(Tucson, AZ) The tale of two teams as #16 Arizona State came down to the Old Pueblo to take on a Wildcat team that headed into this season off a ten win campaign last year, but had faltered this season having won only four games.
Subsequently, the Sun Devils have had far more success this season than anyone could have imagined winning nine games and were on the cusp of winning the Big XII Title and possibly playing in the College Football Playoffs.
Historically, these two teams have faced each other ninety seven times previously and records usually got thrown out of the discussion. There have been upsets where Arizona has knocked the Sun Devils out of the Rose Bowl Bowl and game a few years ago where ASU spanked the Wildcats 70-7. Both fan bases hate each other and that run deep in the veins around Tempe and Tucson.
This was Arizona’s Bowl Game. For the Devils, a win would thrust them into the National Spotlight aiming for the CFB Playoffs in Coach Kenny Dillingham’s second year after going 3-9 the previous two seasons.
A lot was on the line for the Arizona State and virtually nothing for the Wildcats except State pride and a springboard into next season.
Jordyn Tyson Touchdown Photo – Twitter (X)
First Quarter
ASU got the ball first. Sam Leavitt moved the team down the field systematically with a combination of Cam Skattebo on the ground and Jordyn Tyson through the air. It took ASU only eight plays to go 75 yards. Skattebo with a 2 yard run and a 7-0 lead with 9:35 left in the opening quarter.
Arizona on their first possession went right to the air and got the ball to midfield but after two first downs, the drive stalled there.
The Devis picked right back up on their second possession with a Tyson catch and run for 59 yards and into the Arizona red zone. Skattebo took a direct snap and scored from 2 yards out and ASU was rolling 14-0.
Arizona had issues on first down getting more than a yard or two, but McMillan would bail them out on third down. That only worked once on the drive as they were forced to punt again.
The Wildcat defense had no answer for Skattebo as he rambled off tackle for 34 yards on the first play of the drive.
Photo – Twiiter(X)
Second Quarter
Kyson Brown had equal success on the ground chewing up yardage on a 27 yard run dragging Wildcats with him down the field.
Leavitt made the passing game look easy as time and time again he hit his receivers in stride for big gains. Tyson scored ASU’s third touchdown off a 12 yard pass to put the Sun Devils up 21-0 at the 13:29 mark of the second quarter.
Tyson’s touchdown catch put him over 1,000 yards for the season, the first ASU player since 2019.
The Wildcats finally had a positive play with a 63 yard kickoff return and set up their offense in Arizona State territory. Once again, the drive was stopped by great work from the Devils secondary.
A 55 yard field goal attempt by Tyler Loop sailed wide after an Arizona motion penalty cost them five yards.
Even when the Devils were assessed a fifteen yard penalty for a blind side block, they would shrug it off and gain the needed yardage for a first down off a Kyson Brown run picking up 31 yards.
Arizona forced a fourth down and one yard, but Skattebo picked up the first down with ease. The Wildcat defense was constantly on their heels.
If it’s not broken don’t fix it as once again the Devils went to their bread and butter Skattebo for the score and a commanding 28-0 lead with still 6:28 left on the clock in the quarter.
The Cats offense did nothing on three downs and were forced to punt. The lack of a ground game made them a one demential team and made them much easier to defend.
The Sun Devils were finally forced to punt with 3:55 left in the half.
Arizona’s running back Quali Conley broke off a couple of good runs to get their offense rolling after the punt.
A face mask penalty by Elijah O’Neil gave the Wildcats an automatic first down at the ASU forty nine yard line. Another penalty for defensive holding kept the drive alive.
Now Arizona facing a fourth and two, they could only manage a yard and with Dillingham using his timeouts on defense got the ball back in good shape to put more points on the board.
Tyson with an acrobatic catch on the sideline, got one foot down for a gain of 19 yards and got the Devils cooking.
Everything was clicking for ASU on the drive as Leavitt sliced up the Wildcats secondary. A 22 yard pass to Chamon Metayer put the Devils up by five touchdowns 35-0 heading into the half.
