Miami had chances to beat Washington State in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Sun Bowl. And boy, did those chances fail horribly.
The Hurricanes, now losers of six straight bowl games, fumbled and threw an interception in the final five minutes of the game as Washington State won 20-14.
The interception was the second of the two turnovers. After Miami (8-5) got the ball back with 3:13 left at the Washington State 27, the play call was for a running back pass. We're not kidding.
The Sun Bowl was played in a driving snowstorm for much of the second half. While the Hurricanes did have the wind at their backs in the fourth quarter, the play call was curious. It was disastrous when running back Joe Yearby threw a duck into the snowflakes and Washington State's Shalom Luani intercepted it.
Miami entered the fourth quarter trailing 20-7, which was the same as the halftime score. The Hurricane defense put the clamps on the Washington State offense throughout the second half and the offense got the game within a score when Mark Walton scored from five yards out.
The disasters happened soon after. The Hurricanes were in the red zone two drives later and Walton got the ball again, though it's worth pointing out his carry came two plays after the Hurricanes had a touchdown called back for a block in the back.
As he powered through the middle of the line for extra yards, Walton was stripped of the football. Washington State recovered and had a chance to kill a bunch of time off the clock.
It didn't. The Cougars threw two passes and saved at least 30 seconds of running clock by snapping the ball early. WSU burned just 1:17 off the clock in four plays and was forced to punt. It ultimately didn't matter as Miami gave Washington State the ball back a play later on Yearby's pick.
Washington State (9-4), which won its first bowl game since 2003, got the 13-point lead at halftime thanks to two Luke Falk touchdown passes. Falk finished the game 29-53 passing for 295 yards. Miami QB Brad Kaaya was 17-31 for 219 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
It was the final game for Miami interim coach Larry Scott, who took over after Al Golden was fired midseason. Miami's new coach is former Georgia coach Mark Richt. The team's last bowl win came in 2006, when it beat Nevada 21-20 in what's now the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
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