TEMPE, Ariz. -- Passing for 3,000 yards in a season was good for Andrew Walter. Beating archrival Arizona was better.
"Three grand is nice, but to me it's more fun being part of a team that's winning," the Arizona State quarterback said Friday after throwing three touchdown passes in a 28-7 win over the Wildcats.
The Sun Devils (5-7, 2-6 Pac-10) won the Territorial Cup for the fourth time in five years, helped by Loren Wade's 120 yards on 18 carries, including a 40-yard TD.
The 77th cup game decided last place in the Pac-10 for the first time.
Arizona State tied Stanford for eighth while snapping a four-game losing streak. The Wildcats (2-10, 1-7) completed their worst season since 1957 in the cellar.
"It's obviously a disappointing loss," Arizona interim coach Mike Hankwitz said. "If you credit Arizona State, they made plays that we needed to make, and we didn't make. The key was we gave up some big plays on defense, and then we didn't convert scoring opportunities."
Kris Heavner passed 16 yards to Mike Jefferson for Arizona's lone score.
Along with playing in hostile territory, the Wildcats performed with the liability of unprecedented coaching turmoil.
John Mackovic, who weathered a player revolt last season, was fired five games in and replaced by Hankwitz, his defensive coordinator.
Hankwitz is on the short list of candidates for the job, which Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood wants to fill by Monday.
"Our plan was to stop Mike Bell," Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said about Arizona's tailback, who gained 95 yards. "Bend but don't break. We accomplished that. And we had some huge milestones."
Walter, the only 3,000-yard passer in Arizona State history, did it for the second straight season. He was 16-for-26 for 281 yards to finish the year with 3,044 yards and 24 TDs.
His scoring strikes covered 28 yards to Skyler Fulton, 9 to Jamaal Lewis and 80 to Derek Hagan.
Walter's 44-yard completion to Fulton set up a 43-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter, but Jesse Ainsworth missed left after a bad snap.
Nicholas Folk had worse misfortune after the Wildcats took over.
They marched 67 yards in 14 plays before Folk banged a 24-yard miss off the right upright 49 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Hagan then sealed the win when he caught the ball at the Arizona 45 and finished along the sideline with 13:58 left.
Hagan also reached a milestone, becoming the Sun Devils' sixth 1,000-yard receiver with eight catches for 155 yards.
Walter hit Fulton with a 28-yard TD strike 2:38 into the game.
The Wildcats went to the other extreme, using half the first quarter to tie it after a 15-play, 76-yard march in which they accumulated 106 yards of offense while overcoming penalties tacked on after first downs.
Jefferson, who had nine catches for 115 yards, capped the drive with 5:03 left.
But Heavner, a freshman who was picked off three times in his last game, threw an interception to R.J. Oliver, who stepped in front of Jefferson in the end zone to keep the Wildcats from taking the lead seconds into the second quarter.
"They made that one big play when we needed it, and we couldn't punch it in," Heavner said.
Arizona's Carl Tuitavuki and Gary Love stopped Sun Devils drives with fumble recoveries later in the quarter.
Arizona State finally broke through with a 95-yard scoring drive -- its longest this season -- finished by Walter's pass to Lewis with 3:10 to go in the second quarter, and opened a 21-7 halftime lead after holding the Wildcats to a three-and-out.
On the third play after the punt, Wade popped through a hole off tackle and outran the pursuit to score with 1:34 remaining.
other Arizona Wildcats NCAA college football DVDs
other ASU Sun Devils NCAA college football DVDs
NFL football DVDs /
NCAA college football DVDs /
NBA basketball DVDs /
Major League Baseball DVDs /
NFL Europe DVDs /
XFL football DVDs /
Super Bowl DVDs /
NFL draft DVDs /
Canadian football CFL DVDs /
USFL football DVDs /
Arena football AFL DVDs /
World Leage WLAF football DVDs /
Japanese baseball DVDs /
NCAA college basketball DVDs /
NHL hockey DVDs /
Olympics hockey DVDs /
other DVDs /
contact
the sale of sports telecasts is illegal and not condoned