) Citrus (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) TaxSlayer (Jan. 2) Liberty (Jan. 2) Alamo (Jan. 2) Cactus (Jan. 2)
College Football Playoff games: Orange (semifinal) (Dec. 31) Cotton (semifinal) (Dec. 31) National Championship Game (Jan. 11)
All-Star Games: East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 23) NFLPA Collegiate Bowl (Jan. 23) Senior Bowl (Jan. 30)

v t e Fiesta Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Mountain America Stadium State Farm Stadium College Football Playoff College football playoff at-large Group of Five
Games	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 (January) 1997 (December) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 (January) 2014 (December) 2016 (January) 2016 (December) 2017 2019 (January) 2019 (December) 2021 2022 (January) 2022 (December) 2024 (January) 2024 (December)
Notes	The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1996, 1999, and 2003. There was a Fiesta Bowl in January and December in 1997, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022. Bold indicates College Football Playoff semifinals.