At halftime of the 89th annual Territorial Cup, ASU football leads Arizona 31-10.
Much of the first quarter was spent in a struggle to move the ball.
In between drives where each team punted, each team turned the ball over.
Arizona redshirt senior quarterback Jerrard Randall was stripped clean of the football by sophomore linebacker Christian Sam, and redshirt junior linebacker Laiu Moeakiola recovered the fumble.
But the Sun Devils failed to capitalize, opting to go for it on fourth and three from the Arizona 42 yard line after starting their possession just inside the Wildcat half of midfield.
On ASU's fourth drive, senior quarterback Mike Bercovici and Co. flipped the switch, jumpstarting a dormant offense with a three-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that elapsed all of 55 seconds, when sophomore running back Demario Richard's eight yard touchdown got his team on the scoreboard.
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Bercovici to redshirt senior Devin Lucien.
But the Wildcats struck back on a Bercovici interception that was returned for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Cam Denson.
Arizona redshirt senior starting quarterback Jarrard Randall was pulled at quarterback for redshirt freshman Brandon Dawkins. The two combined for just 83 yards passing and completed seven of 17 attempts.
While its first two scores were quick strikes, ASU was effective in sustaining drives as well. Bercovici scored on a one-yard touchdown run to finish a 10-play, 78-yard drive that lasted 3:47 and
Arizona's Casey Skowron and ASU's Zane Gonzalez each made their only field goal attempts of the half, at 22 and 29 yards respectively.
Redshirt freshman Jalen Harvey hauled in his first career catch, a 41-yard touchdown reception, with four minutes to go in the half.
Bercovici finished the half with 231 yards and two touchdowns, completing 14 of 20 attempts.
The Sun Devils have the option to receive the second half kickoff.
Reach the sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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