Todd Graham will be coaching his fourth bowl game in as many seasons with ASU, with an opportunity to go 6-2 in his bowl career with a win on Saturday.
The Motel 6 Cactus Bowl will feature West Virginia University (7-5, 4-5 Big-12), and ASU (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12). ASU is currently 14-13-1 all-time in bowl games, and 2-1 under Todd Graham. To get its fifteenth bowl win, the Sun Devils will have to follow these keys to the game:
Limit the turnovers
"The worst thing we did was turn the football over," Graham said. "When we sit down and say, 'What was the problem?', it's turnovers."
ASU is second in the Pac-12 in turnovers and sixth in the nation overall, averaging a .67 turnover margin per game. Since Todd Graham joined ASU, the team has gone 11-2 in games which they did not have a turnover.
WVU is no stranger to forcing turnovers. It has three players in the top-ten in the Big-12 in interceptions per game: junior cornerback Daryl Worley, redshirt senior cornerback Terrell Chestnut and redshirt senior linebacker Nick Kwiatkowski. Additionally, Chestnut ranks eighth in the conference in fumbles forced.
Luckily for ASU, Worley is academically ineligible for the Cactus Bowl, according to multiple outlets.
Score early and often
It may seem elementary, but the Sun Devils lost some close games. On Oct. 29 versus Oregon, they fell 61-55 in triple-overtime. In their last game of the regular season at Cal, ASU lost 48-46. The Sun Devils were 4-2 in their first half of games, but only 2-4 in their last six.
ASU was 5-2 when scoring first this season, and was 7-1 in such games in 2014. Under Graham, the Devils are 28-8 overall when striking first.
Get to Gibson
WVU redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson was ninth in the Big-12 in receiving yards per game in 2015 with 62. ASU cornerbacks like redshirt senior Lloyd Carrington will have to limit the damage from the air.
“He has great speed, a guy that tracks the ball well," Carrington said. "We face guys like him all the time in the Pac-12 so we understand … what we need to do as a defense to take big plays away.”
Stop Smallwood
WVU junior running back Wendell Smallwood rushed for 1,447 yards in 2015, the second-most in the Big-12 and fifteenth in the nation. Like Gibson, the Sun Devils must prevent explosive plays from Smallwood.
"We’re going to attack him," said ASU defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood. "We’ve got a great plan to stop him. We can’t let him run free, we can’t let him run through the heart of our defense.”
Adapt to WVU's style
The 3-3-5 defensive scheme from WVU will require Sun Devil offense to make adjustments. Senior center Nick Kelly said ASU has prepared a game plan that can "expose it."
"We have to change up our style of play a little bit," he said. "You’re working at a certain angle, then you have to get vertical, then you have to go back into a 45-degree angle. It’s a little challenging to run the ball and that’s what the 3-3-stack is meant to do, stop the run."
Back to basics
Redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici said ASU needs to focus on fundamentals by limiting penalties and plays resulting in loss of yards or turnovers.
"Offensively, we don't have any penalties, not moving backwards, just controlling the football, controlling the clock, not turning the football over; defensively and special teams: taking care of business," he said. "The keys to the game is pretty simple, but it's just the little things that are going to make a big difference in this game."
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