MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL // WEST VIRGINIA VS ARIZONA STATE SATURDAY, JAN. 2, 2016 | 10:15 P.M. (ET) | CHASE FIELD (40,000) | PHOENIX, ARIZ. THE SERIES WITH ARIZONA STATE GEORGIA SOUTHERN All-Time Series .........................................ASU leads 1-0 September 5 In Tempe ....................................................ASU leads 1-0 W/44-0 In Morgantown ............................................................0-0 At Neutral Site .............................................................. 0-0 Holgorsen vs. Arizona State .................First Meeting LIBERTY Holgorsen vs. Graham ...............................................1-0 September 12 Graham vs. West Virginia...........................................0-1 W/41-17 Graham vs. Holgorsen ...............................................0-1 WEST VIRGINIA ARIZONA STATE 2015 Record............................................ 7-5, 4-5 Big 12 2015 Record........................................... 6-6, 4-5 Pac-12 MARYLAND Head Coach ............................................Dana Holgorsen Head Coach .................................................Todd Graham September 26 Alma Mater/Year .....................................Iowa Wesleyan (‘93) Alma Mater/Year ...........................................East Central (‘87) W/45-6 Record at WVU .................................................35-28 (5th) Record at ASU ..................................................34-18 (4th) Overall Record ..............................................35-28 (5th) Overall Record ........................................... 83-47 (10th) AT OKLAHOMA October 3 L/24-44 OKLAHOMA STATE October 10 L/26-33 (OT) AT BAYLOR October 17 L/38-62 AT TCU October 29 L/10-40 GAME CONFERENCE 12 BIG * TEXAS TECH November 7 KJDILLON WendellSMALLWOOD W/31-26 NOTES TO REMEMBER 4WVU is 75-11 since 2002 when winning the 4Since 2000, WVU is 100-13 when scoring 30 or turnover battle 4WVU’s defense didn’t give up a touchdown in TEXAS more points in a contest/51-4 when scoring 40 or more points in a game three games this season and gave up fewer than November 14 4In the Dana Holgorsen era, WVU has produced 400 yards of total offense in eight games W/38-20 HOMECOMING 59 games with 300 or more yards of total 4WVU pitched its first Big 12 shutout at Kansas; its offense, 44 games with 400 or more yards of second in 2015; the first time since 1996 the total offense, 22 games with more than 500 Mountaineers had two shutouts in the same year AT KANSAS 4WVU has 23 INTs in 2015, No. 3 for most in a November 21 yards and 10 with more than 600 yards 4In the Holgorsen era, WVU has scored 30 or more season; needs one to tie school record W/49-0 points in 43 games, 40 or more points in 22 4Skyler Howard is ranked No. 28 nationally in games, 50 or more points in seven games and 60 points responsible for, No. 29 in points epsonsible for per game, passing yards per r or more points three times IOWA STATE WEEK MOUNTAINEER 4WVU is No. 2 nationally in passes intercepted completion and passing touchdowns and No. 35 November 28 (23) and turnovers gained (31), No. 11 in in total offense W/30-6 turnover margin and No. 13 in defensive three 4Wendell Smallwood is No. 13 nationally in and-outs rushing yards, No. 14 in rushing yards per game, 4The Mountaineer defense is ranked No. 15 No. 17 in rushing yards per carry and No. 20 in AT KANSAS STATE nationally in third-down defense, No. 21 in all-purpose yards December 5 tackles for loss (7.3), No. 24 in pass efficiency 4Shelton Gibson ranks No. 2 nationally in yards L/23-24 defense per reception, No. 28 in receiving touchdowns 4WVU’s offense is nationally ranked in rushing and ranks No. 10 in kickoff return touchdowns MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL offense (16), total offense (28), first down offense 4Nick O’Toole is No. 6 nationally in punting avg. (21), passing yards per completion (35) and 4Daryl Worley is No. 8 nationally in interceptions vs. ARIZONA STATE scoring offense (41) and No. 9 in kickoff returns per game (6), No. 11 in passes defended with six January 2 | 10:15EST (25.6) interceptions and No. in 12 pass breakups. 