Miami falls to Washington State in snowy Sun Bowl

For a few minutes in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Hyundai Sun Bowl in Texas, interim Miami coach Larry Scott had to think he would go out a victor.

The Miami Hurricanes had plenty of chances to steal the Sun Bowl away from the Washington State Cougars, but made critical turnovers that ended up costing them the game. Still, game tape will be collected on the NFL-caliber talent that does make it on the field for Miami as they take on Washington State in the Sun Bowl at 2:00 PM EST on December 26th. Cracraft made three catches on third or fourth downs to extend drives, finishing the day with five catches for 63 yards.

The Cougars haven’t won a bowl game since 2003 when they won the Holiday Bowl under Bill Doba, and the ‘Canes haven’t won one since the 2006 MPC Computers Bowl. Though the Cougars (9-4) took the game’s opening drive down the field and needed just six plays and a little more than two minutes to score on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Falk to Jamal Morrow, the Hurricanes answered with a scoring drive of their own.

“I’m proud of the way the team fought back in the second half”, Scott said in the post game interview. Ivan McLennan sacked Kaaya on first down for a loss of 9 yards, and Taylor Taliulu turned what would have been a first-down reception into a three-and-out when he hit tight end David Njoku hard enough that the ball popped out of Njoku’s hands.

It was that kind of day, though it felt a bit warmer for the Cougars’ fans and players as they celebrated a 20-14 win over the Hurricanes. He leads the nation’s top-ranked passing offense (397 yards per game) with a nation-leading 4,266 yards and 36 TDs with eight interceptions.

Miami would get the ball back after forcing a three-and-out in great field position when Braxton Berrios returned a punt to Washington State’s 28-yard line. Yearby works angle routes and option routes well, and he could be used in that way against Washington State.

2- Two efficient, productive 6-4 sophomore quarterbacks face off when Miami’s Brad Kaaya meets Luke Falk of the Cougars. The Washington State pass defense has played at another level the past five games.

As the weather got more turbulent in the second half, both offenses struggled to string together drives. Falk didn’t have a much easier time in the snow, finishing 29-of-53 for 295 yards.

“Penalties hurt you in all games and ultimate we have to clean them up”, Scott said.

Washington States Charleston White breaks up a pass intended for Miamis Rashawn Scott during the first half of the Sun Bowl NCAA college football game Saturday Dec. 26, 2015 in El Paso, Texas. Two players later, Washington State’s Marcellus Pippins recovered Walton’s fumble at the 5 to end the threat. Freshman tailback Mark Walton then plowed the five yards to make it 20-14 with 13:10 left in the game.

The Cougs also had an interception by McLennan called back due to offsetting penalties – encroachment on WSU and a chop block on the Hurricanes.

The Pac-12 was a deep conference this year with 10 bowl-eligible teams, with the first four teams to play winning their bowl games, yet it was easy to overlook Washington State because the program has been down for so many years.