TEMPE — A couple of warm-ups, and Alex Zendejas was good to go.

Arizona had the ball, had made the miracle play, had the chance to beat rival Arizona State. On the sideline, snapper Jason Bertoni sent a couple of balls back to holder Keenyn Crier and kicker Alex Zendejas went through his steps.

Good to go.

Bertoni and Crier and Zendejas slapped hands, bumped helmets … and waited. Arizona was tied with ASU, 17-17, in the final minute and would kill the clock with five seconds left on fourth down.

Here he was. Alex Zendejas in Sun Devil Stadium, and if he’s heard the stories once about uncle Max Zendejas, he’s heard them 100 times. How Max beat ASU in this stadium in 1985 with a 57-yarder and then a 32-yarder with 1:43 to go. How Max beat ASU in this stadium with a 45-yarder as time expired in 1983.

And now, Alex.

Alex, who had missed from 24 yards in the fourth quarter a week earlier in a loss to Oregon. Alex, who has kicked several attempts low in his first season as the starter. Alex, who had a field goal try hit a linemen in the back of his helmet early in the season.

“I just went out there with confidence,” he said. “That’s what you have to have, being a kicker. And I wanted to prove myself.

“I had a good week of practice. I wanted to bounce back from last week, definitely.”

Then it was time. Good snap, good hold, good kick.

Sprinkling more Zendejas magic on the Sun Devil Stadium turf, Alex delivered a 20-17 victory on Saturday night, sending a 32-yard field goal thorugh the rain drops, giving the Wildcats their seventh win of the season, keeping alive the possibility of a tie for second in the Pac-10.

“I tell you what,” Max said in a phone interview with TucsonCitizen.com sports network partner Wildaboutazcats.com a few minutes after the game. “I was more nervous than when I used to kick. I was confident he was going to make it. When he kicked it, I saw him lift his hands like I used to do.

“As soon as hit it, he knew it was going in. He hit it a little to the right, but I knew it was going in. That was one hell of a game.”

With all that pressure at the end, the family legacy to live up to, Alex said he wasn’t even nervous.

“Happy,” he said. “Happy to have the opportunity to make a big kick.”

Why would he be nervous? He’s only been preparing for this moment his entire life.

“It’s funny. I have,” he said.

“Especially coming here. It was a weird feeling I had today coming in here. I don’t want to sound cocky or whatever, but I knew something was going to come down to me. I knew the way I played today would effect the outcome.”

After the kick, as the Wildcats ran onto the field in celebration, center Colin Baxter and coach Mike Stoops twirled around in a big hug, and Stoops embraced special teams coach Jeff Hammerschmidt, who knows a few things about strange special teams play at Sun Devil Stadium.

He was on Arizona’s 1987 team, when ASU punter Mike Schuh dropped a snap that Arizona recovered, setting up a game-tying field goal that felt like a win.

Now, Kyle Williams — who had made a super, leaping catch in the back of the end zone to tie the game at 17 with 2:02 left — joins the club of infamy.

ASU forced the Wildcats to punt from their 38 with 1:10 left and then the bounces started going Arizona’s way. Hammerschmidt, in a joking mood after the game, said he called for the “duck hook left” punt from Crier. Hey, good call. Williams moved up to his right to field the punt, and called for a fair catch.

Arizona gunner Mike Turner, who had beaten two blockers at the line of scrimmage by going out wide around them, was there waiting.

“I thought he was going to catch it and I was getting ready to bang him,” Turner said. “His hands weren’t ready for the tuck and his eyes got big. The ball came down and he was looking up still. Somehow, I was in great position.”

Turner recovered at the ASU 22 … and the Wildcats, who have felt as if more bounces have gone against them than for them, were in great position.

“I guess we were due one,” defensive coordinator Mark Stoops said, walking off the field.

Arizona has played six down-to-the-wire games, winning three and losing three. What more can you expect? As head coach Mike Stoops has said all season, things have a way of evening out.

If that’s true, maybe someday a Zendejas actually will miss a kick late in a game against ASU.

Then again, maybe not.

Related link from TucsonCitizen.com:
UA-ASU game blog: Stoops: ‘A lot of difference three points will make in your life.’

