Ooh, boy. It's already shaping up to be a memorable one at Arizona Stadium. Arizona hosts rival Arizona State today and as you would expect emotions are running high. The Wildcats need a win to become bowl eligible while ASU is already at 6 wins and is playing for pride and the Cup.
Join the conversation as the game gets going and any developments happen pregame.
Pregame
- There have already been two fights before the game with the teams having to be separated. PJ Johnson and Chase Lucas were two of the aggressors in the whole deal and the teams had to be forced back to "their" sides of the field. The issues seems to have come up when someone from ASU walked over to Arizona's side of the field pregame. UA naturally didn't like that and a scuffle ensued and then a second dust up happened after that.
Eventually security was brought in and has formed a line at the 50-yard line and is not letting players get through to the opposite side of the field. The word is that Arizona AD Dave Heeke and ASU AD Ray Anderson were exchanging words as well during the whole situation. This game means A LOT to Heeke as we saw last season and he showed that again today.
- No Lorenzo Burns today for Arizona as he was injured in the last game. It will be interesting to see what the Wildcats do to defend the ASU offense now. Stopping the run should still be the priority since it was going to be difficult to slow down N'Keal Harry anyway.
1st QTR
UA wins the toss and opts to defer, so the ASU offense will be up first
- ASU went to Eno Benjamin a ton on the opening drive but had to punt it away, and a short throw to Shawn Poindexter followed by a big run from JJ Taylor opens up the first drive for Arizona; Tate hits Bryce Wolma for 9 yards to keep moving UA down the field; Tate keeps a play alive and eventually finds Poindexter down the field for 47 yards; UA has to settle for a 29-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 3 ASU 0 - 7:06]
- After a good defensive stand for Arizona the Wildcats are on the move again with the ball back as Tate finds Shun Brown for 20 yards; Tate hits Tony Ellison for 14 yards and a first down; Tate finds Ellison in the end zone for 28 yards as the Wildcats extend their lead in the first quarter [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 10 ASU 0 - 3:33]
- ASU opens its next drive with passes to Isaiah Floyd with UA doing a good job against the run and Floyd gets 4 and 13 yards on those plays; Brandon Aiyuk gets behind his man and catches a 58-yard touchdown pass to cut into the UA lead [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 10 ASU 7 - 2:28]
2nd QTR
- After an interesting stretch that featured Chacho Ulloa stripping Eno Benjamin, the Wildcats get the ball back when ASU punts it from deep in its own territory and Shun Brown somehow turns the return into a 16-yard return after being stopped for a loss; the good field position helps as Taylor runs it for 15 yards to open the UA drive; Taylor runs it for 6 more yards before Gary Brightwell comes in but he can't get the first down and UA has to settle for a 23-yard field goal form Josh Pollack [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 13 ASU 7 - 10:18]
- Arizona opens the drive after another ASU punt with a 9-yard pass to Stanley Berryhill; Tate runs it for 4 yards and then hands the ball to Bam Smith on the next play for 6 yards and a first down; Poindexter draws a PI and the Wildcats get a fresh set of downs; Taylor runs it for 8 yards on first down and Tate runs it for a yard on second down; Tate scrambles and finds just enough of an opening with Shawn Poindexter behind the shorter Kobe Williams for the big 23-yard touchdown; UA's two-point try fails (miserably) but UA gets another score to push the lead up to 12 points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 19 ASU 7 - 4:25]
- N'Keal Harry finally catches a pass and it goes for 15 yards as this drive starts off well for the Sun Devils; Kyle Williams snags an 18-yard reception to give ASU another first down; Eno Benjamin gets the Sun Devils on the board again with a strong 10-yard rush to trim the Arizona lead down to five points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 19 ASU 14 - 1:27]
