Backup quarterback Bryson Beirne, on the only pass he threw all night, connected with Juron Criner on a 23-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 18 seconds remaining and Arizona held on for a 31-27 Territorial Cup victory over Arizona State on Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz..
The game ended with the Sun Devils (6-5 overall, 4-4 Pacific-12 Conference) on the Arizona 15-yard line, where two passes by Brock Osweiler fell incomplete.
Beirne had just come on in relief of Nick Foles, who completed 35 of 51 passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns before being shaken up and leaving the game. Criner caught nine passes for 134 yards for Arizona (3-8, 2-8).
Osweiler threw for a career-best 487 yards and a touchdown on 36-for-65 accuracy but was intercepted twice. The Sun Devils’ Gerell Robinson had 11 receptions for 199 yards, both career bests.
Arizona State’s third loss in a row does not eliminate the Sun Devils from a shot at representing the Pac-12 South in the conference’s first championship game. The Sun Devils trail UCLA by a game and the Bruins hold the tiebreaker with one game to play.
Arizona State must beat California next week and needs UCLA to lose to Southern California and Utah to beat Colorado. That would create a three-way tie between ASU, UCLA and Utah, with the Sun Devils getting the nod because they would have the best record within the division.
Foles broke Arizona’s single-season records for yards passing and pass completions and still has a game to play, a nonconference contest at home against Louisiana-Lafayette.
At No. 8 Stanford 31, California 28: Andrew Luck threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, and the Cardinal survived a shaky start to beat the rival Bears in a rain-soaked Big Game.
Luck revived his Heisman Trophy campaign by tossing scores to Levine Toilolo and Ryan Hewitt, keeping Stanford’s slim chances of a Pac-12 title and national championship alive. He overcame an early interception and rallied the Cardinal (10-1, 8-1) from six points down to make sure The Axe stayed on The Farm for the second consecutive season.
Zach Maynard finished with 280 yards passing with two touchdowns for California (6-5, 3-5) in the 114th edition of the Bay Area rivalry. Cal’s offense struggled in the second half before the late rally came up short.
At UCLA 45, Colorado 6: Kevin Prince threw for 225 yards and hit Joseph Fauria with two of his career-high four touchdown passes, and the Bruins (6-5, 5-3) kept their lead atop the Pac-12 South with win over the Buffaloes (2-10, 1-7).
Johnathan Franklin rushed for 162 yards and a score, while Shaq Evans and Nelson Rosario also caught TD passes for UCLA, which will play in the title game if it can beat archrival USC next weekend.
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