Two heartbreaking defeats to the L.A. schools and a massive 29-day layoff from football activities due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program made the 2020 college football season a somewhat forgettable one for Herm Edwards’ Arizona State Sun Devils.

With losses to USC and UCLA in just five weeks in 2020, the Sun Devils hadn’t won a football game since Dec. 27, 2019.

But on Friday, in the 94th installment of the Territorial Cup, all that heartbreak was washed away in a 70-7 rout of the Arizona Wildcats – a game that suddenly made this a season one to be remembered.

No more last second comebacks, no more gut-wrenching onside kicks, no more offensive inconsistencies – in a contest against another hungry, winless opponent in the oldest rivalry in college football, defeat wasn’t an option. This was a game that needed to be different.

And boy, did Arizona State deliver.

Freshman do-it-all athlete D.J. Taylor got the game going immediately, dialing up the opening kickoff for a 108-yard house call – the first kick return for a touchdown in Territorial Cup history - and much like Taylor’s run, the Sun Devils never looked back.

“I think it set the tone,” Edwards said of the opening kickoff return. “I told our team - they’re gonna have energy, they’re gonna play hard. They’re like us; they want to win a football game. I said we have to start out fast, we have to make sure we can match their energy, and I never imagined a 108-yard touchdown (to start the game).”

On the Wildcats’ first play from the line of scrimmage, senior running back Gary Brightwell mishandled a pitch from sophomore quarterback Grant Gunnell – ASU junior linebacker and captain Darien Butler scooped up the easy pickings for prime ASU field position, and a Chip Trayanum “Chip Shot” from the four-yard line put the pigskin in the endzone for a second time on the evening.

After just three plays and 56 seconds, the Sun Devils lead 14-0. It was just the third time any school in college football history has put up two touchdowns in the first minute and the first time since 1996.

Nevertheless, there was still a game to be played, and complacency – ASU’s worst enemy against both USC and UCLA, was shoved out the window.

“At that point, it's like, okay, let's focus back up,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill explained. “Don't get complacent. We got a long game ahead of us, and I've seen plenty of games where you hit the first one right off the bat, and then you have that letdown. And so we're all the way through the first half, it was don’t let up, don’t let up, keep that energy up.”

The Sun Devils did keep the energy up in every aspect on Friday night, creating opportunities through turnovers, high-effort plays, and constant rallying to the ball.

Arizona’s second offensive drive ended in a Kyle Soelle interception – the junior linebacker and captain’s first in his Sun Devil career. The next Wildcat drive ended in a turnover on downs, with formidable inside-outside defensive line combination Jermayne Lole and Tyler Johnson wreaking havoc along the line of scrimmage.

The Sun Devils not only established defensive dominance early but also relied on the only aspect of their offense that has been consistent throughout the season thus far, the running game. While ASU’s offensive line has struggled at times to protect hotshot sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels, they have been able to punch holes in opposing defensive fronts, enabling the talented ASU running backs to run to daylight.

“We were able to establish the running game early,” Edwards explained. “Runners were the key focus for us going into this game, and they all got a shot at running the ball, which was good to see.”

Arizona’s first drive of the second quarter ended with a Brightwell fumble, before junior transfer running back Rachaad White made the score 28-0 on a dazzling 93-yard outside run, a play that was made possible by the outstanding blocks of right tackle Ben Scott and tight end Curtis Hodges. It was his first rushing touchdown in his short Sun Devil career thus far.

White would go on to score twice more on the night, with both rushes (2 and 1 yards respectively) coming in the middle of the third quarter. Finishing with a stat line of 10 attempts for 131 yards and three touchdowns, White received the Bob Moran Territorial Cup Most Valuable Player Award. However, a team player who is as humble as they come, White couldn’t take all the credit for himself.

“The award is an award that goes to me, but it’s a team award,” White said. “I predicated my success like a lot of the guys on offense, guys in the running back room that pushed me, and the coaches that put me in great situations. The award means so much to me, but for me, it’s a team thing.”

With the usual suspects Trayanum and White scoring abundantly, the third piece of the highly touted ASU running back approach, freshman Daniyel Ngata had his number called. And while the freshman didn’t get off to the strongest start rushing for negative yards in his first few carries, he made up for it in the long run.

On 1st and goal from the Arizona 3-yard line, Ngata received the handoff from Daniels and punched into the endzone for his first career touchdown in maroon and gold.

“They're doing a great job. I mean, those guys, you know, Chip and Daniel, and Rachaad, you know, in the mix, too - those guys are phenomenal backs,” Hill said. “I don't know three guys in the country that are better than those guys. Those guys really, really good…. And so, having those guys set the tone was awesome.”

