Jeff Sims accounted for 288 yards and three touchdowns, Jesus Gomez kicked a 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and Arizona State kept its Big 12 title hopes alive with a 25-23 win over West Virginia on Saturday.

The Sun Devils (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) returned from their bye week still in the hunt for a second straight Big 12 championship, entering Saturday’s game a game behind No. 8 Texas Tech with six teams in the mix to play in the Dec. 6 title game.

Arizona State gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns to blow a 12-point lead, but kept its title hopes alive with Gomez’s field goal and Keith Abney II’s interception with 1:30 left.

Sims threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-28 passing, adding 81 yards on 17 carries rushing.

The Mountaineers (4-7, 2-6) turned it over on downs on two trips inside Arizona State’s 6-yard line, but rallied with two big passing plays on breakdowns by the Sun Devils.

Jeff Weimer scored on a 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter on a seam pass from Scotty Fox Jr. when Arizona State left the middle of the field open. Cyncir Bowers turned a swing pass on a third-and-27 into a 90-yard touchdown by weaving his way through half of Arizona State’s defense to put the Mountaineers up 23-22 in the fourth quarter.

Fox threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns, but also had the late interception.

Sims took over Arizona State’s offense after Sam Leavitt had season-ending foot surgery two weeks ago and set a school quarterback record with 228 yards rushing in a 24-19 win over Iowa State.

Sims opened with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chamon Metayer and followed with a 19-yard TD pass to Derek Eusebio, who got a key block from Metayer. Sims threw his third touchdown pass late in the half, whipping a ball to running back Raleek Brown in the face of an all-out blitz for a 33-yard touchdown that gave the Sun Devils a 22-10 halftime lead.

Takeaways

West Virginia: The Mountaineers needed to win out to become bowl eligible in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season, but couldn’t hold the lead after rallying late.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils have had a knack for pulling out late wins and did it again with Sims leading the offense instead of Leavitt.

Up next

West Virginia: hosts No. 8 Texas Tech on Nov. 29.

Arizona State: plays at Colorado next Saturday.

With just five players available for the second half after multiple ejections, West Virginia’s women’s basketball team upset No. 15 Duke 57-49 on Friday.

“You see in sports things like that happen; there’s just something where you rally around each other,” West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg told ESPNU after the game. “I’m so proud of that group of five. I guess it’s one of those moments where you don’t really know what to say. But that’s as good a win as I’ve probably ever had.”

Friday’s game was the opener of The Greenbrier Tip-Off, a series of college games played this weekend and next at Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Mountaineers fans made up most of the crowd, and they became the “sixth player” for West Virginia in the second half.

Only five players — guards Sydney Shaw, Sydney Woodley and Loghan Johnson and forwards Célia Rivière and Riley Makalusky — were eligible for the second half after West Virginia’s other six players were ejected following a skirmish just before halftime.

It started when Duke’s Jordan Wood blocked a shot attempt by West Virginia’s Jordan Harrison as time expired in the first half. Wood taunted Harrison by yelling in her direction. Harrison then shoved Wood, and a brief fracas broke out as a few other players also pushed each other.

Five Mountaineer players left the bench to come onto the floor: Gia Cooke, Carter McCray, Madison Parrish, Kierra Wheeler and Jordan Thomas. Although they didn’t get involved in the shoving, they were ejected for leaving the bench. Harrison and Wood were also ejected.

The Mountaineers trailed 23-20 at halftime. Their leading scorer in the first half was Cooke with 12 points, but she was no longer available. The only starter not ejected was Shaw.

Rivière, a senior reserve from France, had played just two minutes in the first half, but she came up huge in the second half, finishing with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. She picked up her fourth foul with 6:14 left in the game but avoided a fifth, which would have left the Mountaineers with just four players on court.

“She was fantastic,” Kellogg said. “We changed her spot in the zone and told her, ‘Don’t even really try to score, just be available to rebound on the defensive end.’ But she’s a talented kid. She has great hands and is our best passer out of the post. Sydney Shaw stepped up big time, too.”

Shaw, also a senior, led West Virginia with 16 points and had seven rebounds. She made five consecutive free throws to seal the win for West Virginia (4-0).

The Blue Devils, who lost their opener to Baylor on Nov. 3, fell to 2-2. They have relied heavily on defense, and their offensive struggles were a problem again Friday, as they shot 38% (21-of-56) from the field and 17% from 3-point range (2-of-12). Senior guard Taina Mair led Duke with 10 points.