ASU faces West Virginia in Cactus Bowl 'home game'
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State will face West Virginia in the 27th Motel 6 Cactus Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix.
ASU will play in a school-record fifth consecutive bowl game and 29th overall, including the fourth straight under coach Todd Graham. This will be the Sun Devils' second appearance in the Cactus Bowl, which is set to kick off at 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 2 at Chase Field.
"This is a great opportunity for this team, especially these seniors, to finish out the season in our Valley in front of Sun Devil Nation," Graham said. "West Virginia is a tough opponent and I look forward to an entertaining matchup in a unique environment at Chase Field."
Graham is the first coach in school history to lead the Sun Devils to a bowl game in each of his first four seasons, and the program's 34 wins over the past four seasons are the most since 1975-78. He is 5-2 as a head coach in bowl games in his career and is 2-1 at ASU, including a 62-28 win over Navy in the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and a 36-31 win against Duke in the 2014 Sun Bowl. The Sun Devils are 14-13-1 all-time in bowl appearances, including 1-0 in the Cactus Bowl.
"It's vital to your players fundamentally in their development," Graham said of the extra practice that comes with a bowl appearance.
The Sun Devils offense ranks in the top 25 in the nation with more than 5,500 total yards of offense and features a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and four wide receivers with at least 20 catches and 400 receiving yards.
This marks the second meeting between ASU and WVU as the Sun Devils won 41-7 in 1979.
