Miami vs. Washington State Football

The only final game of a season Miami has won since its 2006 victory against Nevada in the MPC Computers Bowl was against Duke in 2012, the year the Canes self imposed a postseason ban because of NCAA infractions. Miami Hurricanes rank at 47 for 32.4 road passing yards where as Washington State Cougars rank at 82 for allowing 28.8 passing yards at home. Its generally solid pass coverage will take a hit with the loss of senior safety Deon Bush and cornerback Tracy Howard and the possible defection of junior cornerback Artie Burns to the NFL. “Going out with a victory would’ve been big for this program”. Braxton Berrios’ 60-yard end-around run set up Mark Walton’ 5-yard scoring run that cut it to 20-14 with 13:10 left. The WSU offense could not get a first down, and the Hurricanes returned the Cougars punt to the WSU 29-yard-line with plenty of time to score. “We called it at the right time and the ball just slipped out of his hand”. “Through even what we’ve been through, we had to find a way to find success and they did that”. It was a questionable call, with 3:14 left in the game and the chance to score the go-ahead touchdown, in heavy snow with a wet ball, with Brad Kaaya having completed his last five passes. Marcellus Pippins recovered for the Cougars. Yearby works angle routes and option routes well, and he could be used in that way against Washington State. Few teams would dislike a running back room that includes Joe Yearby, Mark Walton (how about that one-handed grab?), a returning Gus Edwards and Trayone Gray.

“The ball slipped out of his hands”, Miami interim coach Larry Scott said. “But now we want to carry the tradition”.

“Obviously they’re upset because they fought, one thing they did not do is give in or give up, or quit”, Scott said.

The Sun Bowl was played in a driving snowstorm for much of the second half.

Seventeen separate players combined to catch the teams’ 45 completed passes.

Miami will begin a new era and direction now that former Georgia Bulldogs coach mark Richt will take over heading into the 2016 season. And Richt has begun to hire assistant coaches, leaving questions about what will happen to members of the current staff after the bowl game.

The pass-happy Cougars led 20-7 after three quarters, then were shut out in the second half and had to rely on the defense to hold off Miami 20-14 on Saturday.

Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at State of the U for Miami fans and CougCener for Washington State fans. Luke Falk’s passing ability was second to none with 4,266 yards with 36 touchdowns and eight INT’s on almost 71%.

The defense is young and while the group has gained experience during the Pac 12 regulars season they are suspect due to the youth of the unit. The two turnovers in the red zone was just huge.

“They’ve got good speed, they’re big up front, (Kaaya) has done a real nice job directing their offense this year”, WSU Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch said after practice Tuesday.

Heading into this bowl game, the Cougars are 8-4 Straight Up (SU) and 9-3 Against The Spread (ATS).

Washington State (9-4) bounced back from last season’s 3-9 record to reach a bowl game for the second time in four seasons under Leach.