Over and over sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Sun Devil offense trotted onto the field with great field position Friday night. The first three opportunities for Daniels to participate in the coin toss this season all resulted in ASU losses, resulting in some heckling from co-defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.
“We were teasing Jayden that he hadn’t won a toss yet, so we couldn’t defer,” joked Lewis of his defense’s eager desire to make early plays. “And we literally got to go on defense first.”
After freshman D.J. Taylor took the opening kickoff from end zone to end zone, the first play from scrimmage for the ASU offense was taken with Daniels heels inside the 10-yard line.
Arizona’s 10-yard line.
The first Arizona fumble of the night was recovered by junior linebacker Darien Butler, setting up a handoff to freshman running back Chip Trayanum, which resulted in a four-yard touchdown run. In less than a minute of action, the Sun Devils led by two scores. Sideline reports from ESPN’s Stormy Buonantony let the TV audience (which of course these days is everyone) know of the message from the ASU coaching staff to its players: demoralize the Wildcats.
“That was early in the game,” Hill explained of his words with the Sun Devils leading 14-0 with more than 14 minutes remaining in the opening quarter. “We were trying to set a tone physically. So, that was a mindset we wanted the guys to have. Get after them physically, and we knew if we could run the football, that was a big key to this win.”
It was a repeatable recipe for success for Arizona State. The Marvin Lewis and Antonio Pierce-led ASU defense set the table for Daniels, Zak Hill, and the ASU offense, which promptly scored more often than not. Through the first 16 offensive plays for the Sun Devils; four had gone for a touchdown, leaving Daniels with an otherworldly 289.6 quarterback rating at one point in the second quarter.
“They were dominating,” Hill said of the defense, which set up the Sun Devils to score 35 points off of turnovers. “We got great field position, getting some momentum and getting the guys some confidence early being able to score on some drives then it kind of snowballed from there.”
“The first half, they had 52 plays, and we only had 25,” said head coach Herm Edwards. “But the turnovers were the key for us, and that’s what got us going.”
Earlier in the week, Antonio Pierce told reporters the Sun Devils would need to rally to the ball with 11 hats in the area on each play. The Sun Devils did that play after play, en route to a 70-7 win, the Sun Devils fourth straight in the series, and third consecutive during Herm Edwards' tenure in Tempe.
“We felt that we were the better team going into it,” Pierce told reporters after the game. Still, the result remained shocking to even him.
With balls loose on the turf all night long – Arizona senior running back Gary Brightwell fumbled three times – the ASU defense capitalized on the Wildcat mistakes.
“Regardless of what the score turned out to be, I was happy for our coaching staff and our players,” an emotional Edwards said following the first victory of the longest short season of all-time. “What they’ve gone through in the last year, you can’t even imagine it. There’s no playbook for it, and I was just happy to finally see these guys win a football game.”
Five of the Sun Devils’ first six drives began in Wildcat territory, three via turnovers and two coming with run stuffs from the ASU defensive line, forcing Arizona into turnovers on downs. The lone drive of the first half, which didn’t start in plus-territory, began with Daniels feet planted in his own end zone. Two handoffs to junior running back Rachaad White and a 93-yard carry later, the Sun Devils scored again. The lead extended to 28-0.
With short fields on offense, the Arizona State trailed in total yardage but led 42-7 at the half.
Even with back-ups in the game, the story remained the same. With Daniels and the rest of the starter’s helmets stored away from reach, the ASU defense forced the sixth turnover of the night early in the fourth quarter on an interception by freshman linebacker Caleb McCullough. The Sun Devils would take over at the Arizona 43-yard line with redshirt freshman Trenton Bourguet taking the snaps at quarterback. Seven plays and six handoffs later, Jackson He’s 1-yard score gave the Sun Devils their 10th touchdown of the night and a 70-7 lead.
In postgame Zoom meetings with the media, a slew of Sun Devil contributors on offense sat down in front of the camera. At one point or another, each made note of the outstanding defensive performance, setting up the offense with favorable field position with great frequency.
“Offensively, we can’t give credit to ourselves without the defense getting those seven turnovers we wouldn’t be in that position to score that many points,” Daniels noted of the Territorial Cup record-breaking 70-point performance.
“We felt like we lost some games that we shouldn’t have lost,” said White, named the Bob Moran MVP after a 133-yard, 3-touchdown performance. “We kind of preached on that, and I feel like we took every opportunity. The defense did their job. It was a collective team win.”
Arizona State consistently made history Friday night in Tucson. Fresh faces on defense manufactured a game which saw the Sun Devils force as many turnovers as they allowed points – with Kyle Soelle, Jordan Banks, and the aforementioned McCullough getting the first interceptions of each’s career. Fresh faces on offense set a Territorial Cup scoring record on offense, breaking a mark previously set in 1969.
The Sun Devils had as many completions as they did touchdowns when all was said and done. Late into the third quarter, the Sun Devils were still averaging more than 10 yards per play, dominating the 94th installment of the rivalry in can’t-look-away fashion. He’s fourth-quarter touchdown was a celebratory moment and indicative of the collective unity demonstrated by the ASU group.
With two rushing touchdowns already recorded, White opted to go out of bounds at the 2-yard line in the third quarter in hopes of setting up history for ASU. Hill put history on pause, electing instead to allow White to cash in on great field position and score from two yards out. A quarter later, He would become the first Chinese-born player to score a touchdown in an FBS game, capping off the historic night with a historic touchdown made possible by a dominant performance.
A commanding showing on both sides of the ball allowed the Sun Devils to release some of their 2020 stresses on their most despised foe. Free from the guardedness of a press conference, Daniels concluded his night by summing up the victory in comedic fashion via Twitter.
“Always fun beating up on da lil bros,” his tweet read.
An apt description for a remarkable night.
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