Arizona does its part to make title game

TOP 25/PAC-12

NO. 11 ARIZONA 42, NO. 13 ARIZONA STATE 35

TUCSON, Ariz. — Nick Wilson ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona claimed the Pac-12 South title by holding on for a 42-35 victory over Arizona State on Friday.

Arizona (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) needed to beat its biggest rival and have Stanford knock off No. 8 UCLA to win the Pac-12 South.

The Cardinal took care of the first part by rolling over the Bruins. The Wildcats handled their end with a stream of big plays and a final defensive stand.

Arizona faces No. 2 Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 5 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Arizona State (9-3, 6-3) got a spark by replacing Taylor Kelly with Mike Bercovici, but a final drive stalled at Arizona’s 40-yard line. Anu Solomon threw for 208 yards and hit Samajie Grant on two touchdown passes for Arizona.

Bercovici threw for two touchdowns, but had a key interception that led to a score.

The latest Duel in the Desert for the Territorial Cup was arguably the most anticipated in the rivalry’s 88-game history.

The usual bragging rights were there, of course. A shot at the Pac-12 South for both teams added to it.

That was going to depend on whether Stanford beat UCLA in a game going on at the same time.

That part would have to wait; Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez didn’t want the score shown in Arizona Stadium, and Arizona State’s coaches didn’t want any updates, either.

The focus was on each other, nothing else.

And the game lived up to the hype, the big plays coming right out of the gate.

Arizona scored 44 seconds in on Anthony Lopez’s 25-yard fumble recovery after Scooby Wright sacked and stripped Kelly.

Arizona State failed on four tries inside Arizona’s 3, but scored four plays later when Solomon bobbled a snap, couldn’t cover it up and Demetrius Cherry rumbled in for a 2-yard score.