No. 12 Arizona beats No. 13 Arizona State 42-35

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez didn’t want the score of the UCLA-Stanford game to be displayed inside Arizona Stadium, nor did he want word to leak down to the sideline.

The focus had to be on beating rival Arizona State in the Territorial Cup. If that led to the Pac-12 South title, even better.

It worked out perfectly on both counts for the Wildcats.

Nick Wilson ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns and No. 12 Arizona held off No. 13 Arizona State on Friday to claim the Pac-12 South title.

“Right after the game when I was walking out to shake Coach (Todd) Graham’s hand, I think either my wife or my son said: ‘Did you know UCLA lost?’ ” Rodriguez said. “That made me bounce a little more in the air.”

Arizona (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12, CFP No. 11) needed to beat its biggest rival and have Stanford knock off No. 9 UCLA to win the Pac-12 South.

The Cardinal took care of the first part by rolling over the Bruins. The Wildcats handled their end with a stream of big plays and a final defensive stand.

Anu Solomon was a little slow after an ankle injury last week, but threw for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Samajie Grant.

Wilson was again explosive, bursting off for a 72-yard touchdown run in the second half after running for 218 yards last week.

Arizona’s defense had a touchdown on the game’s third play, a goal-line stand and forced a turnover on downs after Arizona State started its final drive near midfield.

The victory combined with Stanford’s win earned the Wildcats a rematch with No. 3 Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game on Dec. 5 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Arizona beat the Ducks 31-24 in Eugene on Oct. 2.

The Sun Devils dropped to 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference.