Position Battles To Watch For Arizona In The Territorial Cup
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Friday night lights in Tempe bring about the 99th edition of the Territorial Cup. Arizona will look to finish off a resurgent season in year two under coach Brent Brennan with a rivalry win over Arizona State.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils both enter with a record of 8-3 and are ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the rivalry for the first time since 2014.
ASU beat down the Wildcats, 49-7, last season in Tucson before going on to win the Big 12 title in its first season in the conference. However, that team had quarterback Sam Leavitt, running back Cam Skattebo and several high-caliber defenders. On Friday, those guys won't be taking the field.
Arizona has been on a roll as winners of four-straight, most recently shutting down the powerful offense from Baylor in a 41-17 win. The Wildcats have done a complete turnaround on defense under defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, who used to hold the same title in Tempe.
Noah Fifita has plenty of experience in this rivalry as well. Despite a forgettable performance last season with a team that finished 4-8, Fifita dominated the Sun Devils in 2023 when he visited Tempe. He threw for a career-high 527 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in the 59-23 blowout win.
After blowout wins from both sides over the past two seasons, this time around should be a battle. Here are a few position battles that could decide the outcome
Arizona's Secondary vs Jordyn Tyson
Even with backup Jeff Sims under center for ASU, the Sun Devils are willing to throw the ball. Now, they should be more confident doing so after top wideout Jordyn Tyson returned last weekend.
He played limited snaps against Colorado, but hauled in two catches for 61 yards in the win. Tyson is a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and is by far the best receiver the Wildcats will have seen this season.
Tyson has great speed, a twitchy get-off, can create yards after the catch and win the 50-50 jump balls in single coverage.
The smart thing for Arizona might be to bracket the wideout to prevent those one-on-one matchups. He moves from the perimeter to the slot frequently, so he will likely see a good mix of Treydan Stukes and Ayden Garnes.
The Wildcats play with five defensive backs often, which has helped them become the Big 12's best pass defense, allowing only 159.7 yards per game.
ASU has leaned into the ground game with Sims at quarterback, and that should continue in this game, so Tyson's opportunities might be limited. However, Sims does scramble quite a bit, which could pull defenders in enough for Sims to dunk it over the middle to Tyson and let him run in space.
ASU is going to find ways to scheme touches for Tyson, whether it is through the air or on the ground. Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith have been two of Arizona's leading tacklers this season, but the run game may force them to play closer to the line than usual.
Tyson is a dangerous matchup for any of the Arizona defensive backs. The Wildcats need to make sure Tyson is bracketed, forcing another receiver to beat them.
Kris Hutson vs Keith Abney
This is experience vs experience. Kris Hutson is rounding out his sixth season of college ball, and he has been blossoming into the top receiving threat for Fifita.
He has gone over 100 receiving yards in the previous two games, setting a career-high with nine catches and 133 yards with one touchdown against Baylor.
Keith Abney is Arizona State's best defender, both in man and zone coverage. Abney has also received considerable buzz around the NFL Draft.
Abney primarily lines up as the boundary corner, making him a likely candidate to cover Hutson. Abney has allowed a catch rate of 43.3% this season, fifth-best among Big 12 corners.
The junior corner has 40 tackles with two interceptions and 11 pass deflections. The Sun Devils are often fine with leaving Abney on an island without safety support and locked in man coverage.
Hutson has had trouble separating at times this season, but he uses the middle of the field to his advantage. Abney is a sound tackler, but the goal should be to get him in space where he has to make a play to prevent the catch-and-run. If Fifita is taking shots in solo coverage like he did last week, they might not turn out great with this matchup.
Arizona's Offensive Line vs ASU's Defensive Line
Every game is won and lost up front, as any coach would tell you. That's no different here. The Wildcats and Sun Devils are going to be in a war up front.
In the trenches, Arizona's strength is on offense, while ASU's is probably defensively. So, it's another "unstoppable force meets immovable object" matchup.
The Wildcats lost right tackle Tristan Bounds for the season, so Matthew Lado will once again be filling in on the right side. He did an admirable job against Baylor, but the Sun Devils will test him and Ty Buchanan on Fifita's blindside.
The Sun Devils are second in the Big 12 with 31 sacks. Defensive end Justin Wodtly has five sacks this season, with all of them coming in the previous four games. Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah both have four sacks and create havoc on the edges.
Arizona sits in a dropback offense often, and that's probably how Seth Doege will likely attack the ASU defense. That means a lot of sets where Arizona is going to have to hold up against terrifying edge rushers and blitz packages.
ASU doesn't blitz a ton, but when the Sun Devils do, they get home. Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott leads the team with 89 tackles and seven sacks. ASU will use Elliott as a spy who takes off whenever the quarterback breaks contain.
It can be a lot for Arizona to handle. Luckily, the Wildcats create space on the ground with center Ka'ena Decambra, which could neutralize the pass rush and blitzes. This will be a game all about picking your battles and finding ways to exploit the ASU front seven while taking shots downfield.
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Logan Brown is an alumnus of the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently works as a General College Sports Reporter On SI. Logan has an extensive background in writing and has contributed to Cronkite Sports, PHNX Sports, and Motion Graphics.
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