TEMPE – The University of Arizona football team (9-3, 6-3 in Big 12) shut down ASU 23-7 on Friday, Nov. 28 at Mountain American Stadium. The Wildcats won the 99th Territorial Cup and ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
Arizona went undefeated (5-0) in the month of November for the first time in program history while picking up three wins on the road during that span. The Wildcats won back-to-back games in Tempe for the first time since 2009 and 2011, marking three victories in the last four Territorial Cup games.
Defense
Arizona’s defense, led by first-year defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, forced five turnovers from the Sun Devils, with four of those turnovers coming from ASU quarterback Jeff Sims. Arizona State’s five turnovers are the most this season and the second consecutive week where the Sun Devils have at least four turnovers in a game.
Arizona State’s 7 points on Friday night are the fewest the Wildcats have given up in the Territorial Cup since 1974, and the fewest allowed in Tempe since 1955. The Wildcats held ASU to just 214 total yards, which is the fewest yards Arizona has allowed in Territorial Cup history since 2008.
Opening the second quarter, Sims rolled right, escaping pressure and threw an interception to defensive back Michael Dansby, laying out for the turnover. Early in the third quarter, Sims received the snap but had trouble handing the ball to Raleek Brown on the read-option, leading to a fumble on the ASU six-yard line to secure an Arizona touchdown.
Later in the quarter, Sims dropped back and launched a rocket intended for receiver Jaren Hamilton, but senior defensive back Treydan Stukes hawked down the deep ball and moss’d Hamilton to come up with the interception of the year.
The interception is Stukes’ fourth of the year and ties for the most interceptions in the Big 12 this season.
“It’s one of the best football plays I’ve ever seen,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said on Stukes’ interception.
“I felt like I got a good jump on the trajectory and I was able to make a play, jump on time and use the hands to finish it,” Stukes said.
Midway through the fourth, Sims rushed left on the quarterback design run and safety Dalton Johnson punched the ball loose, allowing Genesis Smith to recover the fumble.
Following the touchdown drive from the Arizona offense, the Wildcats came up with another interception. On the third play of the ASU drive, Johnson lurked Sims’ overthrow in the middle of the field and iced the game.
Arizona held its 10th opponent this season to under 200 passing yards, which ties the school record dating back to 1995. The Wildcats came away with 19 interceptions on the season, which is tied for the most in program history since 1985.
Offense
Star quarterback Noah Fifita led the Wildcat offense, going 28-for-45, 286 yards and a passing touchdown to go along with 18 rushing yards. In his last four games, the redshirt junior has gone 86-for-121 (71.1% completion rate), thrown for 1,062 yards, 8 passing touchdowns and no interceptions during that time. The 5-foot-10 quarterback is just 82 yards shy of 9,000 career passing yards.
Wide receiver Kris Hutson led the receiving corps with seven receptions for 95 yards on 11 targets, averaging 13.6 yards per reception. Chris Hunter and Tre Spivey combined for 68 yards on eight receptions.
At the end of the first quarter, Arizona totaled 83 total yards to ASU’s 15. The Wildcats also tripled the number of plays, yet had 0 points to show for it.
At halftime, Arizona still had more total yards of offense (164-118) and dominated the air game with 146 passing yards to the Sun Devils’ 41 but were on the wrong side of the scoreboard, trailing 7-3.
“You’re never out of any game unless you believe you are,” Brennan said.
On the second drive in the third quarter, Fifita found tight end Cameron Barmore for a 9-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats in front 10-7. Towards the end of the third, Arizona capped off a 16-play, six-minute drive with a 49-yard field goal.
Midway through the fourth, the Wildcats marched down the field with another long drive. The 14-play, 87-yard drive lasted more than six minutes and was capped off by a Kedrick Reescano rushing touchdown to close the game.
“In the first half, we had some struggles, but our defense kept playing that complementary football […]. The offense in the second half had a bunch of sustained long drives that kind of kept the ball out of ASU’s hands, and our defense kept answering and coming up with big plays,” Brennan said.
Special teams
Throughout the game, Arizona had several miscues on special teams. Sophomore kicker Michael Salgado-Medina missed several field goal attempts, starting late in the first quarter. His first field goal attempt from 45 yards was wide right of the upright.
In the second quarter, Salgado-Medina’s kick was blocked from 42 yards out. However, the 6-foot-3 kicker responded by drilling a 47-yard field goal right before halftime.
Despite putting the Wildcats on the board at halftime, Salgado-Medina’s mistakes continued in the second half. Lined up in between the hashmarks from 48 yards away, Salgado-Medina pushed his kick wide right again, marking his third miss of the night and tied his most single-game misses in his young career.
Late in the third quarter, Salgado-Medina got his revenge and connected on a 49-yard field goal, splitting the uprights. In the final quarter, the sophomore converted on a 29-yard chip shot to put the Sun Devils out of reach.
“I believe in Michael [Salgado-Medina], we’ll get that worked out for the next one,” Brennan said postgame.
Looking ahead
Arizona will now shift focus to the post-season for the first time since 2023, as the Wildcats will find out on Sunday, Dec. 7, which bowl game they will play in.
“Anywhere we go, we’ll have a good time. You know this group of guys can click anywhere, so I think we’ll have a good time anywhere we go,” Stukes said postgame.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
