Two Saturdays ago QB Jayden de-Laura played his best game of the year for Arizona in a stunning upset of UCLA in the Rose Bowl. This past Saturday he played his worst game of the year while getting picked off four times in the second half by Washington State, the same Washington State team he led to victory in the Apple Cup last year in Husky Stadium before entering the transfer portal and landing with the Wildcats. Never trailing, the Cougars were up 21-6 at the break and led by 25 by the end of the 3rd Qtr, 31-6. Arizona came back with a TD early in the 4th Qtr to make it 31-13 on an 11 yard TD run by de-Laura and another on a de-Laura pass to Sophomore WR Dorian Singer with 1:16 left in the 4th to make it look more respectable than it was—final score 31-20. For Singer it gave him nine catches on the day for 176 yards and the TD, bringing his season total to over 1,000 yards—700+ more than last year.
On the day, de-Laura ended up connecting on 28-of-46 for 357 yards, 1 TD, and 4 interceptions while on the ground Arizona struggled all game long rushing 22 times for just 84 yards with more than half of those picked up by Junior RB Michael Wiley. For the Cougars, QB Cameron Ward connected right at 70% of his passes for 193 yards, 1 TD to Junior RB Nakia Watson, and no interceptions in addition to rushing 8 times for 59 yards and another score. On the ground Washington State rushed 37 times for 161 yards and two TD’s including Ward’s and another by Watson.
Arizona actually had more Total Yards of Offense, 441-to 354 but trailed in 1st Downs 22-to-19, Rushing Yards 161-to-84, as well as in Time of Possession. Where they got hurt on the scoreboard were the 4 interceptions, 2 of which led to points on the board for the Cougars. As pointed out by Derek Peterson in Saturday Out West; “the Cougs forced a pair of three-and-outs to open the second half and then picked off de Laura three times before the third quarter came to a close. One of those was returned for a touchdown.” For the PAC-12 defensive leader in least number of points allowed per game, Washington State held an opponent under 25 points for the ninth time this season.
Next up for Washington State is the Apple Cup which takes place on their home turf in Pullman this year. For Washington this is a game that’s been on their minds all season long because of what happened last year in Husky Stadium. If they do win out on the Palouse it will be bitter-sweet since de-Laura, having entered the Transfer Portal after the win, won’t be there. As Sport’s Illustrated described it last year; “At the end of the [Apple Cup] a wild celebration immediately commenced for Washington State players and fans. All sorts of people in crimson colors rushed to the middle of the field at Husky Stadium following their lopsided 40-13 victory, where then-quarterback Jayden de-Laura punctuated the moment by planting a Cougar flag in the ground. It’s a memory that is seared into the heads of the Washington players that were there to see it—a memory they’re hoping to erase this coming weekend in Pullman where they hope to return the favor, most likely wishing de-Laura would still be there to suffer the consequences of his actions.”
For Arizona, they’ll be playing for what the NCAA has certified as the oldest rivalry trophy in college football—the Territorial Cup—when they host the Sun Devils at Arizona Stadium in Tucson in what is known as the Duel in the Desert. A little history of the rivalry is provided on the ASU StudentLife website; “Back in 1885, before Arizona was even a state, the University of Arizona and the Territorial Normal School — the original name of ASU — were founded and placed in their respective cities: Tucson and Tempe. By both being legislatively founded on the same day, the competition between the two has gone back to day one, fighting for funding, boosters and public support. The rivalry came to a head during the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship Cup on Thanksgiving Day 123 years ago — the first-ever Territorial Cup Game. The Normal School defeated U of A 11–2, awarding the Normal School the prize of the original Territorial Cup. The cup was presented to the team in January 1900. Then for 83 years, it disappeared. It was found again in the closet of the First Congregational Church of Tempe in 1983 and returned to what was now called Arizona State University. Now each year, in the culminating game of ASU’s and U of A’s football season, the two teams fight for the oldest trophy in NCAA history.”