TEMPE — It wasn’t quite 70-7, but the 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats punctuated their regular season with a 59-23 rout over in-state rival Arizona State Saturday afternoon at Mountain America Stadium.

Bowl-bound Arizona ends its regular season 9-3 with a Territorial Cup win in Tempe for the first time since 2011. The Wildcats have won the Territorial Cup in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009.

In the process, Arizona made history in multiple ways.

It’s the largest margin of victory for Arizona in Tempe. The previous best was the Wildcats’ 35-0 win over the Sun Devils in 1953.

“I thought it was a dominant performance by our program, by our team, by our seniors,” Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said. “It was just one of those games where our guys played fantastic ball.”

Arizona redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita completed 30 of 41 passes for a career-high 527 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Fifita’s yardage total is a single-game program record and a Territorial Cup record for any quarterback.

Fifita’s 357 first-half yards were the most by a UA quarterback in a half since Anu Solomon against Cal in 2014. Fifita, Solomon and Willie Tuitama are the only three quarterbacks in UA history to pass for over 500 yards. Arizona had 619 yards of total offense to ASU's 316. 

UA sophomore wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was Fifita’s top target, with 11 catches for a career-high 266 yards. McMillan and Phoenix-area native Jacob Cowing combined for 20 catches for 423 yards. McMillan set a Territorial Cup record for receiving yards and is the first player in the rivalry’s history to have over 200 receiving yards.

“That’s just them. That’s just their connection,” Arizona running back Michael Wiley said of teammates Fifita and McMillan. “To see them basically go out there and play backyard football at a high level is good to see.”

Said Fisch, on Fifita and McMillan’s on-field chemistry that dates back to when they were both in the eighth grade in Southern California: “It’s something,” adding that Fifita seems to know where McMillan is all the time.

“When we recruited them in 2022, Noah was a huge part of it (with) their relationship,” Fisch said. “We felt like if we stayed strong with T-Mac all the way through, in the end he was going to play with his buddy, and I think it’s worked out well for him.”

Wiley, who was the Territorial Cup MVP in 2022, finished with three all-purpose touchdowns Saturday, including stiff-arming his way for a 22-yard scoring run. Wiley finished with eight touchdowns all-time in the Territorial Cup rivalry. He’s scored at least once in the last four Territorial Cup games, including the lone score of the 70-7 loss in 2020.

For the third straight contest, the Sun Devils started a non-quarterback at quarterback. Tight end Jalin Conyers started under the center for the second time in three games; ASU running back Cameron Skattebo started last week against Oregon. Highly-touted freshman Jaden Rashada, who played in ASU’s first two games before suffering a knee injury, was expected to start at quarterback but didn’t after reportedly missing the team’s pregame meeting. He did enter the lineup eventually for the Sun Devils.

Marana native Trenton Bourguet, who threw for 376 yards in Tucson last season, was dressed but ruled out for Saturday with a stomach virus.

ASU ran 11 plays before inserting Rashada. Conyers quarterbacked ASU to a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive without attempting a pass; Skattebo scored on a 4-yard run to give the Sun Devils their only lead.

“We’ve gone through adversity all year,” said Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado, who had an interception while also leading the Wildcats with a season-high 10 tackles. “Just stick to it, play hard, play our brand of football. We work hard to come out fast, and they did a good job on that first drive. We made some adjustments and went out there.”

Despite Rashada subbing in, the Sun Devils passing attack struggled to find a rhythm. Rashada threw an interception to UA safety Dalton Johnson, then with less than a minute left in the first half, Maldonado drilled ASU receiver Troy Omeire, causing a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Jacob Kongaika.

Arizona had 357 passing yards in the first half; ASU had just 25. The Wildcats scored 35 unanswered points to end the first half and lead 38-7.

The dominance by Arizona bled into the second half.

Maldonado’s returned his interception of a Rashada pass 40 yards to ASU’s 9-yard line, which Wiley jokingly called a punt return.

“The scheme put me in position to make a play. ... It was a race for the end zone,” Maldonado said. “I couldn’t get (the touchdown), but I appreciate my teammates for blocking their butts off, so it was fun.”

Arizona redshirt senior tight end Tanner McLachlan converted the takeaway into an 8-yard touchdown catch from Fifita.

McLachlan finished Saturday with two touchdowns, his first multi-touchdown as a collegiate player. McLachlan’s seven receptions also moved him ahead of Rob Gronkowski for most career catches by an Arizona tight end.

Arizona didn’t punt until there were just over two minutes left of the third quarter. The Sun Devils didn’t score until 4:04 left in the third quarter when Conyers scored a goal-line rushing touchdown.

Between ASU’s first two touchdowns, the Wildcats defense forced three punts and three takeaways — two interceptions and a fumble. It’s the second straight contest Arizona recorded multiple takeaways. The Wildcats had eight takeaways on the season entering last week’s win over Utah, and they posted five in the last two games.

Although ASU scored 23 points and Fifita threw an interception, the Wildcats cruised to a 36-point victory.

Now at a six-game winning streak, the Wildcats will now await their fate for the upcoming bowl game. Arizona’s nine regular-season wins are the team’s most since 2014. The 2023 Wildcats are the seventh team in program history to win at least nine games in a season.

“When (athletic director Dave Heeke) and (UA president Robert Robbins) interviewed me, I didn’t say I just wanted to win five games,” Fisch said. “I had high aspirations for what we were going to do here.

“If I didn’t think we could win nine games, I wouldn’t have moved my family here. This is what we wanted to do. We wanted to win.”

No. 15 Arizona thumped Arizona State 59-23 in Tempe to win the Territorial Cup and end the season 9-3. Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star

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Contact Justin Spears, the Star’s Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports