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As Arizona (1-11, 1-8 Pac-12) walked to the locker room defeated 38-15 in Tempe at the hands of Arizona State (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12), defensive end Tyler Johnson and cornerback Chase Lucas each grabbed a silver handle of the Territorial Cup and took a lap around Sun Devil Stadium in a moment of pure glee.
Lucas, a Chandler, Ariz. native, who secured his fifth victory as a starter over the Wildcats to remain undefeated in the matchup over his time at ASU, called the outcome a “dream come true.”
“He thinks he owns that trophy,” Edwards remarked as the star cornerback whooped in delight during his exit from the postgame press conference. “Every time we’ve been fortunate enough to win, he’s the first guy to grab it.”
Arizona State wore the Wildcats down in the run game, grinding out 228 yards to Arizona’s 50 on the ground. At halftime, the Wildcats only had one rushing yard to boast about. In his final game as a Sun Devil, Rachaad White toted the rock on 21 attempts for 98 yards, launching over the goal line traffic in the second quarter for his 15th touchdown of the season. Quarterback Jayden Daniels also added ten carries for 86 yards, with his performance highlighted by a 48-yard touchdown.
“It’s just coming out there and imposing our will,” Daniels said. “We punched them in the mouth, and you saw who got the cup at the end of the day.”
On his touchdown run, Daniels proved the danger of his dual-threat ability when combined with the blocking prowess of the team’s pass-catchers. After fleeing from the jaws of the Arizona pass rush, Daniels found the sideline off noble downfield blocks from White and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. Although the sequence had a favorable outcome, Daniels jokingly refused to let White off the hook for botching an assignment that led to him tucking the ball.
“It was actually kind of a broken play,” Daniels laughed. “Rachaad ran the wrong route. I was trying to throw the ball to Ricky (Pearsall) . . . I made somebody miss, got into the end zone at that point, just playing football. I wasn’t going to let them tackle me.”
Daniels only dropped back 14 times, replicating his rushing numbers by completing ten passes for 86 yards. But he was efficient in targeting the Sun Devil pass catchers as he enjoyed a clean afternoon through the air. In the first quarter, Daniels facilitated a short dump-off to Pearsall in the flat, who was able to turn upfield and bang through three defenders for ASU’s opening score. With five minutes left in the third quarter, Daniels showcased good touch on another 14-yard connection with Pearsall, lofting the ball into the front right corner of the end zone where Pearsall’s route concluded.
The ASU defense was challenged in the first half by Arizona quarterback Will Plummer, who frequently found success challenging the Sun Devil secondary in one-on-one matchups. Over the first two drives, Plummer found wide receiver Dorian Singer for two long catches that were exceptionally placed ahead of the defender in coverage. When ASU’s front became too overwhelming, Plummer escaped the pocket and used his legs to eat up daylight. The freshman gunslinger drove the Wildcats into the red zone on three of his four drives but only came away with nine points as the Sun Devils clamped up on third down.
Plummer finally found pay dirt on a five-yard pass to Michael Wiley out of the backfield on Arizona’s first possession of the third quarter. He went on to finish with a career-high 346 passing yards but struggled to generate momentum for the rest of the game. Plummer’s last trip inside ASU’s 25-yard line resulted in an emphatic 87-yard pick-six by Jack Jones, which ultimately iced the game for the Sun Devils.
Jones hurled the ball into the roaring student section before collapsing in the maroon-drenched end zone, savoring the reception of his big play.
“I was thinking about doing that for, like, forever,” Jones said. “That was the first pick-six of my career, so that was my only opportunity. It was in my head, and I just launched it. I was thinking, ‘this is over.’ (Arizona) gotta go homesick.”
The gesture was a slap in the face to a chippy Arizona team that battled harder than its record. At multiple points, players exchanged words on the field and had to be separated. Seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties occurred across both teams throughout the game. Singer was ejected for a flagrant version of the infraction on Wiley’s touchdown catch.
ASU will leave the emotion behind and focus on its bowl game. The Sun Devils are projected to land either the Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl, but they also have a chance to be selected for the Las Vegas Bowl. While the postseason picture remains cloudy, the speculation around Edwards’ future as head coach was cleared up Saturday when athletic director Ray Anderson announced to the applause of the locker room that Edwards would return next season.
“Well, I had no plans on leaving,” Edwards said with a smile. “So I think that that was nice of Ray and Dr. Crowe obviously to both be in there and to show support of what we’re trying to do here. And it’s always nice when your players react the way they reacted.”
