Territorial Cup rewind 5 years ago: Arizona 56, ASU 35
There is no recent Territorial Cup more despised by Arizona State fans than 2016.
Arizona won 56-35 in Tucson, a score that doesn’t begin to reflect the ill will generated against ASU coach Todd Graham, who until then was 3-1 vs. UA coach Rich Rodriguez in the rivalry game.
The loss culminated a second half of the season collapse that took ASU from 5-1 to 5-7 with a school record-tying six consecutive losses. The Sun Devils finished last (No. 128) nationally in passing yards allowed and next to last in total defense, but the Wildcat took it out on them on the ground.
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins (183) as well as running backs Samajie Grant (176) and Zach Green (126) surpassed 100 yards rushing. Dawkins only attempted eight passes, none of those in the second half, as UA amassed a school record 511 rushing yards out of 588 in total offense.
ASU quarterback Manny Wilkins, then a sophomore, threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns. The Sun Devils were as close as 35-28 midway through the third quarter but could never do enough on defense to stop UA from running on them at will.
“The holes were there all day long and we took advantage of it,” Dawkins said.
Arizona came into the game on an eight-game losing streak including 42-17 at Oregon State just six days before and 69-7 to Washington State in early November. The victory over ASU was the Wildcats first since Sept. 17 and a badly needed bandage (their only Pac-12 win) on a 3-9 season.
Graham said ASU’s performance was the “worst we’ve had since we’ve been here. That was embarrassing. We let our university down. “
We just absolutely didn’t show up defensively and gave up one big play after another.
ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson kept to his pre-Territorial Cup word and retained Graham for a sixth season although it often felt during 2017 that a decision to make a coaching change already had been made going back to the 2016 rivalry rout.