For the most part, the Cactus Bowl between Arizona State and West Virginia was a pretty great game to watch. Unfortunately, the way it ended was pretty embarrassing.
With the Sun Devils up by five after a score, head coach Todd Graham decided it would be best to kick the extra point rather than go for two to make it a seven-point difference. They kicked the point, then watched West Virginia march down field, score a touchdown and kick the extra point to win the game 43-42.
Afterward, Graham took full blame for the lapse.
“It’s my fault,” Graham said to the media after the game “We have a chart in the (coaches) box that we go by. We’re supposed to be going for two. We didn’t. Mismanagement on my part. That’s my responsibility.”
“Ball was snapped, kicked the extra point, tried to call a timeout. We had several things like that today. Not much to say about that—just mismanagement.”
Taking blame after the fact may show responsibility, but that doesn’t make the loss any better for Sun Devils fans. Then again, should Arizona State have expected anything less after having plays like below happen to them?
The Cactus Bowl featured this ridiculous catch last night (via @smartfootball): https://t.co/SXl7MmuBJ6 https://t.co/osedvpuGG8
— SB Nation (@SBNation) January 3, 2016
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