Arizona State vs. West Virginia final score, plus 3 things to know from the Mountaineers’ 43-42 win

The 2015 bowl season’s last non-title bout featured two teams that were clearly on the undercard in Arizona State and West Virginia. The Sun Devils and Mountaineers combined to show that styles make fights in a wild Cactus Bowl anyway, with West Virginia holding on late for a 43-42 win.

West Virginia recorded an Immaculate Reception-esque catch in the first quarter, but that was all by forgotten by the second half, especially after a blocked point-after turned into two points for Arizona State just before halftime. By night’s end, there had been controversial replay reviews benefiting both teams, a timeout prior to a kickoff, two heated sideline arguments between Arizona State head coach Todd Graham and special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum, a play on which a referee gave a player who drew a flag for being hit late a forearm shiver, a touchdown catch by David Sills -- the player who infamously committed to USC and Lane Kiffin as a seventh-grader and quarterback -- and a baffling decision to go for one up five.

Oh, and four touchdowns of 30 or more yards. Those, too.

1. Dana Holgorsen still doesn’t quite have a defense. He may have his job into the 2016 season, but Holgorsen’s Mountaineers were more or less defenseless against Arizona State, giving up 42 points and over 500 yards despite shutting down the Sun Devils on the ground. And this was Holgorsen’s best defense since his arrival in Morgantown, one that allowed just 23.2 points per game coming into Saturday night despite, you know, playing against the Big 12.

It’s possible that West Virginia could still win the Big 12 without an elite defense, especially if Holgorsen -- who said “I wanted to win this game pretty bad,” and touted this 2015 team as the best one West Virginia’s had since joining the Big 12 -- can make Howard even better. It’s easier, though, to win games with the brilliant offense Holgorsen is known for and a defense of the sort his program hasn’t yet fielded.

2. Todd Graham isn’t trending upward at the moment. The Sun Devils’ head coach has hopscotched the country to get to the big chair in Tempe, but after being a moderately attractive coaching candidate in 2014, his Sun Devils produced just his second losing season in 10 yards of FBS coaching by losing this game. And the way in which Graham handled the fourth quarter will rankle fans: Arizona State took a timeout before a kickoff for some reason, then kicked an extra point up 41-36, which allowed West Virgina to take the lead on its final score.

Graham’s offense didn’t really suffer despite losing offensive coordinator Mike Norvell to Memphis, but the Sun Devils couldn’t stop Howard or get off the field when they needed to in third and long situations in the fourth quarter. And 2016 will mark his first time making it to a fifth season with a school, barring something unforeseen. It might be a turning point for the program and his career.

3. Bowl games are better with two competent offenses. The Mountaineers and Sun Devils took slightly different routes to their points on Saturday: West Virginia loaded up and fired deep, mixing in draws, while Arizona State made great use of Tim White (who had 289 all-purpose yards) on horizontal passes. Both teams, however, had an idea as to what they were doing on offense, which created a shootout that was far more entertaining than many of 2015’s more dreary bowls. More matchups like this one, please.