Arizona didn’t have the best start, but a long second half drained the life from Arizona State and sent the Wildcats back home to Tucson with a 23-7 victory, and the Territorial Cup in hand.

Brent Brennan’s first win in the rivalry series punctuates a dramatic turnaround for the program. After a 4-8 finish last season, Brennan’s aggressiveness in the portal, while retaining his roster, and making significant changes to the coaching staff, led to a 9-3 finish this time around.

The Wildcats have been great defensively all season long, and it showed up again on Friday night. The Wildcats forced five turnovers from ASU’s Jeff Sims, nabbing three interceptions and scooping up two fumbles.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Wildcats dominated the game defensively, despite only playing 20 minutes of the game. Here are the five highest-graded defenders from Arizona’s win (minimum 30 snaps).

Kennedy had a relatively quiet night in the box score, but was still effective on the edge. He made two tackles and had one pressure against the Sun Devils.

The edge rusher did a great job of keeping contain against Sims, not letting him scramble or beat the Wildcats with his legs. He did the same thing in the run game. With the exception of a few plays, ASU could only run the ball between the tackles, and the edges were a big reason why.

According to PFF, Kennedy had an overall grade of 68.3, with a tackling grade of 75.8, a run defense grade of 66.5 and a pass rush grade of 62.7.

Dansby had a big day locking down the perimeter with fellow corner Jay’Vion Cole limited to just eight snaps. The senior corner had two tackles, one pass breakup and an interception.

ASU’s first turnover of the day came as Sims was flushed from the pocket and made an errant throw toward the sideline, where Dansby dove and came up with the takeaway. He allowed just one short catch on five targets, but he also had a pass interference penalty.

According to PFF, Dansby had an overall grade of 68.9, with a coverage grade of 71.4, a tackling grade of 76.6 and a run defense grade of 56.1.

Wilson had a great day opposite Kennedy on the edge. He made six tackles and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage in the win for Arizona.

Like Kennedy, Wilson did a great job of keeping ASU contained to the pocket or running between the tackles in traffic. He also had two hits on Sims as a pass rusher, making his presence felt.

According to PFF, Wilson had an overall grade of 69.0, with a tackling grade of 78.3, a run defense grade of 75.2 and a pass rush grade of 57.1.

Arizona’s safeties once again were flying around the field and always near the ball. Smith was huge against the run, making six tackles and deflecting one pass.

While tackling has been a problem for Smith this season, he was perfect against the Sun Devils. He played close to stop the run and also picked up one pressure. Smith didn’t allow any catches as the primary defender and made some key tackles downfield to prevent ASU from scoring.

According to PFF, Smith had an overall grade of 71.7, with a tackling grade of 82.9, a run defense grade of 74.6 and a coverage grade of 68.7.

Who else? Johnson was once again all over the field making plays. He made three tackles, two pass breakups, one interception and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.

Johnson punched the ball away from Sims on a run with ASU driving into scoring range, and Arizona recovered and went on the score the final touchdown to seal the game. On the ensuing possession, Sims overshot his man and Johnson laid out to snatch the pick, the fifth and final takeaway of the day for the Wildcats.

According to PFF, Johnson had an overall grade of 83.3, by far his highest grade of the season. He also had a run defense grade of 92.7, a coverage grade of 71.3 and a tackling grade of 56.2.

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