No Pity for the Kitty 2012

Ever since we lost to UCLA, I've been saying I don't care what else happened, let's just beat UofA.  Well, praise Allah, we did last Friday night in the Territorial Cup, and just like two years ago, there's no pity for the kitty, even in lame all red uniforms that made them look like crayons.  Haller's recap in the Arizona Republic covered the highlights pretty well, but the AP story described it best: "Arizona gave up 24 points in the 4th quarter to lose to Arizona State."  UofA basically self-destructed, particularly QB Matt Scott.  His first two picks were actually nice plays by the Devil defense, but his third was a terrible throw.  Worst was his fumble as UofA was driving in the 4th and about to go up by two TDs.  Instead Deveron Carr scooped up the ball and Devils scored shortly thereafter to tie the game.  Scott was clearly out of it, as shown in this PRICELESS photo.

After the tie score, the Devils D came up big and stopped the Mildcats almost in their redzone.  Then we blocked the punt (photo at left), probably the key point in the game.  It was almost fated to be.  I don't usually gloat when a team falls apart like that, but watching UofA was enjoyable.  Another TD put us up by 14 with about 3 minutes to go.  I knew we had to score that second go-ahead touchdown because UofA would score to bring it within 7, which they did in what seemed like 5 seconds.  I think our D thought it was wrapped up and just watched them go by.  Thankfully the on-side kick went out of bounds and UofA had no timeouts left.  We ran out the clock.

Speaking of that loss to UCLA, if we had won that game (which was VERY winnable), we would've been Pac-12 South champs.  Oh well.  I'm very happy with a 7-5 season and a minor bowl game.  I had optimistically predicted we'd go 7-5 back in August.  Next year we ought to be even better, especially on offense, with QB Taylor Kelly having a year under his belt and spring & fall practice to improve.  The D will lose a great leader in LB Brandon Magee, but most guys are returning.  Hopefully that includes Pac-12 defensive player of the year Will Sutton, a junior who might leave early.  I'm hopeful going into next season.  Sure is nice to have a winning record again, the first since 2007 (Erickson's first year at ASU).  UofA is greatly improved under Rich Rod, and they are going to be a beast (hopefully w/o a good QB) next year in Tempe.  Can't wait.

And can't forget, many thanks to my cousin for special ordering ESPN so Zach and I could watch the game.  Worked out great.  That's me trying not to loudly celebrate after the final whistle, at her house with everyone else already asleep.  Brought my No Pity shirt from AZ for the occasion.