2015 Cactus Bowl results: Oklahoma State beats Washington

In Friday’s four bowls, the losing teams heading into the fourth quarter outscored the winning teams, 72-22. Washington trailed Oklahoma State by 27-14, Kansas State trailed UCLA, 34-21, Iowa trailed Tennessee, 42-7, and Houston trailed Pitt, 24-6. Only one of those came back to win (Houston), but three games became interesting.

Comebacks are what we will remember most about this bowl season (aside from, you know, the first Playoff). We had seen Central Michigan make up 34 points of a 35-point fourth quarter deficit in the Bahamas Bowl, and we had seen Michigan State come back from 20 down in the fourth. That KSU almost came back from down 31-6 at halftime, and that Houston DID come back from down 34-13 with four minutes left, just added to the lore.

Washington (8-6) trailed 24-0 at halftime, but pulled to within eight points with 3:29 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Jaydon Mickens. It was one of two scores on the night for Mickens, who also caught seven passes for 82 yards.

Oklahoma State, which also won this bowl in 2007 when it was known as the Inisight Bowl, improved the Big 12’s 2014-2015 bowl record to 2-5. With Washington’s loss, the Pac-12 is now 6-2.

Oklahoma State got to the goal line on its first drive against Washington. And when it got near the goal line, it knew who to give the ball to -- 6’2, 300-pound defensive tackle James Castleman:

(GIF via ESPN)

First, Washington DB Budda Baker, a freshman considered the best recruit in the state of Washington, picked off Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph:

(GIFs via ESPN)

New Year’s Day is the day everyone in college football looks forward to, but this year, January 2 provides a lot of intrigue, as well. Three of the games match up teams in two power conference, and all four of them have at least one power conference team. In the nightcap, we get a matchup of two thoroughly mediocre power conference teams.

Heading into the last week of the season, few Oklahoma State fans could have foreseen their Cowboys headed to a bowl game. However, 5-6 OSU shocked Oklahoma in Norman to become bowl eligible, and now Mike Gundy’s inconsistent team gets rewarded with a tough test from Washington.

The first game gives us a double dose of interim coaches. Houston defensive coordinator David Gibbs steps in for fired head coach Tony Levine, while Pitt offensive coordinator will fill in on the Panthers’ sideline after head man Paul Chryst left for Wisconsin.

If experience playing for interims means anything (and it almost certainly does not), give Pitt the edge; fifth-year Panther seniors are now under their third interim. But dual interims make motivation a huge question mark.

Despite their strong regular season play in recent years, the Kansas State Wildcats are just 1-5 straight up and against the spread over their last six bowl appearances. The Wildcats will be looking for more favorable results in the Alamo Bowl at 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday against the UCLA Bruins.

Kansas State is a 1.5-point underdog in the Alamo Bowl, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Both teams finished the season with 9-3 SU records, but Kansas State held the clear ATS edge at 8-4 over UCLA at 4-8 ATS. The betting favorite is 5-1 ATS over the last six Alamo Bowl games.

With a late kickoff time from the Arizona desert and conference tie-ins to the Big 12 and Pac-12, the Cactus Bowl (formerly Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl) tends to be a good one. Three of the last five games have been decided by three points or fewer, including an instant classic between Iowa and Missouri in 2010 and a grind-it-out slugfest between Michigan State and TCU in 2012. This year, it will be Oklahoma State vs. Washington.

Will we be in for another great game from Tempe? Here’s all you need to know for game day.