Photo – AP/Samantha Chow
Halftime
Everything went right for Arizona State in the first half with 390 total yards from scrimmage as compared to Arizona with only 57 yards.
Skattebo scored three of the five Sun Devil touchdowns and Leavitt was 13-17 for 242 passing yards. Tyson had 7 catches for 137 yards.
Arizona’s anemic offense had Noah Fifita 6-15 for 36 yards and their rushing attack only gained 21 yards on 11 carries.
Third Quarter
Arizona got the ball first as a result of winning the coin toss. They opened up their offense with quick passes and a couple of timely runs. The Wildcats finally got on the scoreboard when Fifita hit McMillan for a 28 yard touchdown pass to make it 35-7.
The Devils on their first possession was a carbon copy of the first half moving the ball down field effortlessly until the Cats defense rose up. A Parker Lewis chip shot field goal from 21 yards out hit the right upright and ASU came away empty.
A renewed Arizona offense drove the ball initially but were forced to punt it away after the Devils defense tightened up. Even with a lack of pressure on Fifita, ASU’s secondary had blanket coverage on almost every Wildcat pass play.
Skattebo continued to punish the Arizona defense as his yardage after being hit was amazing. Tyson was injured with a possible collarbone injury and had to leave the game. Melquan Stoval picked up the slack on the edge in his absence.
Fourth Quarter
First play from scrimmage in the final quarter saw Leavitt avoid the Arizona blitz and connect with Xavier Guillory for a 31 yard touchdown to extend the lead back to 42-7.
Arizona running out of options still stayed with the passing attack. A scramble for 10 yards by Fifita got the Cats out of trouble for the time being to keep the drive alive.That was followed up by a sack by Caleb McCullough forced Coach Brennan to use a timeout.
Coming out of the Devils forced another punt after a big hit on Jeremiah Patterson who dropped the pass.
Trenton Bourguet swing pass for a touchdown
In came senior Trenton Bourguet and he wasted little time as the threw a 7 yard pass to his brother Coben Bourguet. On the following play, Bourguet threw a swing pass to the left and Derek Eusebio caught it at the 31 yard line and weaved his way up the sideline for a 64 yard touchdown. Arizona State up 49-7.
That was a class act by Dillingham putting in the 6th year senior from Marana High School playing in his final game in his hometown.
Arizona took Fifita out putting in backup Cole Tannenbaum who threw an interception to Latterrance Welch and the misery continued for the Wildcats.
With time under six minutes, Dillingham called off the dogs and ran the ball to use the clock but turned the ball over to Arizona on downs with under five minutes left.
Arizona couldn’t move the ball against the Sun Devil reserves and had to punt. A microcosm of the effort today by the Cats.
Bourguet took a knee and the Territorial Cup will return to Tempe after crushing the Cats 49-7.
Wrap Up
Arizona all game long had no answer for ASU’s potent offense. The most telling stat were Yards After Catch (YAC) where time and time again, the Sun Devils would pick up big chunks of yardage after the pass receptions. This was also true with the Devils’ running game where Skattebo would get added yards after he was initially hit. Poor tackling by the the Wildcat defense lead to the huge disparity.
The Wildcats had no running game only gaining 84 yards on 27 carries. You’re not going to win many games with under 100 yards rushing.
Sam Leavitt was on his game as he went 17-22 and 291 yards. Even with Jordyn Tyson leaving the game, eight Sun Devils caught passes from Leavitt and Bourguet.
Cam Skattebo won the Bob Moran Award for the game’s most valuable player.
This team kept grinding all season long. They won ugly at times but were undefeated at Mountain America Stadium this year.
Many pundits said next year would be ASU’s breakout year, but Dillingham and his staff weren’t listening, instead putting this squad into overdrive. From 3-9 to 10-2 in one of the remarkable turnarounds in ASU history.
The Sun Devils will play Iowa State in the Big XII Championship game on December 7th in Arlington Texas.
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