TEMPE, Ariz. (WCHS) — The West Virginia Mountaineers faced off against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium, needing a crucial win to keep its bowl hopes alive.

Unfortunately, despite soaring back into the game when it looked like they were out of it, a 25-23 loss ended any chance WVU had at qualifying for a bowl game in 2025.

Arizona State rocketed out to a 22-10 lead at halftime, but the Mountaineers stormed back with 13 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to take a 23-22 lead with just over six minutes to play in the game.

A Jesus Gomez field goal for the Sun Devils put Arizona State back on top by two with just under three minutes left. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers and freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. couldn't orchestrate the game-winning drive and gave Arizona State its seventh win of the season.

Fox had one of his best games to date as the Mountaineers' starter, throwing 19/31 for 353 yards and two touchdowns, with his lone interception coming on his final pass of the game on fourth down trying to make something happen.

Curtis Jones Jr. and Cyncir Bowers were responsible for the team's two second-half touchdowns, with Bowers' coming on a 90-yard catch-and-run that put the Mountaineers ahead briefly in the fourth quarter.

The play was WVU's longest touchdown pass since 2003. The two-point conversion to put them up by three failed.

Jeff Weimer caught the Mountaineers' first-half touchdown, with that one going for 75 yards.

Arizona State, donning helmets honoring former player and United States soldier Pat Tillman, started backup QB Jeff Sims, who went 19/28 for 207 yards and three touchdowns, each one going to a different receiver. On defense, it was Keith Abney II who came up with the interception to seal the game for the Sun Devils.

Though the game was evenly matched statistically, with WVU even putting up more total and passing yards than the Sun Devils, Arizona State held WVU to just 68 rushing yards, while also sacking Fox three times and making three fourth-down stops.

WVU falls to 4-7 (2-6 in Big 12 Conference play), and will not meet the six-win threshold needed to qualify for a bowl game, meaning the Mountaineers have just one game left in the 2025 season.

After the upcoming off-week, the Mountaineers will face Texas Tech, currently ranked No. 6 in the nation, at Milan Puskar Stadium for its season finale. That game is slated to kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 29, though the exact time and broadcast plans have not been announced.

Meanwhile, Arizona State improves to 7-3 with a 5-2 conference record, and still has two games to go. As they continue to look towards a potential Big 12 Championship berth, the Sun Devils will now turn their attention to a matchup against Colorado on the road next Saturday, Nov. 22. Game time and broadcast information have also not been announced.