Sun Devils settle for chance at Fiesta

TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State’s Rose Bowl dream died shortly before the Sun Devils took the field against archrival Arizona.

The 13th-ranked Sun Devils kept their Fiesta Bowl hopes alive with a 20-17 victory over the Wildcats (5-7, 4-5) on Saturday night, their third straight Territorial Cup victory.

Rudy Carpenter threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns for ASU (10-2, 7-2 Pac-10), which has never played in a Bowl Championship Series game.

The Fiesta may have to choose between the hometown Sun Devils and 11-1 Kansas. Hawaii, which kicked off late Saturday, was also on the Fiesta’s radar.

ASU’s slim shot at a Rose Bowl berth evaporated when USC defeated UCLA in Los Angeles – a game that ended just as the Sun Devils and Wildcats were about to kick off. USC and ASU finished with identical conference records, but the Trojans had the tiebreaker by virtue of a 44-24 victory in Tempe on Nov. 22.

The Sun Devils didn’t look like a BCS contender for most of a chilly night in the desert.

They started slowly, as usual, spotting Arizona a 7-0 first-quarter lead on a 1-yard pass from Willie Tuitama to Rob Gronkowski.

It was the eighth time the Sun Devils have trailed after one quarter.

But the Sun Devils woke up in the second, tying it at 7 on a 3-yard pass from Carpenter to Tyrice Thompson. Carpenter scrambled out of the pocket, pulled up at the line of scrimmage and shoveled the ball to Thompson, who outleaped two defenders under the goal post.

Thomas Weber kicked a 19-yard field goal in the second and converted from 21 yards in the third to give ASU a 13-7 lead.

Arizona will sit out the postseason for the ninth straight year