TEMPE, Ariz. — In the final Pac-12 battle and the 97th annual Territorial Cup between in-state foes No. 15 Arizona and Arizona State, the Wildcats made it known that they didn’t forget the “no pity for the kitty” bulletin board after a 70-point loss three years ago.

The UA demolished the Sun Devils 59-23 in its largest margin of victory in Tempe to take home the Territorial Cup trophy for consecutive years for the first time since the 2008-2009 seasons and extending their win streak to six games to close out the regular season at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"Fantastic job our team today," UA head coach Jedd Fisch said following the game. "Certainly excited by the way all of our guys played, I thought it was a dominant performance by our program, by our program, by our team, by our seniors. ... So just really proud of our team."

The Wildcats were anchored by redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita, who went 30-for-41 for 527 yards and five touchdowns, the most passing yards by a UA quarterback in a game in program history.

ASU initially used a Wildcat formation with tight end Jalin Conyers at quarterback, maneuvering a 7-play, 75 yard drive with no passing plays to score a touchdown on a Cam Skattebo 4-yard plunge. It appeared as though the Wildcats, were expecting ASU quarterback Jaden Rashada, who initially was anticipated to start.

However, safety Gunner Maldonado said his team was preparing for all offensive sets.

"We practiced for it," Maldonado said.

Not throwing a pass for the first 14 minutes of the game, ASU got its gunslinger Rashada into it and immediately completed a pass. The Wildcats’ preparation for Rashada was on full display as on Rashada’s first complete drive, UA safety Dalton Johnson intercepted Rashada, marking his first career pick, and then right before halftime, Johnson’s counterpart Gunner Maldonado forced a fumble. ASU went scoreless on the next five straight drives in the first half since the quarterback change.

Fisch said that after they counteracted ASU's run-heavy attack, the Sun Devils switched to a more traditional type of offense, which he believed his team defended well throughout the game.

"When they put Rashada in, it was more traditional offense and I thought our guys did a great job." Fisch said.

After a three-point first drive, the Wildcats’ offense looked much like the one fans have been accustomed to over their previous five straight wins, scoring five straight touchdowns on an average of 5.8 plays per drive, which was highlighted by running back Michael Wiley who scampered for three straight touchdowns, the same amount he scored in last year’s Territorial Cup game in Tucson, aiding the Wildcats compile 250 yards in the first quarter and 400 yards total in the half, the first time it has done so since 2020 to take a 38-7 halftime lead. UA’s 38 points were the most its had in a first half since it had 51 against NAU in 2019.

Making its name known throughout its 5-game win streak as a second-half team, the Wildcats didn’t start off too pretty, allowing ASU to score back-to-back touchdowns, but through the play of Tanner McLachlan, who broke the record for career all-time catches by a tight end, Fifita, and the defense, which allowed 52 passing yards for a season-low of 82 passing yards, the Wildcats did not allow the Sun Devils to make an historic comeback.

The Wildcats’ offense was aided by star receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who went off for 11 catches for 266 yards and one touchdown, breaking the all-time record for most receiving yards in the Territorial Cup history. McMillan was complemented by Jacob Cowing, who caught nine passes for 157 yards and his 11th touchdown of the season, tying the UA school record for most touchdowns in a season.

Wiley after the game compared Fifita and McMillan's connection to be backyard football-esque.

"That's just them, their connection is special as you can see. ... to see them and basically go out there and play backyard football at a high level is good to see."

The other side of the ball was led by Maldonado, who finished with 10 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception, and Johnson with eight tackles, one interception and two tackles for loss.

Arizona finished with arguably its best offensive and defensive game, finishing with a season-high 622 yards and 59 points and tied the most takeaways with three.

The Wildcats have reached their sixth time in school history getting nine wins, something that looked bleak at the beginning of the season. Wiley, who was a part of a one win team just two seasons ago has seen a monumental shift in the team's success through hard work that the team put in over the years.

"Losing 70-7 [to ASU] and losing to NAU and to come back and then last year go 5-7 and then this year winning nine games, that's special," Wiley said. I wouldn't say I believed it from the jump, but the work that we put in in the offseason, it was beautiful and I should've expected it, I was happy to see that."

Arizona (9-3, 7-2 Pac-12) will wait to see what bowl game and team its plays in the program's first bowl berth since the 2017 season.

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans as the Wildcats continue Building The Tradition

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattRMoreno, @THutch1995, @RyanYoungRivals)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)