TEMPE, Arizona — Noah Fifita threw for 286 yards and a touchdown, and Arizona spoiled rival Arizona State’s Big 12 championship game hopes with a dominating 23-7 win on Friday night.
The reigning Big 12 champion Sun Devils (8-4, 6-3 Big 12, No. 20 CFP) entered the most anticipated Territorial Cup Game in a decade with a slim chance of reaching the title game again.
Arizona (9-3, 6-3, No. 25 CFP) squeezed the life out of their chances with a suffocating defense that forced five turnovers and limited Arizona State to 214 total yards.
Sun Devils’ quarterback Jeff Sims, making his fourth start for the injured Sam Leavitt, threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles. His botched handoff at Arizona State’s 6 to open the third quarter set up Fifita’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Barmore.
Arizona’s Michael Salgado-Medina made two of his three field goals in the second half after missing two kicks and having another blocked. Kedrick Reescano scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left and Dalton Johnson capped Arizona’s fifth straight win with an interception near midfield.
Arizona State won last year’s game 49-7 in Tucson, but Arizona has taken a huge step forward defensively in coach Brent Brennan’s second season, ranking in the top 25 nationally in numerous categories.
The Wildcats clamped down on the Sun Devils from the start, holding them to 15 yards in the first quarter. Arizona State found some success on the ground on a 90-yard drive capped by Sims’ 27-yard run, but its only other sustained first-half drive ended when Jesus Gomez’s 49-yard field goal clanked off the right goal post.
The Wildcats spent most of the first half stumbling in Arizona State’s end of the field.
Quincy Craig lost a fumble at the Sun Devils’ 8, Salgado-Medina missed a 42-yard field goal and had another from the same distance blocked. Arizona also failed to take advantage of Michael Dansby’s interception to the ASU 37, punting after failing to gain a yard on three plays.
Salgado-Medina kicked a 37-yard field goal in the closing seconds to cap a quick-hitting drive, making it 7-3 at halftime.
