The last time Arizona and Arizona State met for the Territorial Cup while both being ranked in the Top 25, Ronald Reagan wasn't even midway through his second term and Dionne Warwick, Elton John and Gladys Knight combined to bring us the top song of the year with "That's What Friends Are For."Fast forward to 2014, and the stakes have climbed even higher. Both Arizona and Arizona State entered the game tied with UCLA for the top spot in the Pac-12's South Division, with UCLA holding the tiebreaker. With Stanford's win over the Bruins, the annual grudge match for the oldest rivalry trophy morphed into the de facto Pac-12 South title game.Right from the opening kickoff, this game was shaping up to be a classic. It didn't disappoint, as both teams went blow for blow for most of the game before the Wildcats eventually squeezed out a victory in the fourth quarter.Let's dive right in as we pick apart both the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils in our game grades.Box score via NCAA.com.Arizona StatePass OffenseIt's difficult to know exactly what to make of the passing game from Arizona State. Taylor Kelly, who has been a fairly reliable starter for ASU, was benched in favor of Mike Bercovici in the second half.Kelly really wasn't that bad. He finished his performance 13-of-22 for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Bercovici threw the exact same number of passes and completed 14 of them. But he also threw one (very costly) interception, and finished with 123 yards and two touchdowns.So the question now becomes why head coach Todd Graham opted forBercovici over Kelly in the second half. Don't worry. We'll get into that in a little bit.One of the things lacking from the ASU passing game this afternoon was the big play. Of the combined 27 completions from ASU quarterbacks, only one went for 25 or more yards (a 50-yarder to Jaelen Strong). Strong, who injured his shoulder on his long reception, only hauled in four receptions on the day but led the team with 80 yards and a pretty spectacular one-handed touchdown snag.All in all, it wasn't a bad day for the Sun Devils passing game. It certainly wasn't lights-out amazing, but it wasn't bad by any stretch. But it does leave us feeling just a little uneasy about the Sun Devils in their to-be-determined bowl game.Arizona StateRun OffenseLike the passing game, the run game was a bit of a mixed bag. It can really be boiled down to two halves in which the Sun Devils were either pretty solid or pretty horrible.Prior to halftime, ASU put up 99 rushing yards on the Wildcats on 29 attempts. A decent 3.4 yards per rush is a good place to start, and we were thinking that if ASU could continue to find avenues to run the ball while perhaps mixing in a few big plays, the Sun Devils might just be able to pull off the win.After halftime, however, Arizona stepped up its pressure, which not only kept the passing game off-balance but also completely disrupted the run game from ASU. Minus the first-half numbers, Arizona State gained just 14 rushing yards on 14 carries. A yard per rush wasn't exactly what we had in mind when we were thinking ASU had a chance to come out on top after a halftime score knotted at 21.Demario Richard had, by far, the best day for ASU on the ground, averaging 5.2 yards per carry on his 13 attempts. Most of those, however, came in the first half.While running the football won't provide quick dividends for a team playing from behind in the second half, Arizona State's complete inability to challenge Arizona on the ground late in the game gave the Wildcats all the confidence they needed to defend the passing game when it mattered most.Arizona StatePass DefenseThe two halves were pretty even for ASU's pass defense. The Wildcats had nearly identical passing statistics from each half, and the Sun Devils were back to their usual tricks of dialing up pressure early on and often on Wildcats quarterback Anu Solomon.The other side of the blitzing coin is giving up big plays, though. And ASU gave up some whoppers.Arizona had five receivers with long receptions of 10 yards or more, and the pass and run defense combined to give up two touchdowns of at least 69 yards.Arizona StateRun DefenseThat long run we're talking about was a 79-yard scamper from Nick Wilson. Despite bottling up the Wildcats for just 13 rushing yards on 16 first-half carries, Wilson finished with 178 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts.No other Wildcat had positive rushing yards.It's not often we'll hand out a midterm A only to watch it plummet much beyond a B or B+, but the Sun Devils' complete inability to slow Wilson down in the second half is probably the biggest reason for ASU's defeat.For that reason, we're dropping the run defense all the way down to a C- on the day.Arizona StateSpecial TeamsIt's hard to hand out a nice grade to a special teams unit that missed its only field-goal attempt, but there were some nice extras thrown in by the special teams that provided the Sun Devils with enough opportunities this afternoon.First, of ASU's six punts (five from Matt Haack and a quick kick from Taylor Kelly), four were downed inside the 20 (one was blocked). Arizona was able to overcome poor starting field position almost all day, but we have to give credit to the ASU special teams for putting Arizona in such an uncomfortable positioneven if the ASU defense didn't do much about it.Second, we can't forget about long snapper Mitchell Fraboni, who hustled down the field to pick up a muffed punt return by Arizona. Everyone loves the big boys making plays, and long snappers are usually only mentioned when they screw up, so we're handing out some kudos here.Arizona StateCoachingPulling Kelly in favor ofBercovici was a bold move by Todd Graham. