COMMENTARY
PHOENIX — Arizona State coach Todd Graham defied logic (and simple math) by eschewing a 2-point try in the fourth quarter.
He allowed 11 seconds to expire before calling timeout as West Virginia sought to kill the final 1:26. This after the Sun Devils squandered another valuable timeout before a fourth-quarter kickoff.
What Graham didn’t do was shirk responsibility for the gaffes that contributed prominently in a 43-42 Cactus Bowl loss to West Virginia.
“Mismanagement,” he said more than once in the game’s aftermath.
In a back-and-forth shootout, Arizona State jumped ahead 41-36 on Gary Chambers’ 58-yard touchdown catch with 4:56 left.