Arizona coach Mike Stoops say down for his postgame press conference and let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, man,” he said. “A lot of difference three points will make in your life.”

Three points gives UA life. It gives the Wildcats seven wins, a guaranteed bowl spot, with a game at USC still to play.

Those three points, coming off a last-play 32-yard field goal from Alex Zendejas, gave Arizona a 20-17 victory, a couple of rivalry trophies and whole new chapter in Arizona-Arizona State.

The Wildcats, giving up two fourth-quarter touchdowns had squandered a 14-0 halftime lead in frustrating fashion, which was reminiscent of last week’s painful double-overtime loss to Oregon.

But the football gods gave Arizona a bounce — Kyle Williams’ muffed punt catch that took a hop into the hands of Mike Turner. Arizona took over at the ASU 22 with 1:03 left and set up the Zendejas field goal.

“We have been through so many games like this that have gone the other way that I felt like it was a little bit of redemption for us to get a break down the stretch and win one without playing our best,” said offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes. “Our kids hung there, but, boy, it was a tough day.”

But three points made all the difference in the Wildcats’ life.

The rest of the game blog … (check back later for more postgame coverage):

* * *

Going down to field. Be back after game.

* * *

Arizona’s offense shows signs of life … but, as it has most of the season, has a hard time punching into the end zone once it gets close. UA takes a 30-yard field goal from Alex Zendejas with 7:50 left for a 17-10 lead. Gulp.

* * *

Uh… we’ve got a football game. Could ASU QB Danny Sullivan be the hero of this game? He connects on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams — with UA’s Cam Nelson unsuccessfully jumping in front of the pass — and now it’s 14-10 Arizona with 11:54 to go.

UA get a break when Williams is called for a personal foul after taking off his helmet in the end zone. That 15-yard penalty prevents ASU from trying for two to get within a field goal. Thomas Weber kicks a 35-yard extra point to get ASU within four.

It’s time for Arizona’s offense to do its part.

* * *

Arizona’s offense has stalled this thing into a close game. Shades of 1992?

* * *

Bad news is that Arizona’s lead was trimmed from 14-0 to 14-3. Good news is that the third quarter is in the books … and ASU is still down by two scores.

* * *

Big stop for Arizona. ASU misfires on a pass on third-and-4 from the UA 46. Trevor Hankins’ punt then goes into the end zone. Arizona needs a drive … and Matt Scott is in at QB.

* * *

Fourth-and-3 from the UA 9, down 14-0. I think I would go for that. But ASU coach Dennis Erickson has Thomas Weber kick a 26-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-3.

Good news for Arizona is that its bad field position all half only resulted in three points for ASU. Maybe now UA can reverse field position after the kickoff. ASU’s scoring drive covered only 7 yards after a 53-yard punt return by Kyle Williams.

In any case, this won’t be Arizona’s first shutout of ASU since 1974, when Jim Young’s team won 10-0 in Tucson.

* * *

Like in the first half, Arizona is losing the field position battle early in the second half. ASU punter Trevor Hankins might be the team MVP right now. UA is backed up to its 7 as it starts a drive with 8:59 to go in the third quarter.

(ASU has 100 yards on 34 plays … and 44 of those yards came on a reception on its first play.)

* * *

Arizona State, the second-most penalized team in the country, has six penalties less than a minute into the second half. The Sun Devils average just over nine per game.

* * *

ASU had three first downs and 79 yards in the first half. Arizona had eight first downs and 166 yards.

ASU was 0-for-7 on third down. Arizona was 1-for-7.

* * *

Arizona could have put ASU in a headlock late in the half, but couldn’t pad the lead after taking over at its 49 with 2:07 left. The Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-4 from the ASU 34 with 18 seconds left, but a deep pass goes incomplete. UA leads 14-0.

It’s been a tussle, but two big plays — a 67-yard run from Keola Antolin and a blocked punt for a TD — are the difference. UA’s defensive line is dominating; it’s hard to see that changing in the second half. If ASU can’t come up with some big plays of its own, there chances of a comeback aren’t good.

