WSU survives snowy Sun Bowl 20-14

Washington State was led by quarterback Luke Falk who tossed a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Cougars past a vigilant Miami Hurricanes, 20-14, to win the 2015 Sun Bowl in a surprisingly snowy environment.

It was WSU’s first bowl win since the 2003 Holiday Bowl in San Diego, and it gave the Cougars a 9-4 overall record, their best since their 10-3 finish in 2003. Erik Powell kicked field goals of 30 and 25 yards, and Falk found Gabe Marks in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown as WSU scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 20-7 lead entering half time.

The Hurricanes tried to catch the Cougars off guard, when running back Joseph Yearby threw a pass, but instead the pass was wobbly and had no power behind it. Yearby was the same player that had just fumbled the ball minutes before. Two plays later, with the Hurricanes still inside Washington State’s 5-yard line, running back Mark Walton fumbled the ball when it looked like he was headed for the end zone. Falk finished the game 29-53 passing for 295 yards.

ABOUT MIAMI (8-4, 5-3 ACC): Kaaya was hampered by an inconsistent rushing attack that ranks 116th in the nation but still threw for 3,019 yards with 15 touchdowns and gives 2016 coach Mark Richt a dependable quarterback around whom to build. Leach said it was one of the biggest reasons the Cougars finished third in the Pac-12 North behind Stanford and OR and are playing in a bowl game.“I thought they got better as the year went on, especially considering how many young guys we broke in, ” he said. Miami’s Larry Scott is the interim coach after Al Golden was sacked midseason.

As a freshman, Yearby was a good change of pace back and ran for more than 500 yards off the bench. Washington State (8-4) has picked up the win in three of its last four and Miami (FL) (8-4) four of its last five.

Saturday, they say, is as good a time as any to get that started – for themselves and for the coaches that guided them through a tough situation, but now face uncertain futures as new coach Mark Richt continues assembling his staff.

It took two plays for The U to ignite a comeback attempt, starting with a 60-yard run on a reverse play by Braxton Berrios to the Cougars’ 5-yard line. “They decided that the weather wasn’t going to be a distraction”.

Leach has always been able to build strong teams that know how to play his offensive style, despite rarely landing the prestigious five-star recruits.

The Cougars had no problem picking off the pass and that would seal the bowl game for them and Miami’s fate.

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.

Washington State is a four-point favorite against the Hurricanes.

The offense began to click as Kaaya seemed to find his rhythm and Scott began making plays.

Kaaya threw for 219 yards and a touchdown, with one interception.

After winning nine games this year, no one will be looking past the Cougars heading into 2016. The Huskies (7-6) won their last two regular-season games by a combined 97-17 over Oregon State and Washington State to become bowl eligible and then delivered Chris Petersen’s first postseason victory in his two seasons at Washington. When Washington State lost to Portland State, a feeling of dread came with it for me.