Mistakes prove too costly for Arizona Football in loss to ASU

TEMPE, AZ – It was a tough end to the season, as once again the Arizona Football team blew a halftime lead to fall short against Arizona State.

On a chilly night in Tempe, quarterback Khalil Tate and running back J.J. Taylor walked off the field for the final time as Arizona Football players, losing to Arizona State for the third straight season.

A year that was ultimately marred by poor play, mistakes and regressed development, it was the same result for the Wildcats  against the Sun Devils, as the team came up short in their 24-14 loss.

Arizona Wildcats

Despite starting the season 4-1 (2-0), the Wildcats ended the year with seven straight losses, finally ending this rollercoaster of a year, perhaps to the delight of fans.

So where did things go wrong? Well, I can’t help but think the constant shuffling of quarterbacks didn’t help from a consistency standpoint, and the confidence certainly seemed to diminish as well.

However, coming into this one, there was nothing to lose for Arizona. The Wildcats weren’t going bowling and the only thing that mattered was beating ASU, especially for the seniors.

And from the start emotions from a 4-8 season certainly seemed to boil over, as the Wildcats got into a bit of a skirmish prior to the game at midfield.

Head coach Kevin Sumlin would turn to Tate to get the start, allowing his senior to get the chance to get the win from start to finish.

Tate would finish the day with 228 yards passing with two touchdowns, but three interceptions would become costly, as two appeared to be miscommunications between him and the receivers, while the other came off a deflection to Bam Smith, a pass that should have been caught.

Sophomore Jamarye Joiner would be one of the few bright spots in this one, as the Southern Arizona native would end the day with seven receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

The game would start slow in this one, as both teams would be scoreless after the first quarter, highlighted by a missed kick from Lucas Havrisik.

A few series later, ASU would break the scoreless tie on a field goal from Christian Zendejas to make it 3-0 with 13:07 to play in the second quarter.

The Wildcats would respond fairly quickly by going 83 yards on six plays, a series which was capped by a 48-yard touchdown from Tate to Joiner to make it 7-3.

Arizona would have a chance to extend their lead, but Tate’s first interception would lead to another three points for the Sun Devils as time expired in the second quarter.

Getting the ball to start the second half, ASU would turn to the run, using running back Eno Benjamin heavily, scoring on touchdown drives of 75 and 49 yards in which the Sun Devils didn’t complete a single pass.

Benjamin would end the day with an impressive 34 carries for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

The Sun Devils would virtually put this one away for good, when Havrisik’s second missed field goal, this time from 26-yards out, led to more ASU points which ended in Zendejas’ third field goal of the day to make it 24-7.

Tate and Arizona would find the endzone again, this time on a two-yard pass to Joiner, his second touchdown of the day.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late, as the Wildcats fell to the Sun Devils by a 24-14 final.

With the loss, Arizona officially falls to 4-8 (2-6) on the year, and miss yet another bowl game under Sumlin.

Listen to coach following the teams’ loss.

At Zona Zealots, we’re certainly disheartened by the loss, and only hope the Wildcats can turn it around quickly. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!