- Brightwell opens the next Arizona drive with a 32-yard kickoff return; Tate finds Shun Brown for 26 yards to open the drive; Tate loses a yard on a running play but he's tackled out of bounds and gets the personal foul call moving the ball up 15 yards inside the ASU 30; After a false start penalty Tate has nowhere to go and is sacked forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout; Tate nearly breaks away on a run but is tackled by his shoestrings saving a would-be touchdown; Tate hits Poindexter for 9 yards but it's not enough and UA has to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Josh Pollack to end the half
Halftime: Arizona 22 ASU 14
3rd QTR
- ASU gets backed up in its own territory and PJ Johnson comes up with a big play on the tackle for loss on Eno Benjamin in the end zone for a safety [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 24 ASU 14 - 13:14]
- Taylor returns the free kick 66 yards as the Wildcats have all the momentum now; nothing going for Arizona on the drive so it will have to settle for a field goal once more as Josh Pollack now has his fourth field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 27 ASU 14 - 12:17]
- Eno Benjamin starts the drive off for ASU with a loss of 4 yards but there's an offsides penalty on the Wildcats; Tommy Hudson catches a pass for 6 yards and that's followed by a deep ball to N'Keal Harry for 38 yards to get the Sun Devils down the field; Benjamin runs it in from 14 yards out and this is a ballgame again [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 27 ASU 21 - 9:23]
- Tate goes deep on first down to Poindexter and he gets the PI call and nearly gets the catch, but instead UA will just move 15 yards down the field after the review confirms the call of incomplete; After another deep ball falls incomplete to Poindexter, Taylor runs it for 17 yards and another first down for the Wildcats; Taylo rgoes for 8 yards on the next play; Gray Brightwell runs it for 35 yards and the score as UA continues to move things along on offense; the 'Cats go for two again and come up empty again [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 33 ASU 21 - 7:51]
- ASU punts it back to Arizona after another stalled drive and Brown gets another good return of 19 yards putting the Wildcats in good field position; Tate runs it for 19 yards getting the Wildcats onto the ASU side of the field; Tate hits Brown in the end zone but the UA receiver can't hang onto it bringing up a big third down; Taylor runs it and hurdles an ASU defender as he gains 18 yards to put UA right at the 20-yard line; Taylor runs for 11 yards putting the Wildcats in great position to score; Tate with a jump pass and he finds Tony Ellison in the end zone for the 8-yard score as UA has now started to open it up [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 40 ASU 21 - 2:44]
4th QTR
- Kyle Williams with a 20-yard catch to open up the drive; a few more rushes for the Sun Devils before Christian Young comes up with a bit pass breakup forcing a huge third down; Darby can't hang onto the ball and ASU will go for it on 4th and 8; ASU runs for the first down and follows that up with an 11-yard pass play to Aiyuk; nothing going for the Sun Devils the rest of the drive so they have Brandon Ruiz kick a 27-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 40 ASU 24 - 13:05]
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Join the conversation as the game gets going and any developments happen pregame.
Pregame
- There have already been two fights before the game with the teams having to be separated. PJ Johnson and Chase Lucas were two of the aggressors in the whole deal and the teams had to be forced back to "their" sides of the field. The issues seems to have come up when someone from ASU walked over to Arizona's side of the field pregame. UA naturally didn't like that and a scuffle ensued and then a second dust up happened after that.
Eventually security was brought in and has formed a line at the 50-yard line and is not letting players get through to the opposite side of the field. The word is that Arizona AD Dave Heeke and ASU AD Ray Anderson were exchanging words as well during the whole situation. This game means A LOT to Heeke as we saw last season and he showed that again today.
- No Lorenzo Burns today for Arizona as he was injured in the last game. It will be interesting to see what the Wildcats do to defend the ASU offense now. Stopping the run should still be the priority since it was going to be difficult to slow down N'Keal Harry anyway.
