New Year’s Eve is always a great day to watch college football. Many of the best bowl matchups occur on the first and last days of the calendar year. This season looks to be no different.
One such matchup will be this year’s Sun Bowl, where Duke will face Arizona State. It will be a battle between the Blue Devils from the ACC and the Sun Devils from the Big XII.
Sun Bowl 2025 Preview
How They Got Here
Both teams have had a season filled with great highs and bad lows. Duke embodies that sentiment perfectly. The Blue Devils have wins against the likes of Clemson, NC State, and most importantly, Virginia in the ACC Championship. However, they also lost to two Group of Five opponents.
The first loss was to a College Football Playoff invitee, Tulane. The second loss was to UConn. Still, Duke was able to completely shake up the CFP by becoming the ACC Champions. It caused a lot of controversy, especially for the ACC. It forced the conference to restructure its tiebreaker rules for the championship game going forward. But the accomplishment can’t be taken away from this impressive Duke squad.
Arizona State’s journey to the Sun Bowl was not quite as contentious, but it was pretty wild. For example, the Sun Devils handed the Big 12 champions, Texas Tech, its only loss of the season. They also lost in embarrassing fashion to Utah and gave up 20 unanswered points in the second half against in-state rival Arizona.
Kenny Dillingham has been one of the best young head coaches in college football over the last three seasons. He’s going to have a tough task getting his team ready for an angry Duke team on New Year’s Eve.
Key Opt-Outs
A big reason why Dillingham’s job is going to be tough is because of the number of key players who are not available. Arizona State will not have its starting quarterback, running back, or top wide receiver.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt spent the second half of the season out with a foot injury. At the end of the regular season, Leavitt also decided to enter the transfer portal for the 2026 season. Running back Raleek Brown and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson both declared for the 2026 NFL draft and opted out of the game. On the defensive side, the Sun Devils will be without their leading tackler, linebacker KeyShaun Elliot.
Duke, on the other hand, will be at nearly full strength in El Paso. The only key player that will be missing for the Blue Devils is defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr. That is a big loss, though. Anthony was an All-ACC Honorable Mention, with 13 tackles for loss and seven-and-a-half sacks. Manny Diaz’s team will be missing its best pass rusher, but will have its full arsenal of weapons on offense.
Duke’s High-Powered Offense
What makes Duke such a dangerous team is its high-powered offense. It all starts with the ACC passing leader, and Second-Team selection Darian Mensah. The transfer from Tulane came into his first season of power conference football ready to prove himself, and he did.
The ACC Championship Game MVP comes into this game with a 67.9% completion percentage for 3,646 yards, 30 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Mensah will also have his top target, Cooper Barkate, present in the bowl game. Barkate is also a Second-Team All-ACC selection after leading an impressive group of receivers. The transfer from Harvard has 68 receptions for 1,069 yards and six touchdowns coming into the Sun Bowl.
Barkate and Mensah are also joined on the All-ACC Second-Team by the Blue Devils’ young running back Nate Sheppard. As a true freshman this season, Sheppard has rushed for 962 yards and 10 touchdowns. He had two games with over 100 yards rushing this season. The first was against Syracuse, where he rushed for 168 yards. The second was in the loss to UConn.
Sheppard will be looking to rush for over 1,000 yards in his first season of college football. It can happen quickly in this game if Arizona State isn’t prepared to defend the run game.
ASU Continues Battling Through Adversity
Arizona State will have much more patchwork to do for the Sun Bowl. Missing so many top players is not ideal when going to face a team that won its conference championship. However, having a veteran leader like Jeff Sims makes it easier.
Sims is at his third school in his sixth year of college football. He knew Leavitt was brought in to be the starter, and decided to stay and be the backup for his final season. That turned out to be a great thing for the Sun Devils. When Leavitt unfortunately suffered his injury, Sims stepped in. Although his stats have not been great, he is 3-1 in his last four starts.
The super-senior quarterback is a dangerous playmaker with his legs. He is the Sun Devils’ second-leading rusher with 93 carries for 466 yards and three touchdowns. This goes along with his 52% completion rate for 886 yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions through the air.
Sims is heavily capped when he can’t use his legs to make plays. When he can run, though, it makes him and his offense tough to stop. Sims’ running ability and leadership will be key if he wants to win his final college football game.
How To Watch
Location: The Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
Date and Time: Wednesday, December 31, 2025, at 2:00 PM EST
TV Network: CBS
Main Image: The Sun Bowl