* * *

Special teams ace Orlando Vargas just made a play he’ll always remember. He comes from the left side to block a punt from Trevor Hankins. As the ball bounces to the right sideline, he scoops it up all alone and returns it 23 yards for a touchdown.

Cue up the highlight tapes. Vargas has secured a spot in UA lore.

Arizona leads 14-0 with 3:50 to go before half.

It hasn’t always been pretty to this point, but the Cats will be thrilled if they can make this two-touchdown lead hold up heading into the break.

* * *

Treading water. Matt Scott plays most of the last series, which ends at the ASU 47. Keenyn Crier then booms a punt into the end zone. There is 7:21 to go in the first half. Arizona doesn’t need to mess around with Scott at quarterback.

Meanwhile, senior Danny Sullivan is coming in at QB for ASU, replacing Samson Szakacsy, who doesn’t look ready for this stage. This is a QB change that makes sense.

* * *

Matt Scott in at quarterback as a running change-up. I’m generally not in favor of this, but he does run for 17 yards on his second play.

* * *

Always a kicking adventure with Alex Zendejas. Arizona has a red-zone failure when Zendejas has a 30-yard field goal attempt tipped at the line of scrimmage by a leaping James Brooks, and the ball tumbles into the crossbar, where — unlike Oregon’s kick last week — it bounces back. No good. Still 7-0 … but at least Arizona’s defense holds ASU to a three-and-out after the miss.

* * *

End of first quarter. UA leads 7-0. A 38-yard punt return by Bug Wright, during which he was insistent on cutting to the left sideline to get behind the wall of blockers, sets up the Wildcats to extend their lead. They are at the ASU 14, first-and-10, as the second quarter begins.

Keola Antolin’s touchdown run changed the whole mood of this game.

Nick Foles in the first quarter: 10 of 11 passing for 62 yards. (The one incompletion was a dropped pass.)

* * *

UA defensive lineman Donald Horton comes up with his second sack of the game. Both sacks have come with the UA only rushing its front four, which is a good sign. Let’s face it: ASU’s offensive line isn’t very good.

* * *

Keola Antolin’s injured shoulder can’t hurt if he doesn’t get tackled. On his second play of the game — and first carry — he takes a handoff up the middle and breaks through to find daylight. He then outraces the Sun Devils into the end zone for a 67-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 3:54 to go in the first quarter.

Antolin attacks the line of scrimmage better than any other UA back, and that’s why his presence — even if it is limited in this game — is so important.

* * *

Bad trend: UA’s drives have started at its 17, 20 and, now, its 16-yard line.

* * *

Is it too early to abandon the running game? Arizona goes three-and-out on its second series, and Greg Nwoko up the middle just likely won’t be a good play today. UA gets another break, though, when it recovers a Nick Foles fumble after a sack. Can’t complain about the way the ball is bouncing so far.

* * *

A break for Arizona. ASU kicker Thomas Weber, who won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker in 2007, just hasn’t been the same this season since an early season groin injury. He misses a 36-yard attempt wide left (after a 5-yard false start penalty) with 9:29 to go in the first quarter. The game remains scoreless.

* * *

Interesting calls on two third-and-1 situations on UA’s first drive. UA goes in a four-receiver set in the first situation and completes a 4-yard slant to Bug Wright. In the second case, UA needed about a half yard and went with a “heavy” personnel grouping. Arizona threw out of that set, too, but Terrell Turner dropped the pass from Nick Foles.

Does UA not trust its running game?

Greg Nwoko got the start at running back.

* * *

Running back Keola Antolin is in uniform and went through pregame drills. Running back Nic Grigsby, as expected, is not dressed out, although he did lead the team onto the field before the game.

* * *

TEMPE — OK, we’re here at Sun Devil Stadium for the Arizona-Arizona State rivalry — I guess you could call it the Territorial Cup, which is better than “Duel in the Desert, but does the game really need a name? — and there is modest buzz for a matchup that is expected to draw about 55,000.

Kudos to ABC/ESPN announcer Bob Davie, a former UA assistant, who is here to see his son, Clay, who is a senior long snapper for the Devils. Stopped at the media check-in table, he realized he forget his wallet in the car and had no ID, required for admission. The security personnel didn’t know who he was and wasn’t going to let him in until somebody from ABC came to vouch for him.

