Miami vs. Washington State: Score and Reaction for 2015 Sun Bowl

The Washington State Cougars used a late first-half surge and took advantage of a late Miami turnover in the red zone to knock off the Miami Hurricanes 20-14 in the 2015 Sun Bowl as the teams battled snowy conditions in El Paso, Texas. 

The Cougars were up 10-7 with just over three minutes left in the first half when quarterback Luke Falk hit Gabe Marks for a 25-yard score to give the Cougars a 10-point lead that featured Falk's pinpoint accuracy and some inept coverage from Miami, as the highlight from CBS Sports on Twitter shows:

The defense forced a three-and-out against Miami's defense and the offense picked up 34 yards to set up an Erik Powell field goal to close the half with Washington State up 20-7. 

Miami cut the lead to 20-14 early in the fourth quarter and got the ball down to Washington State's five-yard line with less than five minutes to play, but running back Mark Walton fumbled the ball and the Cougars recovered to maintain the lead. 

Washington State went to a conservative offense once the snow really started coming down midway through the third quarter. Falk was throwing short, quicker passes and the running game came more into play. 

CBS Sports had some fun with the snow in Texas on Twitter:

Miami would get the ball back after forcing a three-and-out in great field position when Braxton Berrios returned a punt to Washington State's 28-yard line. That terrific setup was undone by a dreadful play call when running back Joseph Yearby was asked to throw on a reverse play. 

Yearby's pass was intercepted by Shalom Luani to give Washington State's offense the ball and it would run out the clock to preserve the victory. Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post summed up Miami's play-calling masterfully:

Falk was solid against Miami's defense, really slowing down in the second half when the weather worsened. The sophomore star, whose completion percentage of 70.7 is second in the nation, finished the Sun Bowl with 295 passing yards with two touchdowns to lead Washington State to its first postseason win since the 2003 Holiday Bowl. 

Falk was awarded game MVP honors for his efforts, with his teammates also collecting some hardware, per the Sun Bowl's official Twitter account:

As the blowing snow made it difficult to see down the field, Washington State turned to the running game and quick passes to preserve its lead. Sophomore Jamal Morrow wasn't asked to do a lot but made his chances count with 71 yards on 10 carries. 

Washington State head coach Mike Leach has completed the program's turnaround since he took over in 2012. The Cougars won 12 games combined in his first three seasons before jumping up to nine this year after the bowl victory. 

Just as impressive as Washington State's offense is the work Leach's defense did. Miami came into the Sun Bowl playing well on offense, scoring 67 points in its last two games of the regular season, but struggled put the ball in the end zone thanks to three turnovers. 

Hurricanes quarterback Brad Kaaya took a step back, throwing for 219 yards with one touchdown and one interception on 17-of-31 passing after racking up 561 passing yards in wins over Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh. 

As pedestrian as Kaaya's numbers look, he wasn't getting help from his receivers. Rashawn Scott struggled most of the game with three drops, prompting David Furones of the Miami Herald to speculate about what the wideout's problem was:

Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press noted that incoming Miami head coach Mark Richt was likely watching the game hoping for one thing:

Despite Kaaya's disappointing numbers, he's still just a sophomore who threw for over 3,000 yards this season and has shown enough potential to get better with the right coach and system. 

This was an unusual season for Miami, highlighted by the program's 58-0 cratering against Clemson on Oct. 24 that led to the firing of Al Golden.

The Hurricanes, who won four of their past five games after the Clemson debacle, needed to make a splash with their head-coaching hiring and were able to do that with Richt, who for all his flaws at Georgia only won less than eight games in the SEC once since 2001. 

Washington State, on the other hand, is a program very much on the rise. Leach built Texas Tech into a consistent nine-win program in his third year. He needed an extra year to hit that mark with the Cougars, but they finally got there. 

Saturday was a big day for the two Pac-12 schools in Washington, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times:

The Pac-12 was a deep conference this year with 10 bowl-eligible teams, with the first four teams to play winning their bowl games, yet it was easy to overlook Washington State because the program has been down for so many years.

After winning nine games this year, no one will be looking past the Cougars heading into 2016. 

Post-Game Reaction

Scott spoke after the loss about what his future might hold with Richt as head coach, but couldn't provide a definitive, per Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald:

The biggest in-game question for Scott to answer was the thinking behind Yearby's reverse pass that wound up being intercepted and sealing the win for Washington State, per Christy Chirinos of the Sun-Sentinel:

Give Scott credit for trying to think outside the box to create something for his offense, but the conditions should have made him rethink that strategy. It's also on Yearby to know how far he can throw the ball and when a good time to bring it down so the offense can fight another play. 

Moving to the victor's side, per Jessamyn McIntyre of ESPN 710, Leach said things were "sloppy on both sides, but says the Cougs played gritty."

Also per McIntyre, Leach gave a lot of credit to defensive coordinator Alex Grinch for his work all season:

Grinch did lead a bend-don't-break unit this year. There were some obvious bumps in the road, like the 45-10 loss against Washington the season finale, but the Cougars defense only allowed 333 yards against a solid Miami offense that had been playing much better. 

Per Porter of the Palm Beach Post, Leach also touched on Miami's call of the halfback pass and his confidence on defense to stop it:

Leach has always been able to build strong teams that know how to play his offensive style, despite rarely landing the prestigious five-star recruits. He's got Washington State doing all the right things and is on the verge of making the program a force in the Pac-12.