(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Coming into Saturday’s Territorial Cup bout, little attention seemed to be on the game itself.
Instead, rumblings that the outcome wouldn’t matter for head coach Todd Graham’s job security stole the spotlight from Arizona State’s eventual 42-30 win over rival Arizona.
With everything going on behind the scenes, it was easy to lose focus on what was happening on the field.
It didn’t help that both UA and ASU played rather sloppy early on – neither team eclipsed 150 yards of total offense in the first half, made all the more interesting by the fact that both teams struggled on defense.
The Sun Devils looked uninspired and it looked as if Graham’s tenure as head coach at ASU could potentially end with his third loss to UA in four years.
Then came the second half.
“We’ve been here before,” quarterback Manny Wilkins said. “We’re not going to sulk about anything, none of that. We were down 10 against Colorado going into the half so it’s just perseverance.”
It started with special teams – freshman Curtis Hodges blocked Josh Pollack’s punt to set up a two-yard Demario Richard rushing score.
Then it was the defense — led by junior college transfer Damonte King who started in place of the injured Das Tautalatasi — forcing back-up quarterback Brandon Dawkins into an interception that in turn, set up Wilkins’ second touchdown pass of the game on a fade to N’Keal Harry.
King added six tackles and two pass break-ups to go with the aforementioned interception.
“I thought the blocked punt is when things turned for us,” Graham said. “The interception was a big play as well. It was one big play after another. Our guys played, they balled out. Demonte King was phenomenal, He really grew up tonight and I’m really proud of him.”
The Sun Devils forced Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate from the game early in the second half. He returned to the game briefly and tried to play through the injury to his shoulder, but was removed after just one drive.
“We knew that we hobbled him (Tate) in the end and hit him pretty good in the first half but the other guy (Dawkins) is explosive too,” Graham said. “I wouldn’t say just as explosive because Tate is pretty special.”
ASU was tasked with containing Dawkins in last season’s Territorial Cup — a game in which he carried the ball 12 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
Dawkins went the entire second half of that game without attempting a pass.
“We prepared for both quarterbacks and we just went out there and executed,”ASU senior defensive back Chad Adams said. “It didn’t really give us a boost. We played against Dawkins last year, he’s an effective quarterback and he can run like Tate. They ran the same offense so we stuck to our game plan.”
The rushing attack helped Graham’s team put the game away, as Demario Richard, newly-minted as ASU’s fifth-leading career rusher, capped an eight play-75-yard drive with his second touchdown of the day, helping to round off a complete comeback effort and give the Sun Devils a 35-24 lead.
Richard finished with 165 rushing yards on 22 attempts in his last game at Sun Devil Stadium.
“I’d just say thank you to Demario Richard for bringing the passion that he brings every day,” Graham said. “This one meant a lot to me for these seniors, these are guys that I came in with and I told them before this week, ‘Just continue to press on, I promise that I’ll give my all.’ They’ve been riding with me and it’s awesome to get this for these guys because they put in so much time. We’ve been through so many summers together and it’s special to me to get this win for these guys.”
While the Wildcats showed signs of life in the fourth quarter on the heels of a Dawkins 50-yard rushing touchdown, the Sun Devils continued to keep UA in check offensively.
Spare the Dawkins rushing touchdown, the Wildcats offense sputtered without a healthy Khalil Tate in the second half.
“(Dawkins) did alright and made some plays,” Arizona head coach Rich Rodriquez said. “There were some things you just shake your head at. I made some bad play calls.”
If it was Graham’s last game as head coach at ASU, as many people believe it to have been, he’ll at least be able to say he recaptured the cup in dramatic fashion, complete with a multi-dimensional second-half comeback effort.
The Sun Devils end the year at 7-5 and will now await their bowl assignment. Who will coach that game, at this point, is really anyone’s guess.
“In the beginning of the year we were only predicted to win three games — we went seven and five, we exceeded expectations,” Richard said. “We should’ve won more – some games we shot ourselves in the foot but we came out on top. No, we didn’t want to be number two in the Pac-12 South, of course we wanted to be number one but it’s all in God’s plan. We’re blessed to be here.”
