Although Arizona State brings five consecutive Territorial Cup victories into Friday’s final regular season matchup against Arizona, the vibe around the rivalry game feels noticeably different this year.
Arizona State (3-8, 2-5 Pac-12) struggled to find its footing for most of the year after parting ways with Herm Edwards in Week 3 after an embarrassing home loss to Eastern Michigan. The team’s overall play has been streaky, even with a win over a ranked Washington team on the resume. Xazavian Valladay, who has already collected his third 1,000-yard season and has undoubtedly been the team’s best player, could only take the Sun Devils so far.
Arizona (2-6, 4-7 Pac-12) dismantled No. 12 UCLA two weeks ago in a gutsy performance at the Rose Bowl and looked poised to ride the momentum into bowl eligibility. The Wildcats haven’t made a postseason appearance since their loss to Purdue in the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl. Washington State made sure the drought would continue with its 31-20 win. Quarterback Jayden de Laura, who started for the Cougars last season, was captured by the broadcast in a physical altercation with his teammates.
Of course, whatever happened earlier in the year is all water under the bridge now. With nothing else to play for, both seasons have come down to this game. Arizona State will be the underdog entering a hostile environment in Tucson, but a hateful slugfest is expected.
Here is a film breakdown of Arizona’s three key areas that will decide who stows the cup until the next meeting
Leaky run defense
Arizona has the seventh-worst run defense in the FBS, allowing 213.5 rushing yards per game. Opponents have scored 31 touchdowns on the ground against the Wildcats. That total is tied with Louisiana Tech for the second-worst in the nation.
This is good news for Arizona State, who followed a similar game script in last year’s 38-15 victory. Led by the efforts of quarterback Jayden Daniels and star running back Rachaad White, the Sun Devil backfield put up 228 yards and two touchdowns.
UCLA tailback Zach Charbonnet gashed the Wildcats throughout the night with his power and downhill running style. Charbonnet had 24 touches for 181 yards and three touchdowns and was borderline unstoppable once the Bruins marched into the red zone. Arizona cowered in the face of physicality and largely failed to wrap up on first contact around Charbonnet’s brawny frame.
On second-and-22, Charbonnet bounced the run outside and slowed up to allow quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to plunge ahead and seal the safety filtering toward the ball from the box. Charbonnet’s prompt acceleration into the lane then provided the necessary momentum to chip through arm tackles and broke into the second level. Even when he was out-angled by the linebacker to the sideline, Charbonnet was able to skewer him backward into the turf for more hard-fought yards.
Arizona has shown a lack of lateral explosion to compensate for missed tackles and other errors in the open field.
On his first touch of the game, Oregon running back Noah Whittington was chased behind the line of scrimmage on first-and-10. However, a missed tackle allowed Whittington to transfer his speed into a swift cutback through the strong side of Arizona’s defense, rotating over to the play. Another missed tackle by linebacker Kolbe Cage (#11) and poor gap fit by safety Jaxen Turner (#21) allowed Whittington to burst up the gut unhampered. Whittington won the footrace cleanly for a long 55-yard sprint to the end zone.
Jayden de Laura’s inconsistencies
Arizona State is familiar with de Laura, with the sophomore quarterback humiliating the Sun Devils 34-21 after the bye week in a performance that all but deflated hopes of the Pac-12 championship.
The Honolulu native has thrown for 3,485 yards (fifth-highest among FBS quarterbacks) and 25 touchdowns with 12 interceptions in his first year with the program. With de Laura at the helm, the Wildcats have grown comfortable pushing the ball through the air and relying on his arm to move the chains when the down and distance put them in tough situations. The quick release and mobility of de Laura have produced some miraculous moments and been a fortunate crutch to lean on to stay in the fight against superior Pac-12 teams.
On third-and-18 in the first quarter against UCLA, de Laura was flushed from the pocket after early penetration by the right defensive end forced him to abandon his deep dropback and stretch the play to the sideline. Using his athleticism in tandem with his downfield vision, de Laura was able to buy enough time for him to find space to collect his feet and fire toward a receiver coming open. The anticipation for the throwing window allowed Michael Wiley to make a quick catch and spin across the goal line before help could arrive.
Later in the first half, de Laura once again jettisoned away from pressure from the right defensive end to extend the play. With the wind at his back, de Laura enjoyed more room this time to wind up to find a wide-open Jacob Cowing working back over to him after losing his defender on the opposite side. The strike on third-and-4 set up Cowing with sizeable space to run after the catch, but the crafty slot receiver could not keep his balance as he shifted gears.
Washington State was a different story for de Laura and his receiving arsenal. The two sides were clearly on different pages on key plays, which ultimately led de Laura's frustrations to boil over on the sideline. He threw four interceptions in the outing and could not bring home the revenge win against his former team.
Attempting to mount a comeback down 18 points in the third quarter, Arizona cleared out space for Cowing on a boundary concept that required the receiver to make a decision on his out/dig choice route. The fashion in which Cowing chops his feet to square up cornerback Derrick Langford and get him to leverage one way or the other strongly suggests this was his assignment on the play. Unfortunately, de Laura’s impatience at this point in the game caused him to throw before Cowing had declared which direction he was headed in. Langford barely had to move for an easy pick-six in the flat.
Later in the third quarter, Arizona had still not made any progress on the scoreboard but drove to Washington State’s 29-yard line with a chance to salvage its dignity. On first-and-10, de Laura targeted his tight end, which he believed would either extend up the seam or cut across the top of his inside leverage on a post route. The tight end, redshirt senior Tanner McLachlan, sat his route down instead at the sticks as de Laura released his throw. The ball floated into the secondary for another uncontested interception.
Arizona has showcased the potential of its offense when it is clicking on all cylinders: 400 passing yards against Wahington and California, six touchdowns in a stomping of Colorado, and a respectable showing against USC in a 45-37 loss. But, as demonstrated by Washington State, the offense can quickly fall apart if de Laura is knocked off his game.
Double trouble at wideout
Cowing, an offseason transfer from UTSA, produced immediately from the jump once arriving at Arizona.
The junior has 80 catches for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns this season and is primed to receive a handsome amount of attention from NFL scouts, assuming he declares for the 2023 NFL Draft. Cowing excels in earning short-area separation against his opponents to create easy completions for a run after the catch, a figure he leads the Power Five in. Arizona likes to get the ball in his hands quickly and let him work his magic.
This season, Cowing and fellow receiver Dorian Singer became the first duo to both hit 1,000 yards. Singer and Cowing are also ranked 9th and 10th in receiving yards nationally, respectively. Singer is of a different archetype – bigger, taller, and wins more with his body and dependable hands – but possesses the same big-play potential as his teammate.
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