arizona-wildcats-football-asu-sun-devils-territorial-cup-preview-analysis-big12-2025Brian PedersenThu, November 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM UTC·9 min readArizona fans have a lot of expectations for their football team, but topping the list is always beating ASU. Win the Territorial Cup and it doesn’t matter what happened the rest of the season.
The Wildcats have won the Duel in the Desert 51 times since 1899, with ASU winning 46 times and one tie in 1987. The Cup currently resides in Tempe, thanks to the Sun Devils’ 49-7 win in Tucson last year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Last year, obviously, they had a great football team that did some spectacular things and boat raced us,” UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said.
That win in 2024 helped clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game for ASU, which again is alive for the conference championship. The Sun Devils (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) are 20th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, while Arizona (8-3, 5-3) joined at No. 25 to mark the first ranked T-Cup matchup since 2014.
The 2014 game was also the only time since the schools joined the Pac-10 in 1978 that both have at least eight wins when meeting.
“When you have two teams come together, they’re both playing good football, I think just have a little extra juice to them,” UA coach Brent Brennan said.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe game will kick off Friday at 7 p.m. MT, the first in-state night game for Arizona since September, with Fox airing the contest.
Here’s what to watch for when Arizona and ASU tangle for the 99th time:
How the ball is run (and defended)
In its win at Colorado last week ASU ran for 355 yards, its most since 2020, while Raleek Brown ran for a school road-record 255 yards. For the season, the Sun Devils are third in the Big 12 at 197 yards per game.
Run defense has been the only flaw on that side of the ball for Arizona, which has seen five of the six opponents gain at least 170 yards on the ground. Stopping mobile quarterbacks has been a particular issue, and ASU’s Jeff Sims had 228 yards and two touchdowns on the ground a few weeks back at Iowa State and is just over 100 shy of 2,000 rushing yards for his career.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We stink at stopping the run, so what are they going to do? They’re going to run it a thousand times,” Gonzales said. I mean, that’s what I’d do. That’s what I keep hearing.”
ASU has the No. 2 run defense in the Big 12, allowing 119.3 yards per game. Arizona has averaged 180.5 rushing yards during its 4-game win streak, with 10 touchdowns, but those results were against teams at the bottom of the league against the run.
“People have struggled running the football on them, and it’s because they’re really stout up front,” UA offensive coordinator Seth Doege said.
Safety Genesis Smith said the goal will be to try and take ASU out of its run-first offense. Arizona has missed 69 tackles on run plays this season, 11 by Smith.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’re not going to see a pass if we won’t stop the run,” Smith said. “So we should come out stop the run first and then win 50/50 balls.”
Noah the road warrior
While ASU has the edge in the ground game, both offensively and defensively, Arizona has a distinct advantage through the air. That starts with redshirt junior Noah Fifita, the school career TD pass leader with 69 who is also three from tying the school single-season TD pass record of 28.
The last time Fifita played at Mountain America Stadium, in 2023, he had five TD passes along with a school-record 527 yards in the 59-23 blowout win. He’s thrown five TD passes twice this season, both at home, but it’s been on the road where Fifita has really shined.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSince throwing two interceptions at Iowa State in the Big 12 opener, Fifita is 58 of 76 (76.3 percent) for 776 yards and seven TDs with no picks. His QB rating (163.0) in road games is 7th-best in FBS.
“There’s a little bit of a difference when he’s on the road,” Doege said. “Just by watching him move, his mannerisms, his focus, the way the ball is coming out of his hands. Watching him warm up at Colorado, I was like, oh, it’s gonna be a long night for these boys. And then watching him in Cincinnati, I was like, okay, we’re gonna be fine. Anything that he messes up, I think the Iowa State thing he took hard and he made sure it’s never going to happen again.”
ASU is second in the Big 12 with 31 sacks. Fifita has been sacked 24 times, most in the Big 12.
