The 2014 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 24, 2014 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States. The thirteenth annual Hawaii Bowl, it pitted the Fresno State Bulldogs of the Mountain West Conference against the Rice Owls of Conference USA. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. The game started at 3:00 p.m. HST and aired on ESPN.
Rice defeated Fresno State by a score of 30–6.
Teams
The game featured the Fresno State Bulldogs of the Mountain West Conference against the Rice Owls of Conference USA.
This was the seventh overall meeting between these two teams, with Fresno State having won all 6 previous games. The last time these two teams had met was in 2004.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Despite finishing their regular season with a 6–7 record, by virtue of winning the Mountain West's West Division title, the Bulldogs became bowl eligible and accepted their invitation to play in the game. This was Fresno State's second Hawaii Bowl; the Bulldogs had previously appeared in the 2012 game, losing to the SMU Mustangs by a score of 43–10 largely due to the efforts of SMU defensive end Margus Hunt.
Rice Owls
After finishing their regular season with a 7–5 record, the Owls accepted their invitation to play in the game, their first appearance in the Hawaii Bowl. Although they began the season with three losses, the Owls won their next six games before losing two of their final three; overall, according to FBSchedules.com, Rice had the 12th easiest schedule in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Pregame buildup
Fresno State
Offense
Featuring reasonable balance between a rushing game that averaged 183.9 yards per game (45th nationally) and a passing game that averaged 233.8 yards per game (59th nationally), Fresno State's offense scored an average of 28.1 points per game. The aforementioned rushing attack was led by junior Marteze Waller, a second team all-conference selection whose 1292 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns were complemented by the efforts of senior Josh Quezada and quarterback Brian Burrell, who combined for 801 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Burrell orchestrated a passing attack that frequently targeted first team all-conference selection Josh Harper, a senior who enjoyed "quite the career" at Fresno State having exceeded the 1,000 yard threshold and ranking among the leaders in touchdown receptions nationally; he compiled twice as many receptions as anyone else on the roster. Wide receivers Aaron Peck, Greg Watson, and Delvon Hardaway, running back Josh Quezada, and tight end Chad Olsen also made contributions to the passing game. Right guard Cody Wichmann, who frequently drew comparisons to Logan Mankins, anchored the Bulldogs' offensive line, and was set to make his 50th consecutive start in the bowl game; he earned second team all-conference accolades. Alex Fifita started at left tackle, having earned honorable mention all-conference recognition after proving himself at the position during the season.
Defense
Junior defensive tackle Tyeler Davison anchored the defense, having totaled eight sacks and 12.5 tackles-for-loss, and received first team all-conference recognition. Outside linebacker Donavan Lewis, a senior mainstay of the defense, earned honorable mention all-conference recognition, and received accolade from teammates for always understanding his assignments and playing with heart. One game preview commented, "Fresno State's secondary wasn't always tested in a run-heavy Mountain West Conference, but they gave up 14 touchdowns against zero interceptions in their opening three-game stretch against Power Five opponents." Nevertheless, the aforementioned secondary did place one of its members on the first team all-conference squad, three-time honoree Derron Smith.