Sun Bowl 2015: Miami vs. Washington State TV Schedule, Time and Odds
When the Miami Hurricanes and Washington State Cougars get together Saturday in the Sun Bowl, one team will look to complete one of the best comeback stories around and another will look to begin one.
Washington State is one of the best stories of the year after coach Mike Leach took a 3-9 Cougars team from 2014 to an 8-4 record this year and brought home the Pac-12 Coach of the Year award in the process.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, sport a matching record but have to hope interim coach Larry Scott can halt the program's six-game postseason losing streak.
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With offensive fireworks inbound, here's everything to know about Saturday's affair.
Game Details
When: Saturday, December 26, at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas
Television: CBS
Live Stream: CBSSports.com
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Over/Under: 62.5
Spread: Washington State (-2.5)
Team Injury Reports
| Courtel Jenkins | DL | Out Sat |
| Danny Isidora | OL | Ques Sat |
| Jamal Carter | S | Out Sat |
| Sunny Odogwu | OL | Ques Sat |
| Michael Wyche | DT | Out indefinitely |
| Raphael Kirby | LB | Out for season |
| Marques Gayot | LB | Out indefinitely |
| Darrion Owens | LB | Out for season |
| Gus Edwards | RB | Out for season |
| Gabe Marks | WR | Prob Sat |
| Joe Dahl | OL | Prob Sat |
| Luke Falk | QB | Prob Sat |
Injury reports courtesy of USA Today.
Loading Up for an Arms Race
This one's going to be a shootout, and not just because Leach loves to spread out defenses and have his quarterback sling it around.
Miami has a deep, balanced attack that's not been on the receiving end of enough credit this year. Quarterback Brad Kaaya is an emerging star who completed 61.7 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns to four interceptions this year.
The sophomore's efficiency through the air and spread-it-around attitude helped his top three targets post gaudy numbers:
| Stacy Coley | 44 | 645 | 14.7 | 67 (TD) | 3 |
| Rashawn Scott | 47 | 620 | 13.2 | 58 (TD) | 5 |
| Herb Waters | 38 | 607 | 16.0 | 46 | 1 |
Miami gets it done on the ground, too, with lead back Joseph Yearby sitting on 939 yards and six scores this year. Mark Walton's a capable complement with his 438 yards and eight scores.
It sounds like Kaaya wants Saturday to stand as a turning point for the program and its future, according to Christy Chirinos of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
For Kaaya, the balanced attack has to find a way to thwart the high-octane Cougars assault if both he and the program are to begin that turnaround.
Pouring it On
Leach has done an incredible job in what might be the nation's best turnaround, but he wouldn't be half as far without sophomore quarterback Luke Falk.
Falk has posted numbers normally reserved for video games this season, having completed 70.7 percent of his passes with 4,266 yards and 36 touchdowns to eight interceptions.
As one could imagine, his cast of weapons looks quite good from a numbers standpoint, too:
| Gabe Marks | 99 | 1125 | 11.4 | 43 (TD) | 14 |
| Dom Williams | 73 | 997 | 13.7 | 75 (TD) | 11 |
| River Cracraft | 48 | 552 | 11.5 | 33 | 4 |
Despite what looks like a favorable matchup (and really, what doesn't to this offense?), Falk isn't taking the Hurricanes lightly.
"They're a great football team at 8-4 and I think they're even better than they're record shows," he said, according to ESPN.com. "It makes it real fun for us and hopefully for the seniors, we can get them to go out the right way. The Sun Bowl is a great bowl."
It's a fair assessment given the fact that the Hurricanes won two of their last three games while showing a marked improvement against the pass.
In fact, Miami's recent strong showings against the pass might force the Cougars to the ground more than they would prefer, which doesn't sound like such a bad thing, with Miami allowing an average north of 200 yards per game rushing.
Washington State has the talent to get it done either way. It comes down to execution under the pressure of topping off one of the year's best stories.
Prediction
Miami won't be able to keep up in this one.
Not that the Hurricanes aren't talented, but they don't inspire much in the way of confidence under an interim coach. The last time the Hurricanes played a top team, they took a 59-21 beating at the hands of then-No. 23 North Carolina.
Expect the Cougars to keep rolling behind Falk, who won't have many issues taking advantage of the Hurricanes defense. The spread-it-out attack asks the most of individual defenders on a play-to-play basis, which is something this iteration of the Miami roster will struggle with.
Look for the Cougars to pull away early and never really look back as the aerial assault puts on another show.
Prediction: Washington State 38, Miami 28
Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.
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