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out. Bercovici ended up with nearly identical numbers but had a very costly snap that set up the Wildcats inside the ASU 20. Arizona capitalized and pushed its lead to two scores.Had Kelly stayed in, would that have happened' Maybe, maybe not. But that extra spark Graham was looking for withBercovici never reallymaterialized. You might even be able to argue that the drive or two it took forBercovici to settle into a rhythm may have cost ASU a potential score or two.All conjecture, sure. But if there's one thing college football fans love to do, it's play "what if" after a big lossespecially to a rival.Arizona State played a solid game, for the most part, and Graham had his team prepared to deal with everything Arizona threw its way early on. ASU responded to Arizona's first three touchdowns with touchdowns of its own, and the game never really got away from the Sun Devils. That's a credit to both the playersandthe coaches.Still, we're left wondering about the quarterback situation.ArizonaPass OffenseWhen you have a game in which a running back takes things over, you don't often need a solid game passing the ball. But in close rivalries, every single yard can be important, and that was certainly the case against Arizona State.Anu Solomon was about as efficient as they come, finishing 15-of-21 for 208 yards and two touchdowns. His numbers were also nearly identical in each half, giving the coaching staff ample time to focus their halftime adjustments on the running game and defensive side of the football.While 208 yards isn't going to get anyone too excited, it's not often we see quarterbacks maintain such a consistent performance for 60 whole minutes. Solomon was good when he needed to be and even managed to find room for some plays that created momentum.Samajie Grant was the earlier recipient of one such big play, as Solomon found him on the slant early on and Grant proceeded to weave his way through the ASU defense en route to a 69-yard touchdown reception. Solomon also found David Richards later on for a critical 31-yard pickup that extended a drive, but perhaps most importantly, Solomon didn't really do anything to seriously jeopardize the Wildcats' chances.While sacks for big losses are certainly a concern, we've see far too many quarterbacks panic under pressure and try to force plays when they shouldn't. Solomon, clearly well-coached, seemed content to suffer through a big sack and come back on the next play or series and regroup.Punting isn't always the end of the worlda lesson far too many quarterbacks learn far too late in their collegiate careers. Solomon, a freshman, has already aced that part of his education.ArizonaRun OffenseAs mentioned earlier, this was truly the tale of two halves and likely where the game was won for Arizona. After a first half that produced just 13 net yards on 16 carries, it looked as if the Sun Devils only needed to bottle up Solomon in the second half to emerge with a victory.Nick Wilson had other plans.The only Wildcat with positive ground yardage on the day, Wilson rattled off 178 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. He was helped out by some solid play by the Arizona offensive line, which kept the ASU rush contained long enough to get Wilson to the second level.And when you get to ASU's second level against its heavy blitz, big yardage can be your reward.ArizonaPass DefenseArizona's secondary was simply good enough today. Aside from a late interception by Jourdon Grandon, there wasn't a lot to get overly excited about. The secondary gave up 267 yards and four touchdownssomething that will certainly need to be cleaned up before facing Oregon next week in the Pac-12 Championship.Then again, Arizona has done well against the Ducks, so maybe defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is on to something.One thing of concern is the defense's penchant for committing bad penalties on 3rd-and-long. Arizona State was the beneficiary of at least three first downs after would-be punt-causing incompletions or runs on third down thanks to pass interference, defensive holding or hands to the face.These mental mistakes must be addressed before Arizona can truly be considered one of the nation's elite teams.Arizona Run DefenseAfter giving up 99 yards in the first half, Arizona went into the locker room looking for a way to bottle up ASU's Demario Richard and D.J. Foster. The Wildcats came out in the second half with a plan that worked to perfection.Step one: Get ASU down by more than one score and force the Sun Devils into passing the ball more than they want to. Mission accomplished.Step two: Key some defensive speedsters on the perimeter runs and allow the D-line and linebackers to take care of business up the middle. Check.Step three: Let Scooby do what Scooby does. Scooby Wright is one of the bestand most underrateddefensive players in the nation. Perhaps another standout performancethis time on national network television over a holiday weekendis just what he needed to finally earn that missing respect. Either way, Wright needed to feature big in the second half. He did.All of that amounts to a paltry 14 yards of rushing offense for the Sun Devils after halftimeand we all know if you can't run the ball, you have to throw the ball. Guess what: The Arizona secondary and pass-rushers knew that, too.ArizonaSpecial TeamsYes, there was a pretty ugly muffed punt that resulted in a turnover. Yes, ASU was allowed to create a little momentum with that big special teams play. But what better way to erase the negatives created by a muffed punt than by blocking a punt'Cayleb Jones came through the line barely being blocked in the second quarter to set up a four-play, 30-yard Arizona drive that ended in a touchdown. That's the kind of stuff special teams live for, and Jones came through in a big way for his team.With a perfect kicking game that went six-for-six on extra points and averaged better than 46 yards on seven punts, we're fine with handing out a solidly above-average B.Arizona CoachingCriticize Rich Rodriguez' What are we, Michigan fans'Okay, here's a disclaimer. This is a bit of a nitpick, but we're going to mention it anyway. We absolutelyhatedthe decision to go with three straight runs for a net of five yards on Arizona's last drive of consequence.Yes, the Wildcats were protecting a lead, but ASU had all three timeouts remaining, and the lead was one measly touchdown. We somehow expected Rich Rod to be a little more like, well, Rich Rod. We wanted to see Arizona do something to put the game away right then and therenot run the ball three times for five yards in hopes that the Sun Devils wouldn't notice the running clock.Yes, it worked out in the end, but that was thanks to the defense that forced a turnover on downs. We just really wanted to see more from Rodriguez's highly touted, high-octane offense.Oh well. A win is a win, a Territorial Cup is a Territorial Cup (Rodriguez's first), and a South Division title is a South Division title.Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.Follow Bleacher Report's National College Football Featured ColumnistDavid Luther on Twitter.
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