2016 Cactus Bowl (January)

Last updated

2016 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl
27th Cactus Bowl
1234Total
West Virginia91314743
Arizona State315141042
DateJanuary 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]
Attendance39,321 [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.

Contents

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

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

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
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP WVUASU
112:029712:58WVU21-yard field goal by Josh Lambert30
18:578562:25WVU31-yard field goal by Josh Lambert60
15:06421:30ASU37-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez 63
13:136551:53WVU27-yard field goal by Josh Lambert93
29:594401:06ASUDevin Lucien 19-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good910
26:023800:39WVUShelton Gibson 59-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good1610
22:5310803:00ASU19-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez1613
20:288752:25WVUDaikiel Shorts 10-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick blocked2213
20:28ASUTim White returns blocked PAT for 2-point conversion2215
20:014340:26ASU35-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez2218
311:348663:17ASUTim White 2-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good2225
310:025751:32WVUGary Jennings 64-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good2925
34:356662:26ASUTim White 33-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good2932
33:014751:34WVUDaikiel Shorts 17-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good3632
414:09451:09ASU48-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez3635
44:564731:23ASUGary Chambers 58-yard touchdown reception from Mike Bercovici, Zane Gonzalez kick good3642
42:1910752:37WVU David Sills 15-yard touchdown reception from Skyler Howard, Josh Lambert kick good4342
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.4342

Source: [2]

Statistics

Statistics [2] WVUASU
First Downs2923
Total offense, plays – yards84–67684–520
Rushes-yards (net)33–14432–102
Passing yards (net)532418
Passes, Comp-Att-Int28–51–229–52–0
Time of Possession29:0230:58

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References

  1. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2015
  2. 1 2 3 4 "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  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.