Sims, a 6th-year senior in his second season with ASU, took over as starter at the beginning of the month when Sam Leavitt was shut down to have foot surgery. He’s thrown for 772 yards and two TDs this season but is completing only 53.8 percent of his passes and has also fumbled six times.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf Arizona can force ASU to throw it plays right into its strengths. The Wildcats are 6th nationally in pass defense, with Iowa State’s Rocco Becht the only QB to top 200 yards against them.
Tyson vs. Hutson
There are 11 players in the Big 12 with at least 50 receptions this season, but only two have done so without playing in every game.
ASU’s Jordyn Tyson has 59 catches for 689 yards and eight TDs despite missing three games due to injury, returning to action at Colorado and having two catches for 61 yards.
“I think he’s the best 50-50 ball catcher in America,” Gonzales said of Tyson. “He’s elite when the ball is in the air.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPer Pro Football Focus, Tyson has only six receptions on 15 contested targets. That’s compared to UA senior Kris Hutson, who has a contested catch rate of 76.5 percent (13 of 17) that’s second-best in FBS.
“What you’re seeing is the relationship that those two had during camp before Hut had an injury, because he had really separated himself,” Doege said. “You could tell Noah was very, very confident just putting the ball up to him and helped us make a ton of plays in camp. He knows that Hutson will make a play, that Hutson will find a way to get separation, and if the ball isn’t just extremely accurate, Hut’s going find a way to make it accurate.”
Hutson, who previously played at Oregon and Washington State, has 50 catches for 645 yards and four TDs. He missed the season opener and did not have a reception in Week 3 but in Big 12 play has three 100-yard games including a career-best 133 yards last week against Baylor.
Passion vs. emotion
Arizona and ASU have a combined 48 players from the Grand Canyon State on their rosters, 29 for the Wildcats and 19 for the Sun Devils. The vast majority of them hail from the Phoenix-area, with Arizona having 24 including six starters.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Territorial Cup has been a part of their upbringing, with a side picked from an early age. It’s also led to plenty of houses divided.
“It’s been something, especially having two brothers that went to ASU,” right guard Alexander Doost said. “They always get on me about it. So when this time comes around, it means a lot more.”
Emotions always run high in this game, with fights and ejections not uncommon. Arizona has been flagged at least 10 times in the T-Cup four times since 1998, same for ASU, with the 2021 game combining for 22 penalties and 215 penalty yards.
“It’s passion over emotion,” Gonzales said. “Anything you do in life, if you make an emotional decision, it’s most of the time a stupid one. And if you make a passionate decision, it means that you would put a commitment and made a commitment to make that choice.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGonzales coached at ASU in 2018-19 and has jokingly blamed “AI” for videos surfacing of him talking smack about the UA. Receivers coach Bobby Wade also coached for the Sun Devils in 2022-23.
This will be Doege’s first T-Cup experience but he’s been part of plenty of rivalries, including Baylor/Texas Tech and UCLA/USC and even going back to his middle school days in west Texas.
“There’s part of the game that is emotional and that creates momentum, especially when things go well,” Doege said. “There’s gotta be emotion that creates momentum and energy, but there’s also gotta be poise to that emotion. And there’s gotta be be a fine line where you cannot cross. The line is not getting penalties.”
Injury update
Arizona has officially ruled out right tackle Tristan Bounds and linebacker Myron Robinson for the season after both were injured against Kansas. That makes four players who have started at least one game who have been lost for the year, joining tight end Tyler Powell and defensive end Tre Smith.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRedshirt freshman Matthew Lado started for Bounds against Baylor and did not allow a pressure.
Guards Doost and Chubba Maae both left the Baylor game, with Doost not returning. Doost is not on the availability report but Maae was listed as questionable on Wednesday night.
Two Wildcats who missed the last game could be back. Running back Quincy Craig and cornerback Jay’Vion Cole, who leads the Big 12 in interceptions, are listed as questionable, while defensive lineman Tia Savea is doubtful and could miss a third straight game.
The rivalry and its importance won’t play a role in deciding who can play on Friday, Brennan said.
“I’m not kidding, the medical questions belong to the medical staff,” he said. “They do not belong to anybody on our coaching staff. Ever. Doctors and trainers make those decisions.”
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