West Virginia beats Arizona State 43-42 in Cactus Bowl
West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard threw for 532 yards and five touchdowns as the Mountaineers beat Arizona State 43-42 in the Cactus Bowl.
Howard threw the winning touchdown with 2:19 left when he found David Sills for a 15-yard pass. If you’re wondering why Sills’ name is familiar, he’s the quarterback who was offered a scholarship by then-USC coach Lane Kiffin while he was in the seventh grade. Sills, who is a freshman at West Virginia (8-5), has seen time at wide receiver in 2015. The TD catch was his second of the season and his seventh catch overall.
ASU’s chance to swipe the win from West Virginia ended when Mike Bercovici’s fourth down pass fell incomplete. A flag was thrown on the play, but after a lengthy discussion, officials picked up the flag and didn’t give an explanation as to what the penalty could have been.
Howard’s fifth touchdown pass was also the game’s eighth lead change. Arizona State (6-7) took the lead for the final time with 4:56 left when Bercovici hit Gary Chambers for a 58-yard touchdown. Arizona State elected to not go for two after the touchdown and the extra point made it a six-point lead at 42-36. Had the Sun Devils gone for two and made it, Howard’s pass to Sills (with the extra point) would have been for the tie and not the lead.
Arizona State entered the game No. 102 in pass defense and it showed. Howard completed numerous passes of over 50 yards as he set a Cactus Bowl record for passing yardage.
Bercovici finished the game 29-52 passing for 418 yards and four touchdowns. Bercovici didn’t throw any interceptions while Howard threw two.
Arizona State wide receiver Tim White also set the Sun Devils’ record for total yards in a bowl game, breaking a record previously set in the 1951 Salad Bowl. Really.
White finished the game with 299 yards on receptions, punt returns and kick returns and also returned a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion in the second quarter.
The win means West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has his first eight-win season since the team joined the Big 12 in 2012. Holgorsen went 10-3 in his first season in 2011, but had a record of 18-20 in the Mountaineers’ first three seasons in the conference. The school announced in early December that Holgorsen would return to the sidelines in 2016.
For more ASU news, visit ASUDevils.com.
For more West Virginia news, visit WVSports.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
