Before kickoff Saturday, the report from USA Today came out that Todd Graham expected to be fired in the coming days https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/pac12/2017/11/25/arizona-state-coach-todd-graham-believes-he-will-be-fired/894896001/ With that as the backdrop, Arizona State rallied from a 14-0 hole to beat Arizona in the annual Territorial Cup 42-30. The game turned on the final seconds of the first half, with the Wildcats out front 24-14, Rich Rodriguez mismanaged the clock and the final play of the half Wildcats QB Khalil Tate took a viscous hit and was only able to play one series in the second half. Arizona State took advantage of Tates absence. Graham rallied his team to their 4th win in 6 outings against the Wildcats. There were plenty of mistakes on both sides, especially on special teams. But at the end of the day, if you’re a SunDevil fan it goes down as a “W”. “This is an honor”, said N’Keal Harry on the field after the game, Harry had two touchdown catches.
The numbers in the game were pretty even. Arizona would finish with 439 total yards, while the Sun Devils would gain 390 yards. The difference in this years matchup was the Arizona State running game led by DeMario Richard who ran for 160 yards. He’s now ranked 5th on the Arizona State all-time rushing list with 3,152 yards.