I offered to do so, but that didn’t carry much weight.

Anyway, Davie didn’t throw a fit or demand, “Do you know who I am?” He was polite and waited patiently for somebody who could clear him into the Sun Devil Stadium. Good for him.

As for the game …

Three things to watch:

1. Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade. I’m sensing an interception return for a touchdown. ASU sophomore quarterback Samson Szakacsy, who wasn’t available until recently because of an elbow injury, will be making his second career start. Wade is aggressive. Szakacsy’s arm strength is suspect. You do that math.

2. Arizona’s running game. ASU’s defense is stout enough to give Arizona’s problems up front. How much will RB Keola Antolin play, if at all? He’s doubtful. Can Greg Nwoko do enough to make the Sun Devils respect the run? Will Nick Foles have to throw 50 times … and if he does, is that a bad thing?

3. The first quarter. I don’t expect an Arizona hangover from last week’s tough loss to Oregon; this team has bounced back before and has every reason to do so again. But if it’s close and stays close, ASU will grow in confidence. The Sun Devils’ offense isn’t built to mount a comeback. Arizona needs to get up early, not make mistakes and get the heck out of here with a win. Prediction: Arizona 24, ASU 17.

Here is what scares me about Arizona State: Dexter Davis, Lawrence Guy, James Brooks, Saia Falahola, Vontaze Burfict, Mike Nixon and Travis Goethel.

The first four are defensive linemen. The next three are linebackers. The totality is a defensive front seven that is good enough to beat Arizona.

There. I said it.

“Arizona State’s front seven is as good as any in the Pac-10, if not the country,” Washington State coach Paul Wulff said earlier this season.

A bit of hyperbole from a coach who hasn’t won a conference game this season? Perhaps. But he’s in the right ballpark.

ASU’s defense has deserved a better fate than the team’s 4-7 record. The Sun Devils allow 3.3 yards per rush — the stingiest mark in the conference.

Arizona will be without starting running back Nic Grigsby. UA could very well be without running back Keola Antolin.

Hard to see the Wildcats busting big plays from Greg Nwoko and Nick Booth — two good backs, but neither has the wiggle or the speed as UA’s top two runners.

If UA can’t run, the Sun Devils can drop eight players into coverage against Arizona’s spread offense. It could be like the Cal game all over again. You remember Cal. A 24-16 loss in which Arizona ran for all of 72 yards.

“They’re pretty good up front,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said of ASU.

“They make it very difficult to run. They’re very fast and physical up front, and their linebackers are very stout, too, with Vontaze in there. They present some big challenges. They’re big. They’re hard to move around and get running space. They do a good job clogging up the run and we’re going to have to find ways to move it.”

Yes, ASU allowed 268 rushing yards to Oregon, but Arizona is not Oregon.

Yes, ASU allowed 237 rushing yards to Stanford, but Arizona is also not Stanford in the running game.

If Saturday’s game in Tempe turns into a defensive grind, which is what ASU wants, the advantage tilts to the home team, which will gain confidence and has nothing left to lose.

Arizona has everything to lose.

The season is OK as it is. The Wildcats are 6-4. According to the point spreads, they should be 6-4. According to the preseason projections, 6-4 is right on target, perhaps even a bit closer to the bulls-eye.

Losing at ASU would turn a once- and still-promising season into a disaster.

It would potentially leave UA out of the bowl picture. With a game at USC remaining, it would shove the Wildcats closer to a season-ending four-game losing streak.

Ugh.

No doubt, Arizona has a better overall team than ASU. Strange things happen in this rivalry game, but being concerned about Arizona State isn’t about strange things having to happen.

It’s about ASU being big and tough up front on defense. It’s about ASU’s defense making a play — or two or three — that turns the game toward the Sun Devils.

It will have to be their defense. Their offense can’t do it. Not much sizzle there. Sophomore Samson Szakacsy will make his second career start at quarterback.

