After two losses that were directly impacted by blocked extra points, the football gods provided a little bit of redemption to the ASU football team on Thursday night at Arizona Stadium.
All UA needed was an extra point to win the game in regulation, but junior defensive end James Brooks was there to block the try and send the game to overtime.
In the second overtime, all the Wildcats needed was an extra point to send the game to a third overtime, but Brooks was there again, blocking UA junior kicker Alex Zendejas for the second time, securing a 30-29 victory for ASU and sending the Territorial Cup back to Tempe.
“I had a feeling we were going to block the kick; you have to believe me,” ASU junior linebacker Brandon Magee said. “The dice rolled our way this time. It had to roll our way sometime and it came today. I wasn’t going back to Tempe without a ‘W’.”
The bitter rivalry is recognized by the NCAA as the nation’s oldest trophy game.
But for the first time in the 111 years that the two teams have met on the gridiron, ASU and UA’s battle went into overtime.
Late in regulation, it appeared as if ASU was going to suffer another devastating defeat.
Holding on to a 20-14 lead with just 2:59 to play, it seemed destined that the Wildcats would drive downfield for the winning touchdown.
Junior quarterback Nick Foles engineered a 10-play, 57-yard drive that eventually led to a five-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver David Douglas.
Zendejas, who beat ASU last season with a game winning field goal, was about to win the game for the second straight season, but Brooks swatted the kick away.
In overtime, UA drove down inside the ASU 5-yard line, but the defense held and forced a 19-yard Zendejas field goal.
The Sun Devils needed a touchdown to win, but went three and out to set up a field goal try by senior kicker Thomas Weber to send the game into a second overtime.
Despite his struggles, Weber was dead on all night. He drilled his fifth field goal of the night with ease to keep the game going.
ASU got the ball first in the second extra session and didn’t take long to find the end zone. Two plays after a 19-yard completion from sophomore quarterback Brock Osweiler to senior wide receiver Kerry Taylor, sophomore running back Cameron Marshall scored from two yards out.
The Wildcats answered with a quick scoring drive that ended with a nine-yard touchdown run by Douglas.
Instead of trying for the win on a two-point conversion, UA coach Mike Stoops took what he assumed was the safe route and tried the extra point for the tie.
Zendejas’ foot hit the turf, causing him to kick the ball into one of his teammates and then off of Brooks.
Multiple Sun Devils saw that there was potential for blocks.
“We knew his trajectory was low,” Brooks said. “We knew if we could get a push that we could get a couple of blocks. For a Sun Devil, beating them here is priceless.”
The Sun Devils’ offense was struggling to find its rhythm all night.
After UA scored consecutive touchdowns to go up 14-6 late in the third quarter, ASU began to chip away at the deficit.
Still trailing by five, ASU got a break when junior linebacker Oliver Aaron stripped UA sophomore running back Greg Nwoko at midfield. The Sun Devils capitalized to take the lead on an Osweiler touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Mike Willie. The two-point conversion was good, giving ASU a 17-14 lead.
“Oliver Aaron had a stinger and he threw his shoulder out,” senior linebacker Gerald Munns said. “He comes back in for a series, rips the ball out and recovers it all on one play. Our offense got momentum; it was huge — biggest play of the game.”
On the ensuing drive, Stoops decided to go for it on fourth down and one from UA’s own 29-yard line with six minutes left. The Sun Devils stopped the Wildcats short and took over. That led to a Weber field goal with 2:59 left.
In a game of redemption in many ways, maybe most of it came to Weber, who will now be remembered for his 5-for-5 performance against the rival and not for his senior season struggles.
It all culminated with Weber burying Sparky’s pitchfork into the Arizona Stadium end zone.
“It makes up for a lot,” Weber said. “You can’t live in the past. This was amazing.”
Whether or not that was Weber’s last game in maroon and gold is now up to the NCAA.
ASU has filed a waiver with the NCAA in hopes of becoming bowl eligible at 6-6.
“This is just an amazing feeling for our team to go out this way,” Weber said. “Hopefully we’ll get that waiver for the bowl.”
The NCAA will rule on the waiver Friday.
“Our guys have fought all season and we’ve had a lot of close games,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s nice to get the football gods on our side, well, at least the extra-point gods. What a football game.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
