Jeff Sims threw three first-half touchdown passes and Jesus Gomez kicked a 49-yard field goal with 2:44 left to give Arizona State a 25-23 win over West Virginia in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz.
The Sun Devils (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) stayed in the hunt for a spot in the conference title game despite giving up two long touchdown passes, including one that put West Virginia (4-7, 2-6) in the lead with 6:37 to go.
Sims, a 6th-year senior, was 19 of 28 for 207 yards and three TDs and also ran for 81 yards on 17 carries. He has accounted for 693 yards of total offense the past two games since taking over for starter Sam Leavitt, who had season-ending foot surgery.
West Virginia got 353 yards and two TDs from freshman Scotty Fox Jr., his scoring passes going for 75 and 90 yards.
ASU led 22-10 at the half and kept it at that margin after a fourth-down stuff of West Virginia’s Curtis Jones in the red zone midway through the third quarter. The Sun Devils couldn’t add to the lead, though, losing a fumble on the ensuing drive, and early in the fourth Gomez’s 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
The Mountaineers capitalized, getting within five with 10:41 to go on a 1-yard Jones touchdown run, then took a 23-22 lead with 6:37 left on a 90-yard catch by Cyncir Bowers. Bowers caught a swing pass on third-and-27 and slithered through the ASU defense.
Gomez redeemed himself with a 49-yarder with 2:44 left, then ASU’s Keith Abney II intercepted a pass near midfield with 1:30 left to clinch the win.
ASU built a 15-3 lead on TD passes from Sims to Chamon Metayer and Derek Eusebio, but on West Virginia’s first play after that, Fox connected with Jeff Weimer on a 75-yard TD pass. A 33-yard catch by Raleek Brown put the Sun Devils up by 12 late in the first half.
West Virginia is off until its season finale Nov. 29 vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, while ASU visits Colorado on Nov. 22.
