2016 Cactus Bowl (January)

2016 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl
27th Cactus Bowl
West Virginia Mountaineers Arizona State Sun Devils (7–5) (6–6) Big 12 Pac-12 43 42 Head coach:  Dana Holgorsen Head coach:  Todd Graham
1 2 3 4 Total West Virginia 9 13 14 7 43 Arizona State 3 15 14 10 42
Date	January 2, 2016
Season	2015
Stadium	Chase Field
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
MVP	Skyler Howard (QB, West Virginia) Offense Shaq Petteway (LB, West Virginia) Defense
Favorite	Arizona State by 1 [1]
Referee	Jeff Servinski (Big Ten) [2]
Attendance	39,321 [2]
Payout	US$TBD
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN/ESPN Radio
Announcers	Dave Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, & Kayce Smith (ESPN) Drew Goodman, David Diaz-Infante, & Olivia Harlan (ESPN Radio)
Cactus Bowl  ← 2015 2016 (Dec) →

The 2016 Cactus Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on January 2, 2016 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the twenty-seventh edition of the Cactus Bowl, although only the second played under that name. Sponsored by the Motel 6 chain of budget motels, the game was officially known as the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl.

The bowl featured the West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big 12 Conference against the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pac-12 Conference, and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. It began at 8:15 p.m. MST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season and was the final bowl game prior to the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship game.

Motel 6 took over as title sponsor of the game replacing TicketCity, who had served as sponsor of the previous year's game. ^[3]

The 2016 Cactus Bowl marked the game's return to Chase Field, its home from 2000 until 2005, after a ten-year absence during which the game was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The move was made due to a reconstruction project at Sun Devil Stadium that rendered the facility unusable during the college football offseason and would see Chase Field host the Cactus Bowl through 2018. West Virginia won the game by a final score of 43-42.

Teams

The game featured the West Virginia Mountaineers against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Arizona State Sun Devils

See also: 2015 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

After finishing their season 6–6, the Sun Devils accepted their invitation to play in the game. ^[4]

This was also the Sun Devils' second Cactus Bowl; they had previously won the 2005 Insight Bowl over Rutgers 45–40.

West Virginia Mountaineers

See also: 2015 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

After finishing their season 7–5, the Mountaineers accepted their invitation to play in the game. ^[5]

This was the Mountaineers' second Cactus Bowl; they had previously lost the 1998 Insight.com Bowl to Missouri 34–31.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP WVU ASU 1 12:02 9 71 2:58 WVU 21-yard field goal by Josh Lambert 3 0 1 8:57 8 56 2:25 WVU 31-yard field goal by Josh Lambert 6 0 1 5:06 4 2 1:30 ASU 37-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez 6 3 1 3:13 6 55 1:53 WVU 27-yard field goal by Josh Lambert 9 3 2 9:59 4 40 1:06 ASU Devin Lucien 19-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good 9 10 2 6:02 3 80 0:39 WVU Shelton Gibson 59-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good 16 10 2 2:53 10 80 3:00 ASU 19-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez 16 13 2 0:28 8 75 2:25 WVU Daikiel Shorts 10-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick blocked 22 13 2 0:28 — — — ASU Tim White returns blocked PAT for 2-point conversion 22 15 2 0:01 4 34 0:26 ASU 35-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez 22 18 3 11:34 8 66 3:17 ASU Tim White 2-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good 22 25 3 10:02 5 75 1:32 WVU Gary Jennings 64-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good 29 25 3 4:35 6 66 2:26 ASU Tim White 33-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good 29 32 3 3:01 4 75 1:34 WVU Daikiel Shorts 17-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good 36 32 4 14:09 4 5 1:09 ASU 48-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez 36 35 4 4:56 4 73 1:23 ASU Gary Chambers 58-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good 36 42 4 2:19 10 75 2:37 WVU David Sills 15-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good 43 42 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 43 42

Source: ^[2]

Statistics

Statistics [2]	WVU	ASU
First downs	29	23
Total offense, plays – yards	84–676	84–520
Rushes-yards (net)	33–144	32–102
Passing yards (net)	532	418
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	28–51–2	29–52–0
Time of Possession	29:02	30:58

References

1. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2015
2. "2016 Cactus Bowl: West Virginia vs. Arizona State Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
4. "Arizona State To Face West Virginia In Motel 6 Cactus Bowl Jan. 2". TheSunDevils.com. Arizona State University. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
5. "WVU, Arizona State to Meet in Motel 6 Cactus Bowl". WVUSports.com. West Virginia University. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.