TEMPE — There’s little doubt that the Arizona State Sun Devils will be in for a battle on Friday night against the Arizona Wildcats.
The Wildcats are heading into the game with an 8-3 record a year after winning just four games – exhibiting a resurgence after a down year.
Much of the reasoning behind the successful season has been junior quarterback Noah Fifita – who has rebounded incredibly well since a relatively rough 2024 campaign.
Arizona State defensive coordinator Brian Ward discussed what Fifita has done to grow as a player since the 2023 season – and what the Sun Devils will look to do to counter those improvements in his talk with media following Tuesday’s practice.
“The first year we saw him. He was, you know, he was a freshman, but he just got better and better and better, and he had great, great talent around him, lot of NFL guys and a lot of guys who are playing on Sundays right now. He was completely comfortable in that scheme. He lit us up. And, you know, you saw him kind of take a step back. They were going through transition as a program, and going into this year, you just see he’s, you know, he’s back, you know, operating, you know, in a system, having a lot of confidence throwing the ball and running around.
He knows the strengths and weaknesses of this offense in terms of his personnel, you know, I mean, and the plays to their strengths. You can tell. He studies film, and he knows different systems, and he’s gonna know. Think he knows what you know, what we’re going to do based off of what looks said. That’s what we’re working on all week. This week, is to change the pictures for him so he’s going to second guess himself.”
Fifita has unanimously been praised for his decisive nature when dropping back in the pocket, even in his season of struggle last year. He has managed to take a step forward once again even after losing star Tetairoa McMillan – displaying that he is more than the talent surrounding him.
This was even further confirmed when the California native broke the all-time career touchdowns record in Tucson in their win over Baylor last Saturday.
Arizona State-Arizona will be jockeying for a ninth win on the season, possession of the Territorial Cup, and momentum heading into the 2026 season on Friday night.
Nov 30, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils running back Cam Skattebo (4) holds the Territorial Cup alongside Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham at the end of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images / Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Read more on why the Arizona State men’s basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on major takeaways from the Sun Devils’ convincing win over Colorado in week 13 here.
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