West Virginia vs. Arizona State: Score and Reaction for 2016 Cactus Bowl

The Chase Field roof was closed. It was rather symbolic for a game that seemed as though it would never end.

Timeouts were taken on kickoffs, referees were oblivious to the out-of-bounds line and no one knew what was or wasn’t a catch.

At the end of the day, the West Virginia Mountaineers found a way to pick through the tomfoolery and beat the Arizona State Sun Devils, 43-42, in the Cactus Bowl on Saturday night in Phoenix.

West Virginia tweeted about the victory:

Don’t let the scoreboard fool you. This game was not destined to be an offensive explosion, especially in the first quarter. The Mountaineers took a 9-3 lead early with little to no offensive excitement.

Well, not really. This game that was not meant to end did feature some excitement. The Big 12 provided a clip of an inexplicable play in the first quarter:

This is one of those rare times when a video is worth a thousand words, but those 27 passing yards were part of a record-setting day for West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard. His 532 yards set a new Cactus Bowl record, which Drew Bledsoe once held.

Now is when everyone reacts in shock to the fact that Bledsoe played in the Cactus Bowl once upon a time. Fox Sports’ Stewart Mandel could only imagine how Bledsoe would take the devastating news that Howard broke his record:

And while Howard was breaking records, Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici was putting together a game to remember as well. He threw for 418 yards and four touchdowns, though one came with some controversy. Bercovici found receiver Tim White for a 33-yard score with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter, but it looked as though White’s foot was out of bounds at around the 20-yard line.

The officials went to review it, but the touchdown stood. Even Arizona State fans in attendance thought the touchdown wouldn’t count, per Mike Casazza of the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

Less than two minutes later, West Virginia had some good fortune on another controversial play. Mountaineers receiver Shelton Gibson hauled in a 37-yard catch, but he appeared to be out of bounds as well. After further review, Gibson was able to get his right toe in bounds, though some ripped the officials for not finding conclusive evidence, such as ESPN’s Brett McMurphy:

Howard found Daikiel Shorts on the ensuing play for a 17-yard touchdown, and West Virginia took a 36-32 lead with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

Arizona State appeared to regain momentum with less than five minutes to go. Bercovici connected with Gary Chambers for a 59-yard touchdown, helping ASU take a 42-36 lead. Shortly thereafter, West Virginia responded in the most unlikely of ways. After an ASU sack made it 3rd-and-22, Wendell Smallwood picked up 24 yards on a draw play.

Two plays later, Howard hit David Sills for a 15-yard touchdown, and the ensuing extra point gave the Mountaineers a one-point lead and the eventual win.

The game went into the late hours of the night and seemed as though it wouldn't find a winner, but the Mountaineers improved to 52-4 since 2000 when scoring 40 points or more in a contest.

Hopefully, Motel 6 left the light on for both teams after this one.

Postgame Reaction

When Arizona State took the 42-36 lead late in the fourth quarter, there was some questions as to why head coach Todd Graham did not elect to go for two.

There's an answer, per Brad Denny of 3TVSports in Phoenix:

If the Sun Devils went for two, and converted, this never-ending football contest would've endured overtime, so it's probably for the best on behalf of the viewing public that the game did not go into Sunday morning.

But for Arizona State, who finished the season 6-7 and suffered another bowl loss under Graham, this one is hard to take. Smallwood's 24-yard run on 3rd-and-22 was the backbreaking play that summed up the Sun Devils' night.

"It's about time it fell together," Howard said, per the Associated Press. "We finally started clicking on offense."

The 950 passing yards combined between Bercovici and Howard set a Cactus Bowl record, and West Virginia needed every bit of Howard's 532 yards and five touchdowns to get this win.

"[Howard] is gritty, he doesn't ever give up, he continues to go. It doesn't matter what people think and people say," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "He just keeps going to work every day and keeps getting better and better. I am really proud of this kid."

West Virginia improved to 3-11 all time against the Pac-12, with two of those wins coming against Arizona State. What's even more amazing about this win for the Sun Devils is how they lost the turnover battle, yet won the game. WVU came into the Cactus Bowl 75-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle, but didn't need to do anything but contain Arizona State and hold the Devils to 5-of-17 on third down.

"They kept throwing over the top and scoring touchdowns," Graham said. "We blew a couple coverages and then ran by."

Arizona State missed a golden opportunity, even by being just a short drive away from campus. The Sun Devils had the home-field advantage but couldn't get stops when needed, which led to West Virginia's first bowl win since the Orange Bowl in 2011.