Where, oh where, has this Arizona football team been?

It took 11 games and lots of long, long sad nights to get to this point of elation and jubilation.

“I finally get to sit up here with a smile,” Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said deep into the night and after his Wildcats made in-state rival Arizona State look less than impressive in UA’s 56-35 win.

It got so bad in the third quarter, I wondered: “How bad is Arizona State?”

Did it really matter? Arizona played with heart and some hurt and put away Arizona State with relative ease. Who would have thought going in Arizona’s Zach Green, Samajie Grant and Brandon Dawkins would all turn into Forest Gump and run and run and run?

The only thing missing was the big “Stop” sign in the end zone.

They turned the night into personal highlight tapes as did the entire Arizona team.

The trio – and Shun Brown’s 30 yards – totaled a new school record for rushing yards with 511 (Dawkins-183, Grant-176 and Green-126).

“All we did was execute,” Dawkins said. “I preach every week that all we need to do is execute and I think we did that today. The line did a great job. I can’t thank them enough; the holes were there all day long and we took advantage of it.”

Heck, Arizona only had to pass eight times. E-I-G-H-T times.

“Our guys and our coaching staff did a good job of getting ready and they did a good job blocking,” Rodriguez said, referring to his team’s running game. “Samajie was phenomenal with just a few weeks at running back, particularly on some of the outside zones where he stuck his foot in the ground and ran north.

“Zach Green has never run that far in his life without passing out. It was great. And Brandon Dawkins was terrific. When you have a quarterback that can run like him it gives you a whole new different dimension.”

It gave everyone enough pause to wonder where this team had been all season? And was this the same team that had lost eight straight and was on the verge of becoming the first Arizona team to go winless in the Pac-10, Pac-12 era?

Well, better late than never.

“It certainly doesn’t make up for a tough season but it’s a great night,” Rodriguez said.

Great night, indeed … 3-9 and 1-8 looks a lot better than 2-10 and 0-for-9.

Conversely, ASU coach Todd Graham used words like “embarrassing” and “atrocious” on defense.

“They had one big play after another,” Graham said.

Arizona started early – about 90 seconds into the game – and set the tone on Dawkins' 71-yard touchdown run. He said “it was like a small piece in the chain link of events that went on in the game. It was one that we needed and I was glad I could make it for us and help us out. The line did an awesome job.”

But given the state of the rivalry and all the craziness that has come with it ASU came right back with a 42-yard fumble return.

Rodriguez thought, “Oh boy, the doom and gloom thing can set in but it didn’t set in at all. We’re capable of being pretty good.”

But Arizona scored three quick times in the second quarter and you had to wonder was this going to be the night Arizona would win for the first time in three months.

Some weddings don’t even last that long.

“I wasn’t comfortable until we took a knee,” Rodriguez said. “Our student section was fantastic but when they were saying '’nay, nay, nay, goodbye' with seven minutes to go that kind of ticked me off. I’m not comfortable until we take a knee and even then I’m a little nervous.”

He might be overstating that, but every time Arizona State looked like it was going to get momentum, Arizona came right back – with ease. After ASU closed the gap to 35-28 midway through the third quarter, Arizona scored three more times with Grant closing it out on a 63-yard run.

“I was excited to see us put something together for four quarters,” Rodriguez said.

If you’re an Arizona you had to be excited too after three months of misery.

“This doesn’t erase what was a tough year for us but with what’s going on with our recruiting and what we have going on with our younger players we are going to be OK,” Rodriguez said. “Better than OK. Sometimes you have to get on the bottom to bounce back up. We’re down and out but we’ll bounce back up.”

Stay tuned. It’s only eight months away.