However, this smashmouth get-everyone-involved offense for ASU was only possible due to the gargantuan effort of a Sun Devil defense that forced seven turnovers and capitalized on every offensive mistake given to them from a frantic Wildcats offense that was under fire all night long. The unit was on the field for 52 first-half plays and only allowed a singular touchdown, the only scoring the Wildcats would do all night.

“Defense did a great job,” Hill boasted. “I mean, I haven't seen that many turnovers. And again, it was a couple that were left on the field, too. I mean, it was they were dominating. And, you know, we got a great field position, getting some momentum and getting the guys some confidence early, you know, being able to score on some drives and then just kind of snowballed from there.”

“I think they've done a great job of establishing the foundation of everything defensively, and the opportunity to go play after play after play,” co-defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis said of his group. “And tonight, other than that four or five-play sequence, we didn't have that, you know, ‘my bad’ sequence where guys are making mistakes and errors and breaking down.”

Ahead of Friday’s Duel in the Desert, the Sun Devil coaching staff harped on focus and mental toughness. There would be no more late-game comebacks or complacency – the Sun Devils had to stay dialed in no matter what the scoreboard read.

“When (the lead) got to 42, I was talking to Marvin about it, and I said I don’t know what to do; I was scared to death because I know how this game can turn out,” Edwards described. “This was the hardest I’ve ever coached since I’ve been here. I was telling players, do not get comfortable; we have to finish the game….If I saw a guy smiling, I didn’t want him to smile, just don’t go there…. I saw that when we played USC in the fourth quarter...I wanted to make sure they understood we could not allow that to happen (again).”

No comeback was in the cards for the Wildcats as the Sun Devils dominated the stat sheet. Daniels, who had a limited number of throws, just 11, made the most of his opportunities with the running backs taking over the contest. The sophomore gunslinger threw for 203 yards, completing 9 of 11 passes for a pair of touchdowns to sophomore receiver Ricky Pearsall and Hodges, for each of their first career scores in maroon and gold.

However, out of the seven Sun Devils who notched a first career touchdown, whether it be rushing or through the air, no score was bigger or more historical than the 1-yard rush of redshirt junior running back Jackson He.

He hails from Shaoguan, China, and is believed to be the first and only active Chinese-born player in the FBS. With 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, He stepped onto the field to carry the rock for the first time in his collegiate career. After three attempts, walk-on second-string quarterback Trenton Bourguet, who was also seeing his first playing time in maroon and gold, completed a short pass to sophomore fullback and captain Case Hatch, who rumbled to the one-yard line. On 1st and goal, Bourguet handed the ball off to He, who drove through a Wildcat defender to break the endzone plain for a score.

The Arizona State sideline erupted as players and coaches alike rejoiced in He’s triumph. The redshirt junior running back from China had become the first Chinese-born player to score a touchdown in FBS history.

“It’s unreal, it’s unbelievable,” He said, beaming from ear to ear. “I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to be the first one. I am the first one, but I’m not the last; there’s going to be more Chinese (players) stepping up to this stage and scoring.”

“Well, he's one of our favorites. And a good young man,” Edwards said of He. “Going into the games, we just felt like, if we got to lead in the fourth quarter, we wanted to play young players. And I and I told Zak I said, hey, let's put the guy in. Let's see what he can do now…. he stayed in there, and all the players (loved it). It was just fun to watch all the players surround him after he scored. And obviously, he got the game ball, and we gave him his first touchdown, so it was fun to do that.”

“Seeing him score it was truly an honor,” White said of his friend and teammate. “He’s a friend of mine, we are close friends, and it’s been that way since I’ve been here, so I was just blessed and happy to see him get an opportunity.”

The scoreboard itself made this installment of the Territorial Cup a special one. 70 points marks the most in the history of the rivalry, and it’s the first time the Sun Devils have reached 70 in a contest since their 1969 matchup with Colorado State.

However, it’s this game’s ability to cure the pain of an unprecedented season, one for players, coaches, and fans alike, through a group effort that not only makes it special but marks it down as one for the college football record books.

“It was a relief,” Edwards sighed. “I think it was an emotional deal in a sense that I knew the burden that the players were carrying and how they felt and how this thing started… when we got canceled on March 8. And at one point, the season was postponed; we didn’t know if we were going to play until the spring, and then all of a sudden, they said we’re going to play, and then the schedule’s change. And they had to deal with it every week; I was telling another story until finally, we got to play. And then when we lose the way we did our first game and then have to wait again another three weeks to get started again.

"And so, all the emotions of that, and coaches as well. I felt it, I could see it in their eyes, and to their credit, they stayed positive, and that was my job to come in the building every day and make sure that I kept them up and kept them having hope that we would get through this. And if we just keep doing the things and just keep grinding and just — and the speech I gave the team today was kind of interesting. I talked about team, and what team meant, and the trust you have to have for each other when you go through things like this. And I think it resonated with them, I really do. And they took it and really played well today.”

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