2016 Cactus Bowl (January)
| 2016 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 27th Cactus Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 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] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 39,321[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) | ||||||||||||||||||
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, which was originally known as the Copper Bowl, Insight.com Bowl, the Insight Bowl, and the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Sponsored by the Motel 6 chain of budget motels, the game was officially known as the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl.
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[edit]
The game featured the West Virginia Mountaineers against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Arizona State Sun Devils[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Scoring summary[edit]
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Source:[2]
Statistics[edit]
| Statistics[2] | WVU | ASU |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 29 | 23 |
| Total offense, plays – yards | 84–676 | 84–520 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 33–144 | 32–102 |
| Passing yards (net) | 532 | 418 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 28–51–2 | 29–52–0 |
| Time of Possession | 29:02 | 30:58 |
References[edit]
- ^ Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2015
- ^ a b c d "2016 Cactus Bowl: West Virginia vs. Arizona State Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
- ^ "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) - ^ "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.
- ^ "WVU, Arizona State to Meet in Motel 6 Cactus Bowl". WVUSports.com. West Virginia University. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.