ASU Football: Game balls for Cactus Bowl loss to West Virginia

It was a disappointing end for a disappointing season in Tempe when Arizona State lost to West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl being held right in their backyard at Chase Field.

ASU is now 2-2 in bowl games under head coach Todd Graham and have yet to win consecutive bowls in Graham's tenure.

Now despite the Sun Devil defense giving up over 676 yards of total offense to WVU, the ASU offense was able to notch 520 yards in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey's debut in maroon and gold.

So that's where we will look for our game ball recipients, the offense. With one exception.

Mike Bercovici - Quarterback

In his last game as a Sun Devil, Bercovici did just about everything he could to put ASU in a position to win.

The redshirt senior threw for 418 yards and four touchdowns in his finale, but it wasn't enough to give Arizona State the win. He didn't throw an interception and, for the most part, made the right decisions with the football.

I believe Bercovici will be looked back upon fondly by Sun Devil fans as a player who loved the program, had a powerful arm, but just wasn't the right fit for the system ASU seemed to want to run. It remains to be seen if Bercovici's arm strength will be given a shot in the NFL.

Devin Lucien - Wide Receiver

The graduate transfer from UCLA will be a great "what if" questions for Sun Devil fans. In his last year of eligibility, Lucien finished out the season with three straight 100-yard games (four total during the season), eight touchdowns, and 1,074 total yards on the year.

His Cactus Bowl performance (nine catches, 144 yards, and one touchdown) capped a solid year for the former Bruin. He displayed good route running skills and the best hands on the team this season, so the "what if" question would be:

What if he would have been wearing maroon and gold from the very beginning?

Tim White - Wide Receiver

White, unlike Lucien, has another year of eligibility to show ASU fans what he can follow up a tremendous season with. White reminds me, and a lot of Sun Devil fans, of Rudy Burgess: a player who can do it all.

Whether it was returning a blocked extra point, giving Arizona State good field position with long kickoff returns, and being able to find the endzone twice on passes from Bercovici, White made his presence known.

With the return of Cam Smith next season, White will be a part of a receiver group full of speed and the ability to breakout with big plays.

Salamo Fiso - Linebacker

There wasn't a lot to be happy about for the ASU defense but in the absence of Laiu Moeakiola, Salamo Fiso stepped up and was clearly the best aspect of that defense against West Virginia.

The redshirt junior finished the game with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and an interception.

If there's one thing that ASU fans should be excited about next season is that the linebacker group will be one of the most talented, filled with senior leadership, that the Sun Devil defense has seen in a long time.