Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate surprisingly never beat the Sun Devils in his career. In 2018, ASU rallied from 19 down to win 41-40 in Tucson.

 Mike Christy photos, Arizona Daily Star 2018

This summer, each member of the Star’s sports team will assemble a list of the five most memorable Arizona games they’ve covered since joining the beat. This week, Michael Lev will reflect on five football and baseball games.

Lev’s No. 5:

Arizona squanders 19-point fourth-quarter lead, loses 2018 Territorial Cup

What went down: Arizona took a 40-21 lead into the fourth quarter before being outscored 20-0 in the final period for a 41-40 ASU victory on Nov. 24, 2018, at Arizona Stadium.

What we wrote at the time: Chants of “ASU! ASU!” thundered through Arizona Stadium moments after an improbable comeback that had to be seen to be believed.

About 10 minutes later, Arizona Wildcats players tried to process what had just happened. They mostly were at a loss for words — stunned into silence.

Sophomore linebacker Colin Schooler found a way to describe it. In nine words, he summed up a disappointing game and a frustrating season.

“We need to play four quarters every single week,” Schooler said.

An emotional N’Keal Harry (1) of ASU embraces senior quarterback Manny Wilkins after the Territorial Cup at Arizona Stadium in 2018.

The Wildcats didn’t do that Saturday afternoon against Arizona State, and it cost them. They played an incomplete game to finish a season in which they never quite gelled.

ASU rallied from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to shock Arizona 41-40 in front of 51,805 fans who rode the emotional roller coaster alongside the participants.

“Every loss hurts,” senior receiver Shawn Poindexter said, “but yeah, this kind of sucks.”

It wasn’t just that the Wildcats lost; it was how they lost.

Arizona appeared to have the game under control, holding a 40-21 lead entering the fourth quarter. Star receiver N’Keal Harry hadn’t done much against a depleted secondary. Eno Benjamin, the Pac-12’s leading rusher, mostly had been held in check. The UA offense had missed some scoring opportunities, but it had moved the ball and taken care of it.

Then it all fell apart.

— Michael Lev

Arizona wide receiver Shawn Poindexter hauls in a long pass ahead of ASU defensive back Chase Lucas during the first quarter of the 2018 game in Tucson.

Player of the game: ASU tailback Eno Benjamin earned the Bob Moran MVP Award after rushing for 80 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning score. Arizona’s Khalil Tate (328 total yards, three TD passes) and J.J. Taylor (162 scrimmage yards) had bigger numbers, but they were responsible for two turnovers in the fourth quarter that turned the game in the Sun Devils’ favor.

By the numbers: Turnovers were one reason the Wildcats lost; red-zone inefficiency was another. Arizona reached the red zone four times but scored only one touchdown (Tate’s 8-yard pass to Tony Ellison late in the third quarter) for a success rate of 25%. Had the Wildcats’ converted more of those opportunities, their lead might have been truly insurmountable.

The aftermath: Arizona fought to put itself in position to make a bowl game for a second straight season, winning two in a row to square its record at 5-5. Then the Wildcats flopped down the stretch, getting blown out at Washington State, 69-28, before giving away the Territorial Cup.

The beginning and end of that season set the tone for the disappointing Kevin Sumlin era, which would last just 17 more games. Arizona started the following season 4-1 but finished it with a seven-game losing streak that would grow into the longest in school history. Sumlin was fired after the 70-7 Territorial Cup debacle of 2020.

Tate was considered a Heisman Trophy contender entering the ’18 season. He was inconsistent and dinged up for most of it, leading to an unexpected return in 2019. He would never fully recapture the glory days of ’17.

Personal reflections: When I look back at the 2018 Territorial Cup, I think more about missed opportunities than the fourth-quarter meltdown. I think about what could have been.

Two plays before Josh Pollack’s would-be winning field goal from 45 yards faded wide right, Tate threw a catchable ball to Stanley Berryhill III in the end zone. It wasn’t an easy play to make, but it’s one Berryhill likely would have converted when he was older and more polished.

A handful of plays earlier, Tate launched a pass that — true story — traveled 71 yards in the air. It fell just beyond the grasp of a sprinting Shun Brown. Had they connected for a touchdown on that play, and Arizona had held on to win, it would have joined Chuck Cecil’s 100-plus-yard interception return vs. ASU and the “Leap by the Lake” in the pantheon of greatest plays in UA football history.

Then there’s Pollack, a great kid who’d had a great game. Those missed red-zone chances all ended in field goals. Before attempting the winning kick, Pollack had been a perfect 4 for 4. I felt terrible for him when his fifth try didn’t sail through the uprights.

Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin, left, eased off the accelerator down the stretch, enabling Herm Edwards and ASU to rally in the 2018 Territorial Cup.

I don’t like rushing to judgment about coaches, but this game didn’t reflect well on Sumlin, whose first season was, on balance, a failure. The Wildcats twice attempted two-point conversions at points in the game when you shouldn’t — i.e., before the fourth quarter — missed both times and ended up losing by one. They also took their foot off the gas pedal far too early — going into four-minute-offense mode with 13 minutes to play — allowing the Sun Devils to remain within striking distance.

It’s hard to believe Tate didn’t win a single Territorial Cup as Arizona’s starting quarterback, but that’s what happened. In all three instances — 2017, ’18 and ’19 — the Wildcats took a lead into the second half and couldn’t hold it. More zany stuff happened in the ’17 game. None could match the deflating dissatisfaction of this one.

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The Georgia Bulldogs are looking for their third consecutive title and are the frontrunners heading into the season, which kicks off in August.

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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter: @michaeljlev