The 2015 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, will field the Miami Hurricanes and the Washington State Cougars in this Sun Bowl preview and analysis. Miami enters this bowl winning four of its last five games after Coach Al Golden was fired when the Hurricanes suffered an embarrassing 58-0 defeat at the hands of the number one team in the country, the Clemson Tigers.
Washington State played its way here by winning eight of its last ten, after they too suffered an embarrassing loss to FCS Portland State at home, 17-24. Interim Coach Larry Scott will look to close out his short-lived coaching career with a victory, as Miami hired Mark Richt from Georgia to lead them forward in 2016.
Bowl: Hyundai Sun Bowl
Teams: Miami Hurricanes vs Washington State Cougars
Date/Time: December 26, 2015 – 2 PM EST CBS
Location: Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX
Vegas Line/Total: Wash St -2.5 / O/U 61.5
Written by: Erik the Hun
8 – 4 Record – 7 – 5 Vs Spread Over – Under: 6 – 6 11/27/15 @ Pittsburgh W 29-24 W 7 U 54.5 |
8 – 4 Record – 9 – 3 Vs Spread Over – Under: 5 – 7 11/27/15 @ Washington L 10-45 L 7.5 O 52.5 |
December 27, 2014 – Independence Bowl – Miami 21 – 24 South Carolina December 28, 2013- Russell Athletic Bowl – Miami 9 – 36 Louisville December 31, 2010 – Sun Bowl – Miami 17 – 33 Notre Dame December 29, 2009 – Champs Sports Bowl – Miami 14 – 20 Wisconsin December 27, 2008 – Emerald Bowl – Miami 17 – 24 California |
December 21, 2013 – New Mexico Bowl – Wash State 45 – 48 Colorado State Rams December 30, 2003 – Holiday Bowl – Wash State 28 – 20 Texas Longhorns January 1, 2003 – Rose Bowl – Wash State 14 – 34 Oklahoma Sooners December 31, 2001 – Sun Bowl – Wash State 33 – 27 Purdue Boilermakers January 1, 1998 – Rose Bowl – Wash State 16 – 21 Michigan Wolverines |
Miami Outlook:
After suffering through two ugly losses to ACC Divisional winners, the Hurricanes bounced back to some respectability due to the work put in from Interim Coach Larry Scott. Scott went on to a 4-1 record to finish out the 2015 campaign. The Hurricanes match up pretty well with the Cougars. With the Cougars leading receiver Gabe Marks not at 100 percent, due to injury, Miami’s corners Artie Burns and Corn Elder will try to capitalize. The scrappy corners haven’t yielded more than one passing touchdown in a game since October 17th.
Brad Kaaya, the Hurricane’s steady sophomore signal caller, put together a pretty good season, considering the defense knew exactly what was coming because of an ineffective running game. Kaaya finished the season with 3019 yards and 15 TDs, with only four interceptions on the year. New coach Mark Richt has already expressed how eager he is to work with this evolving talent in 2016.
If someone would’ve told me that with the absence of Duke Johnson to the NFL the production would fall a little, I’d buy it, but to fall this far off the pace, I would be absolutely shocked. A revolving door of talent at this position was the norm for the Hurricanes. With names like Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee and Frank Gore, one only expects the next in line to fill the roll unquestionably. In 2015, that was simply just not the case. Sophomore Joseph Yearby and freshman back Mark Walton mustered up 1377 yards and 14 touchdowns between the two of them, ranking the Canes’ an embarrassing 117th in the country.
Miami’s three targeted wide outs shared receptions all year long, as none of the three really stood out as the go-to guy. Stacey Coley led the group with 645 yards, while Rashawn Scott led with 47 receptions and in touchdowns with five. Herb Waters also eclipsed the 600-yard mark while recording one touchdown on the year.
The secondary for the Hurricanes was the one bright spot defensively throughout the year, and they needed to be, as the run-stop side of things was ranked a paltry 117th in the country. Cornerback Artie Burns (6 INTs), and Corn Elder (3 INTs) will try to take advantage of a wounded receiving group from Washington State.
Washington State Outlook:
Mike Leach turned this three-win team from 2014 into a confident group that went 8-4 on the year. With big wins against UCLA and Oregon, it’s obvious that this team can play with anybody in the country. The Cougars were number one in the nation in passing yards with 397 a game, and 27th in total yards (476.9). The questions for the Cougars are whether quarterback Luke Falk (concussion) and wide receiver Gabe Marks (ankle), along with All Pac-12 team selection OL Joe Dahl (foot), can be healthy enough to keep this team on track.
Falk had an outstanding 2015 campaign, leading the country with 397 yards a game. With plenty of talented receivers to throw to, Falk took full advantage of his amazing accuracy (70.8% completions), and compiled 4266 yards and 36 TDs and eight INTs. Falk is keeping his fingers crossed that big Joe Dahl, who protects his blind side, will return.
Obviously with the huge numbers in the passing game, the Cougars running game plays second fiddle to the air attack. Running backs Gerald Wicks and Jamal Morrow combined for only 145 attempts, good for over 900 yards and only three touchdowns. The key to the production from this position is the utilization of these two in the passing game. Wicks and Morrow accumulated 64 catches out of the back field and turned three of those into scores.
The ball was spread around graciously throughout the receiving core at Washington State. Ten players caught at least 20 balls and I could go on and on with all the stats these receivers amassed over the 2015 NCAA Football season, but I’m going to focus on what I think will be the key two to watch for. Number one receiver Gabe Marks caught one shy off 100, and had 1125 yards and an impressive 14 touchdowns. Number two receiver Dom Williams was just about as productive. Williams reeled in 73 balls for just under 1000 (997 yards), and had 11 scores to show for his work.
Defensively, the Cougars rely on a front seven that, at times, has put pressure on some opposing quarterbacks. With most of the talent embedded on the offensive side of the ball, the numbers have reflected the struggles. The highest ranking this group achieved in 2015 was against the pass, and that was 66th in the nation, to the tune of 223.3 yards a game. They allowed almost 29 points a game (28.8), but were on a team that managed to outscore their way to victory.
Match-up Analysis & Prediction
Analysis:
In this Sun Bowl preview and analysis expect nothing less than an offensive showdown on Saturday, at 2 ET time, in El Paso, Texas. The high-flying Cougars will look to pierce through the secondary and record points-a-plenty for an offense that has no problem racking up the yardage. The Hurricanes will look to showcase their young quarterback and take full advantage of a porous defense that has given up over four touchdowns a game. If the Hurricanes offense can keep pace with the Cougars offense, this game could have plenty of action for its viewers on Saturday.
Prediction:
To get further analysis from Ej the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun, check out our audio preview of the Bowl using the audio file below…