1st QTR
UA wins the toss and opts to defer, so the ASU offense will be up first
- ASU went to Eno Benjamin a ton on the opening drive but had to punt it away, and a short throw to Shawn Poindexter followed by a big run from JJ Taylor opens up the first drive for Arizona; Tate hits Bryce Wolma for 9 yards to keep moving UA down the field; Tate keeps a play alive and eventually finds Poindexter down the field for 47 yards; UA has to settle for a 29-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 3 ASU 0 - 7:06]
- After a good defensive stand for Arizona the Wildcats are on the move again with the ball back as Tate finds Shun Brown for 20 yards; Tate hits Tony Ellison for 14 yards and a first down; Tate finds Ellison in the end zone for 28 yards as the Wildcats extend their lead in the first quarter [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 10 ASU 0 - 3:33]
- ASU opens its next drive with passes to Isaiah Floyd with UA doing a good job against the run and Floyd gets 4 and 13 yards on those plays; Brandon Aiyuk gets behind his man and catches a 58-yard touchdown pass to cut into the UA lead [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 10 ASU 7 - 2:28]
2nd QTR
- After an interesting stretch that featured Chacho Ulloa stripping Eno Benjamin, the Wildcats get the ball back when ASU punts it from deep in its own territory and Shun Brown somehow turns the return into a 16-yard return after being stopped for a loss; the good field position helps as Taylor runs it for 15 yards to open the UA drive; Taylor runs it for 6 more yards before Gary Brightwell comes in but he can't get the first down and UA has to settle for a 23-yard field goal form Josh Pollack [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 13 ASU 7 - 10:18]
- Arizona opens the drive after another ASU punt with a 9-yard pass to Stanley Berryhill; Tate runs it for 4 yards and then hands the ball to Bam Smith on the next play for 6 yards and a first down; Poindexter draws a PI and the Wildcats get a fresh set of downs; Taylor runs it for 8 yards on first down and Tate runs it for a yard on second down; Tate scrambles and finds just enough of an opening with Shawn Poindexter behind the shorter Kobe Williams for the big 23-yard touchdown; UA's two-point try fails (miserably) but UA gets another score to push the lead up to 12 points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 19 ASU 7 - 4:25]
- N'Keal Harry finally catches a pass and it goes for 15 yards as this drive starts off well for the Sun Devils; Kyle Williams snags an 18-yard reception to give ASU another first down; Eno Benjamin gets the Sun Devils on the board again with a strong 10-yard rush to trim the Arizona lead down to five points [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 19 ASU 14 - 1:27]
- Brightwell opens the next Arizona drive with a 32-yard kickoff return; Tate finds Shun Brown for 26 yards to open the drive; Tate loses a yard on a running play but he's tackled out of bounds and gets the personal foul call moving the ball up 15 yards inside the ASU 30; After a false start penalty Tate has nowhere to go and is sacked forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout; Tate nearly breaks away on a run but is tackled by his shoestrings saving a would-be touchdown; Tate hits Poindexter for 9 yards but it's not enough and UA has to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Josh Pollack to end the half
Halftime: Arizona 22 ASU 14
3rd QTR
- ASU gets backed up in its own territory and PJ Johnson comes up with a big play on the tackle for loss on Eno Benjamin in the end zone for a safety [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 24 ASU 14 - 13:14]
- Taylor returns the free kick 66 yards as the Wildcats have all the momentum now; nothing going for Arizona on the drive so it will have to settle for a field goal once more as Josh Pollack now has his fourth field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 27 ASU 14 - 12:17]
- Eno Benjamin starts the drive off for ASU with a loss of 4 yards but there's an offsides penalty on the Wildcats; Tommy Hudson catches a pass for 6 yards and that's followed by a deep ball to N'Keal Harry for 38 yards to get the Sun Devils down the field; Benjamin runs it in from 14 yards out and this is a ballgame again [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 27 ASU 21 - 9:23]
- Tate goes deep on first down to Poindexter and he gets the PI call and nearly gets the catch, but instead UA will just move 15 yards down the field after the review confirms the call of incomplete; After another deep ball falls incomplete to Poindexter, Taylor runs it for 17 yards and another first down for the Wildcats; Taylo rgoes for 8 yards on the next play; Gray Brightwell runs it for 35 yards and the score as UA continues to move things along on offense; the 'Cats go for two again and come up empty again [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 33 ASU 21 - 7:51]
- ASU punts it back to Arizona after another stalled drive and Brown gets another good return of 19 yards putting the Wildcats in good field position; Tate runs it for 19 yards getting the Wildcats onto the ASU side of the field; Tate hits Brown in the end zone but the UA receiver can't hang onto it bringing up a big third down; Taylor runs it and hurdles an ASU defender as he gains 18 yards to put UA right at the 20-yard line; Taylor runs for 11 yards putting the Wildcats in great position to score; Tate with a jump pass and he finds Tony Ellison in the end zone for the 8-yard score as UA has now started to open it up [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 40 ASU 21 - 2:44]
4th QTR
- Kyle Williams with a 20-yard catch to open up the drive; a few more rushes for the Sun Devils before Christian Young comes up with a bit pass breakup forcing a huge third down; Darby can't hang onto the ball and ASU will go for it on 4th and 8; ASU runs for the first down and follows that up with an 11-yard pass play to Aiyuk; nothing going for the Sun Devils the rest of the drive so they have Brandon Ruiz kick a 27-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 40 ASU 24 - 13:05]
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