With the exception of the College Football Playoff national championship game nine days later, Saturday’s Cactus Bowl between West Virginia and Arizona State is the finale of the 2015-16 bowl season. In typical “Pac-12 After Dark” fashion, the game will be kicking off at 10:15 PM Eastern Time and will likely be coming to an end when most of you East Coast folks have long since gone to bed.
Of course, that won’t be the case if you’re like me and haven’t had enough of the previous 39 bowl games up to this point. Yes, I’ll be seeing this year’s slate of postseason action all the way until the end, and so this game is the proverbial final course to what has been a veritable smorgasbord of bowls. And make no mistake about it, I’ll be treating myself to one last helping along with plenty of other college football fans from around the nation.
Though it has only been known as the Cactus Bowl for the past two seasons, this bowl actually dates back to 1989 when it was known as the Copper Bowl and played in Tucson, AZ. It became the Insight.com and later just the Insight Bowl from 1996 to 2012 and was moved to Phoenix starting in 2000 where it has been played ever since. Buffalo Wild Wings and Ticket City have been title sponsors in recent years, with Motel 6 acquiring sponsorship rights for 2016.
This year’s matchup pits two teams looking to put disappointing seasons behind them with a victory in Phoenix. And just in case you’re wondering, the game will not be at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe this year as it has been since 2006. It’s taking place at Chase Field, home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks in the heart of downtown where it was actually held when the bowl first moved from Tucson. It’s one of four bowl games that will have been played in baseball stadiums, joining the Miami Beach Bowl (Florida Marlins), St. Petersburg Bowl (Tampa Bay Rays) and the Pinstripe Bowl (New York Yankees).
Let’s take a look at what to expect from the two combatants when they take the field on January 2nd.
Cactus Bowl Preview: Mountaineers and Sun Devils Duel in the Desert
West Virginia
The Mountaineer program has struggled to finish any higher than middle of the pack since joining the Big 12 in 2012. Though they have a chance to finish with eight wins for the first time since they joined the conference if they can come out victorious Saturday, fans have been growing increasingly impatient with fifth-year head coach Dana Holgorsen. There were even rumors that West Virginia was considering letting him go after they lost to Kansas State in this year’s season finale, even though they turned out to be untrue.
Known for prolific quarterback play in recent years from players such as Clint Trinkett and Geno Smith, WVU has been quite effective on the ground in 2015. The Mountaineers finished the regular season ranked 14th nationally in rushing offense. Leading the way was junior running back Wendell Smallwood who tallied 1,447 yards and found the end zone nine times. Complimenting him in the backfield is fellow junior Rushel Shell. The Pitt transfer added 677 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
According to Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Mike Casazza, the two are rumored to be in the process of declaring for the NFL Draft after the season.
Quarterback Skyler Howard has certainly shown flashes of his potential in 2015. He’s currently tied for fifth in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph with 21 touchdown passes. However, among regular starters, Howard ranks second-worst in the conference with 12 interceptions and completed just 54.8 percent of his passes.
The Sun Devils will need to be wary of a secondary that has proven itself to be full of playmakers capable of regularly forcing turnovers. The Mountaineers finished second nationally with 23 interceptions, although five came from defensive back Karl Joseph who suffered a season-ending injury in early October. Junior cornerback Daryl Worley has six picks on the year and was also mentioned in the aforementioned Casazza report about WVU considering testing the NFL waters after the bowl game.
Arizona State
Much like their Cactus Bowl opponent, Arizona State’s season is riddled with unfulfilled expectations, perhaps even more so that West Virginia. The Sun Devils were ranked 15th in the preseason AP poll, but quickly tumbled out after a 38-17 week one loss to Texas A&M. The following week, they would turn in a listless performance against FCS’ Cal Poly where they were tied 21-21 midway through the fourth quarter before scoring two late touchdowns to pull away.
Their Pac-12 campaign was schizophrenic at best. It included a blowout loss early on to a USC team that was reeling at the time along with a three-game losing streak. However, they also pulled off a road upset of then seventh-ranked UCLA and also beat hated in-state rival Arizona late in the year to clinch bowl eligibility. But bad Arizona State showed up in the season finale as the Sun Devils blew a 27-10 halftime lead to Cal, eventually falling 48-46 on a game-winning field goal as time expired.
Ultimately, ASU would finish 6-6 (4-5 in Pac-12 play), a clear step back from back-to-back ten-win campaigns. Head coach Todd Graham needs a win to ensure a winning season in each of his four years in charge of the Sun Devil program.
Despite the less than stellar showing in the win column, senior quarterback Mike Bercovici had one of the more impressive showings among Pac-12 signal callers. He finished third in the conference with 3,436 passing yards and tallied 26 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. Despite Berkovici’s impending graduation, the ASU ground game appears to have a bright future with Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage. The two sophomore running backs combined for 1,683 yards while adding 11 touchdowns.
The Sun Devils certainly have the weapons in place on defense to slow down West Virginia’s rushing attack. Linebackers Antonio Longino and Salamo Fiso finished one-two respectively in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss, combining for 37.5. Overall, ASU was one of just seven teams nationally to have over 100 TFLs on the year.
What To Expect
The Sun Devils should certainly expect a partisan crowd playing a mere ten miles away from campus. On defense, they match up fairly well against West Virginia’s strengths, particularly in the running game. If they can force the Mountaineers into third and long situations it could tilt the game in their favor, especially if they can get some mistakes out of Howard in passing situations.
Either way, this game has all the makings of a shootout which would be a fitting end to this year’s slate of bowl games.
Prediction: Arizona State 45, West Virginia 40
