WSU takes 82nd Annual Hyundai Sun Bowl 20-14 over Miami

Despite not scoring in the second half, the Washington State football team persevered for a 20-14 victory over Miami on Saturday in the Sun Bowl – the Cougars’ first bowl win since 2003.

With the win the Cougars finish the season at 9-4, their best season in over a decade. The Cougars blew a big lead late in a bowl loss to Colorado State in 2013 but held off Miami in the fourth quarter. Two players later, Washington State’s Marcellus Pippins recovered Walton’s fumble at the 5 to end the threat.

Even though the offense scored on its first possession – a short pass from Luke Falk that Jamal Morrow took 31 yards to the end zone – they had at least three dropped passes and a couple of near interceptions on their next three offensive drives. Falk finished the game 29-53 passing for 295 yards.

First the Hurricanes had a potential tying touchdown – a 5-yard pass from Brad Kaaya to wide receiver Stacy Coley – negated by a block-in-the-back penalty on receiver Herb Waters.

The Hurricanes, the most penalized team in the nation, displayed little discipline and less intelligence at times while drawing nine flags for 105 yards.

Washington State sold just under 3,200 tickets, WSU director of ticket operations Paul Finn tells CF.C. The Cougars took a 10-7 lead on a 30-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore Erik Powell on the ensuing drive.

NOTES: Miami interim coach Larry Scott coached the Hurricanes, but his future with the program is uncertain.

Junior cornerback Artie Burns had a chance to redeem himself for a costly penalty on the previous drive, but he dropped an interception on Falk’s first pass. The Cougars moved inside the red zone with an 11-yard pass to Marks and a personal foul on Miami. Falk averages 388 passing yards a game.

This Miami team embraced being undermanned, embraced the conditions (which were colder and worse than they appeared and it looked nasty) and it did not back down from the challenge of coming from 13 points down in the fourth quarter.

“You can’t fall asleep” against the run”, said D’Onofrio, a standout linebacker at Penn State who played two seasons in the NFL.

“He makes really good decisions and knows where he wants to go with the ball”, D’Onofrio said. The Los Angeles native threw for over 3,000 yards for the second straight season, despite missing one game due to a concussion. As in, how in the world could I have thought the Cougs were going to beat the Huskies in the Apple Cup with a backup quarterback going against that Washington defense in a road game?

Miami threatened twice inside Washington State territory in the final four minutes.

Remarkably, Washington State is only 1-3 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet undefeated (6-0 SU) when losing the turnover battle.

Duke 44, IN 41: NEW YORK – Ross Martin kicked a 36-yard field goal IN overtime, and Duke (8-5) won a bowl game for the first time since the 1961 Cotton