Cactus Bowl 2016: West Virginia vs. Arizona State TV Schedule, Time and Odds
The Arizona State Sun Devils and West Virginia Mountaineers square off in Saturday's Cactus Bowl, a meeting of humbled teams looking to finish strong.
Todd Graham's Sun Devils bumbled to a 6-6 record despite lofty preseason expectations, suffering the full force of the Pac-12's upper level of competition and now having to combat coaching changes before the bowl game.
It's much of the same story for Dana Holgorsen's Mountaineers, who didn't stand much of a chance against the Big 12's best this year. Now they clutch the hope of a victory making them the winningest West Virginia squad since the program joined the Big 12.
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A showdown sure to feature plenty of offense to close Saturday's slate, here's everything to know.
Game Details
When: Saturday, January 2, at 10:15 p.m. ET
Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Television: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Over/Under: 64
Spread: West Virginia (-1)
Team Injury Reports
| Cody Clay | TE | Prob Sat |
| Daryl Worley | CB | Out Sat |
| Eric Kinsey | DL | Out Sat |
| Jovon Durante | WR | Out Sat |
| Yodny Cajuste | DL | Ques Sat |
| Karl Joseph | S | Out for season |
| Deonte Reynolds | DL | Out for season |
| Jayme Otomewo | S | Out for season |
| Jordan Simone | DB | Out for season |
| Grant Martinez | TE | Ques Sat |
| Nick Ralston | LB | Ques Sat |
| Armand Perry | DB | Out for season |
| Dan Vear | TE | Out for season |
| Dillon Faamatau | OL | Out for season |
Injury reports courtesy of USA Today.
Hinging on the Basics
Folks know the damage the Arizona State offense can do, which is what makes Saturday's task so difficult for West Virginia after the team struggled so mightily against the Big 12's high-octane offenses.
West Virginia couldn't contain then-No. 15 Oklahoma, 44-24. Ditto for then-No. 21 Oklahoma State, 33-26. After, then-No. 2 Baylor, 62-38. To finish the four-game skid, a 40-10 outcome against then-No. 5 TCU.
Holgorsen, though, told ESPN.com his team understands the perils of facing a team such as Arizona State.
"It will be a challenge for us defensively," Holgorsen said. "Clearly, in the Big 12 you are facing up-tempo offenses. You are facing balanced offenses with good wideouts, so our guys are used to that. They know that if they relax against an opponent like this they are going to blow right by us."
To be fair, the Mountaineers have forced an impressive 23 interceptions this year and pair that with a strong rushing attack to win games. Lead back Wendell Smallwood posted 1,447 yards and nine touchdowns this year to help protect quarterback Skyler Howard, who only completed 54.8 percent of his passes with 21 scores to 12 picks.
The blueprint isn't hard to see—the Mountaineers need to go basic and control the clock to win.
Smoothing the Transition
Arizona State posted gaudy point totals most of the season as most would expect.
Now, though, the offense has to move things to offensive line coach Chris Thomsen after the departure of coordinator Mike Norvell while attempting to compensate for a defense that can't help but cough up the big play.
The Sun Devils will look to do this through quarterback Mike Bercovici, who completed 60.4 percent of his passes this year with 3,442 yards and 26 touchdowns to nine interceptions.
Though Demario Richard has 1,050 yards and seven scores on the ground, the attention goes to a star-studded set of receivers:
| Devin Lucien | 57 | 930 | 16.3 | 7 |
| Tim White | 53 | 554 | 10.5 | 6 |
| D.J. Foster | 54 | 544 | 10.1 | 3 |
| Gary Chambers | 24 | 420 | 17.5 | 1 |
| Kody Kohl | 30 | 334 | 11.1 | 4 |
Impressive, but Arizona State allows 321.3 yards per game through the air alone, hence losses such as the 38-17 loss against Texas A&M, 42-14 to USC, 34-18 to Utah and allowances of 61 and 48 points in losses to Oregon and California, respectively.
If Bercovici cannot take care of the football against a turnover-minded defense, his large amount of weapons will see few attempts to make a difference, which unfolded in several of the mentioned losses.
Prediction
This one seems like it will come down to turnovers.
Thanks to strong play from the senior Bercovici most of the season, it's hard to imagine Arizona State makes many mistakes, new man calling the plays or not.
West Virginia's susceptible to falling behind when the defense isn't reeling in turnovers. The running game's great, but Howard hasn't shown enough as a passer to suggest the Mountaineers have the versatility to keep pace if the game turns into a shootout.
It should. Arizona State's essentially playing a home game, and the depth of weapons will overwhelm the Mountaineers as the frames progress.
Prediction: Arizona State 38, Mountaineers 33
Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.
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