1 The Last Time Against Arizona State West Virginia 7 Arizona State 42 TEMPE, Ariz. (November 17, 1979) -- Arizona State, in the face of controversy, roared past West Virginia, 42-7, in the final game of the 1979 season for the Mountaineers. After a brief first-quarter flurry by West Virginia, the game belonged to the Sun Devils as quarter- back Mark Malone passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns and Robert Weathers and Gerald Riggs put on an outstanding running show. Weath- ers rushed for 137 yards, and Riggs had 75 yards and two touchdowns. For the Mountaineers, the lone bright spot was the play of Robert Alexander, who gained 137 yards on 17 carries. He had a 60-yard burst to set Arizona State quarterback MarkMALONE attempts an option pitch during the 1979 game against WVU in Tempe, Ariz. up Dane Conwell’s one-yard touchdown that gave Pictured for West Virginia are CalvinTURNER (99) and DelbertFOWLER (95) the Mountaineers a short-lived 7-0 edge. After falling behind, Arizona State wasted no Stat Comparisons time in running up a 28-7 halftime advantage. The West Virginia Opponents Arizona State Opponents touchdowns came on a one-yard run by Riggs, a 33.2 23.2 Scoring Offense 34.0 32.7 six-yard effort by Weathers, a 15-yard pass from 296 234 First Downs 282 242 Malone to Weathers and a seven-yard pass from 235.2 163.5 Rushing Offense 185.2 124.8 Malone to John Mistler. 228.1 222.7 Passing Offense 288.7 321.3 The Sun Devils added additional scores in each 463.3 386.2 Total Offense 473.9 446.1 of the remaining quarters as Riggs tallied an eight- 25.6 22.9 Kick Return Average 21.8 26.8 yard run and reserve quarterback Mike Pagel hit 5.2 3.7 Punt Return Average 6.8 12.4 Ron Wetzel with a five-yard touchdown pass. 23-3.5 13-11.4 INT-Return Average 13-11.2 9-6.3 13-7 19-8 Fumbles/Lost 25-10 13-6 82-856 76-751 Penalties/Yards 54-473 70-609 Scoring Summary 40.3 38.6 Net Punting Avg. 39.4 38.4 West Virginia 7 0 0 0 7 18-25 19-22 Field Goal-Attempts 22-29 15-17 Arizona State 14 14 7 7 42 29:25 30:35 Time of Possession 31:32 28:28 75-191 (39%) 60-187 (32%) 3rd Down Conversion 89-212 (42%) 76-196 (39%) 1st 9-19 (47%) 12-27 (44%) 4th Down Conversion 10-17 (59%) 11-19 (58%) WVU - Conwell 1 run (Sinclair Kick) 29-183 30-197 Sacks By-Yards 44-280 39-233 ASU - Riggs 1 run (Peterson kick) 42-52 (81%) 33-38 (87%) Red Zone Scoring 51-59 (86%) 37-42 (88%) ASU - Weathers 6 run (Peterson kick) 30-52 (58%) 19-38 (50%) Red Zone TD 31-59 (53%) 26-42 (62%) 2nd ASU - Weathers 15 pass from Malone (Peterson The 2015 Mountaineer Roster In Bowls kick) 4The 2015 roster currently consists of 107 players 4West Virginia holds a 14-19 all-time record in ASU - Mistler 7 pass from Malone (Peterson kick) from 16 different states and one from the bowl games, dating back to the 1922 East- 3rd District of Columbia (DaeJuan Funderburk). West Game. The 2016 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl ASU - Riggs 8 run (Peterson kick) 4Leading the way is West Virginia (23), followed will be WVU’s 34th bowl appearance. 4th by Florida (20), Ohio (18), Pennsylvania (11), 4West Virginia went to a school-record 11 ASU - Wetzel 5 pass from Pagel (Peterson kick) Texas (5), Georgia (5), New Jersey (5), Maryland straight bowl games (2002-12) until the streak (4), North Carolina (3), Virginia (3), Delaware (2), was snapped in 2013. The Motel 6 Cactus Attendance: 68,573 Mississippi (2), New York (2) California, Illinois Bowl will mark West Virginia’s second straight and Tennessee. bowl appearance and fourth in five years WVU ASU under Dana Holgorsen. First Downs 18 31 Against The Pac-12 Yards Rushing 52/217 46/270 4WVU is 2-11 all-time against the Pac-12 Against The Pac-12 In Bowl Games Passing Yardage 61 280 Conference. WVU is 0-1 vs. Arizona State, 1-2 Total Offense 76/278 81/550 4West Virginia is 0-1 in bowl games against the against Cal, 1-1 vs. Colorado, 0-2 vs. Oregon, current team configuration of the Pac-12 Passes 6/24/2 20/35/0 0-2 vs. Oregon State, 0-1 against USC, 0-1 vs. Punts 5/40.2 1/45.0 Conference, dropping a 32-6 decision to Utah Stanford and 0-1 vs. Utah. in the 1964 Liberty Bowl. However, Utah was Fumbles/Lost 2/0 0/0 4West Virginia last played a team from the Return Yardage 130 98 not part of the Pac-12 Conference when the Penalties/Yards 2/14 4/39 current configuration of the Pac-12 back in the 2009 season, coming away with a 35-21 game was played in Atlantic City. Rushing victory over Colorado in Morgantown. Bowl Games in Arizona However, the Buffaloes were a member of the WVU: Alexander 17-137; Conwell 14-64; Beck 4This will be West Virginia’s fourth bowl game in Big 12 back in 2009. 4-12; ASU: Weathers 19-130-1; Riggs 14-75-2 the state of Arizona, and the Mountaineers Passing 4You have to go back to Nov. 17, 1979, to find own a 1-2 bowl record in the Grand Canyon WVU: Luck 5-20-1-55-0; Banda 1-4-1-6 West Virginia’s last contest against a team that ASU: Malone 16-24-0-239-2; Pagel 4-11-0-41-1 was a Pac-12 member at the time of the game, State.