He adds a different dimension because of his running ability, but Arizona won’t be awed by his feet after seeing Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli last week. Szakacsy threw an interception for a touchdown last week at UCLA. One of his three fumbles was returned for a touchdown.

Arizona’s defense might be able to make a few plays, too.

But if Arizona State’s defensive front seven asserts itself, it could be a long day for the Wildcats no matter what else happens.

You can’t trade players in college football, but that’s kind of what happened for this week’s Arizona-Arizona State game. At least from the ASU side.

You know at least part of the story by now.

Nick Foles committed to Dick Koetter during his senior year at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. It was the fall of 2006. ASU fired Koetter after the 2006 season — less than a year after extending his contract — and in came Dennis Erickson.

Foles didn’t do anything drastic at first.

“I was a senior in high school, and I wanted to focus on my team in high school,” he said.

“I stayed with it for a while just because we were in the playoffs and I wanted to focus on that. I didn’t want to worry about the college part of it.”

The story goes that Erickson told the Foles family that he would be bringing in two quarterbacks — Foles and Chase Stangel (who transferred to NAU last summer). Then, near signing day, Erickson received a commitment from a third quarterback.

That would be Samson Szakacsy.

Hence the trade.

Foles’ journey has taken him from being committed to Arizona State to signing with Michigan State to transferring to Arizona to becoming the starting quarterback in the fourth game of the season to developing into one of the bright young passers in the Pac-10.

Szakacsy, who was unavailable early in the season because of an elbow injury, made his first career start for Arizona State last week. He is the likely starter this week, but Erickson wasn’t tipping his hand Tuesday.

Between Foles and Szakacsy, I’m pretty sure I know who I would want right now.

And for the next two seasons.

Foles kind of downplays the “ASU brought in another quarterback to the recruiting class” angle of his de-commit. He says when he discussed the decision with his parents after his high school season that ASU “just felt like it was not the best place for me.”

“It was nothing against him,” Foles added, talking about Erickson.

Erickson said Tuesday: “We tried to pursue him. He had a scholarship offer from us. We ended up with three committed quarterbacks in that class and he decided he didn’t want to come here.”

The Pac-10 is so convoluted, so close, that it’s not a stretch to say that just a slight change in quarterback play can make a huge difference in the record.

ASU’s defense is excellent but its quarterback play has been substandard all season. Its passing efficiency rating is 112.2, ahead of only woeful Washington State in the Pac-10. ASU has thrown 12 interceptions and has a completion percentage of 54.0, also the second-worst marks in the league.

Foles is third in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency (a rating of 141.21) and has thrown for an average of 279 yards in seven starts, all against conference competition.

“Awfully, awfully good,” Erickson said about Foles on Monday. “He gets rid of the football as well as, and as quick as, anyone that I’ve seen. Very accurate.

“What they do offensively fits in perfectly. He’s had a heck of a year, obviously. When they made that change, it was a big change for them as far as moving the ball and all that. He’s a good player.”

If ASU had Foles instead of senior Danny Sullivan and true freshman Brock Osweiler and Szakacsy, might the Devils have won down-to-the-wire games at Georgia and against Cal and USC?

Without Foles, would Arizona instead have lost close games against Oregon State and Stanford?

Would the team that is 4-7 entering this week’s game be 7-4 instead?

Would the team that is 6-4 be 4-6?

That’s a lot of hypotheticals, but it all revolves around the axiom that it’s almost impossible to be a great team without a great quarterback.

Arizona has one that is at least pretty good. ASU, not so much.

“The thing about Nick is he is one of the most competitive people I have ever been around,” said Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes. “And I think that is what makes him good.”

Bring competitive means being in the football offices at 7 a.m. most mornings, beating some of the coaches in, to look at extra game tape.

“There is a thing my mom cut out when I was younger. It was something like, ‘Champions are made when no one is watching, not when people are watching,’” Foles said.

“Because it’s easy to go out there when people are there to see you work out and doing stuff. It’s when people don’t know you’re doing something that you really get good. That is something that I have always taken to heart.”

He’s a keeper. Arizona won’t be trading him back.

Related link from TucsonCitizen.com

Scott Terrell: Do the Duel: All Territorial Cup all the time