Arizona forced four second-half turnovers and held Arizona State to 96 yards in earning a 23-7 win and regain the Territorial Cup on Friday night. The Wildcats overcame first-half red zone struggles to earn the win in a sloppy game.
The pivotal play in the game came on the first Arizona State drive of the third quarter. On third and two from the Arizona State 12, Sun Devils running back Raleek Brown fumbled and it was recovered by Arizona linebacker Taye Brown at the six yardline.
Two plays later, Noah Fifita completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Barmore to put Arizona ahead to stay 10-7. Michael Salgado-Medina made two second-half field goals and Kedrick Reescano had a one-yard run with 1:56 remaining to ice the game.
Arizona scored one time in four red zone trips in the first half. The Wildcats did not score until Salgado-Medina made a 47-yard field goal with one second left in the first half. Arizona State took the lead on a 27-yard TD run by quarterback Jeff Sims in the second quarter.
Arizona completely shut down Arizona State. The Sun Devils finished with 215 total yards. Sims completed 11 passes in 25 attempts for 114 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. Arizona State ran 27 times for 100 yards.
Arizona controlled the game throughout. The Wildcats finished with 374 total yards and had the ball for 40:01. Noah Fifita completed 28 passes in 45 attempts for 286 yards, one TD and no interceptions. Kris Hutson continued to be the number one receiver for Fifita with seven receptions for 95 yards.
Arizona has won nine games for the eighth time in program history. The Wildcats have a chance to win 10 games for only the fifth time in Arizona history. Arizona will learn its bowl destination on December 7. Arizona is still part of the Pac-12 legacy schools' bowl tie-ins.