ARIZONA FOOTBALL

ESPN: What is Rich Rodriguez’s worst loss at Arizona?

Jul 6, 2015, 12:25 PM | Updated: 12:46 pm

Rich Rodriguez has won a lot of games at Arizona. He’s won 26, to be exact.

The 2014 Pac-12 Coach of the Year helped lead the Wildcats to the first Pac-12 South title in school history last season with a 42-35 win over ASU, but another match up in the Territorial Cup may be the worst loss of his three-year tenure.

ESPN.com’s Ted Miller released his list of the worst losses for Pac-12 South coaches Monday, naming Arizona’s 41-34 loss to ASU in 2012 as Rodriguez’s worst loss.

The first inclination is to go with this past season’s Fiesta Bowl, a 38-30 loss to Boise State, when the Wildcats were sloppy and seemingly uninspired against a team they should have pounded. Yet Rodriguez’s first showdown with Todd Graham was ugly, a case of ripping defeat from the jaws of victory in front of the home fans. The Wildcats led 27-17 entering the fourth quarter and appeared to have taken control. But the Sun Devils found their offensive rhythm against a struggling defense and rolled up 24 fourth quarter points — turning two turnovers and a blocked punt into three touchdowns — to take the Territorial Cup, which has been spiced up because Rich Rod and Graham weren’t even exactly buddy-buddy even before they took jobs at bitter rivals. While Rodriguez got the Wildcats seven wins, two over top-25 teams, and bowl eligibility in his first season, this defeat was pretty darn hard to swallow.

The matchup was the first Territorial Cup game for Rodriguez and ASU coach Todd Graham, and it lived up to the billing.

Then-quarterback Matt Scott had Arizona in position to win entering the fourth quarter, but had a pair of late turnovers as ASU stormed back for the win.

Arizona’s late collapse, however, was unforgivable to Miller. It was the first of two consecutive losses to ASU before finally breaking through in 2014.

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ESPN: What is Rich Rodriguez’s worst loss at Arizona?