Editor’s note: This year, UA and ASU football will face off for the 100th time in what has come to be known as the Territorial Cup game. Leading up to that Nov. 28 matchup, which will be played right here in Tucson, we will be republishing the Arizona Daily Star’s coverage of each rivalry game — one a day — going back to their first meeting in 1899. Tune in daily for a blast from the past.
Some important things to keep in mind: This isn’t the 100th anniversary; the upcoming meeting will be the 100th time the teams have gone head-to-head. There were a number of years that they didn’t compete against one another. The Wildcats lead the all-time series vs. the Sun Devils, 52-46-1.
ARIZONA VICTOR IN OPENING GRID GAME
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Matchup: Game 15
Date: Sept. 28, 1935
Where: Tucson
Winner: Arizona, 26-0
What was reported at the time:
By JIM HARRIGAN
The University of Arizona Wildcats clawed a willing, but outclassed Tempe Bulldog eleven for a 26 to 0 victory last night at the University stadium in the opening contest of the season for both teams.
George Jackson, former Tucson high school star, led the way last night with three touchdowns and an extra point. Sidney Woods scored the other Cat touchdown and Claire Preininger accounted for the second extra counter.
Jackson tore the Tempe line to shreds in the first quarter and it was largely through his efforts that the Cats were able to pile up a 13 to 0 lead in that period. He and Ted Bland were too much for the Bulldogs, who evidently missed their ace ball carrier, Howard Hooten. The Tempe outfit did not attempt an offensive play until the second quarter had started.
The Wildcat offense accounted for 258 yards from scrimmage as against 26 for Tempe and chalked up 13 first downs to five for the losers. The Arizona team was penalized 13 times for a grand total of 105 yards. Tempe drew four penalties for 40 yards. The Bulldogs were superior in but one department of the game, punting. The Tempe kickers averaged 32 5-6 yards per try while the Cat booters were able to average only 29¼ yards in each attempt.
Decided Early
The issue was actually decided in the first six minutes of play, when George Jackson and Ted Bland slid through the Tempe line on a series of fine gains to make the count 6 to 0, Jackson failing to convert.
Tempe won the toss and elected to kick. Miller booted a long kickoff, down to Jackson, deep in Wildcat territory. The fleet Arizonan returned the effort to midfield. Held for two downs, the Cats kicked to the Tempe 19-yard marker, only to have the Bulldogs return the compliment with a punt to their own 41. Bland immediately tossed a forward pass to Jackson, who galloped 25 yards before being brought down. With the oval on the upstate eleven's 17-yard stripe, Jackson again came to the fore, this time with a trip around his left end, up to the enemy's five-yard line. Ted Bland tried left tackle and brought the ball to the one-yard marker. Jackson knifed through left guard, setting the stage for Jackson's next try, a successful one at right guard, for Arizona's first points of the 1935 gridiron season. Jackson's attempt at conversion was too low.
It took the Cats but three minutes more to chalk up their second tally.
Jackson kicked off to the Tempe 21, where the Bulldogs again elected to punt without trying any offensive tactics. The ball was Arizona's on its own 35-yard line when Wally Smith, Arizona fullback, and Ted Bland collaborated to make the first down in two plays. Bland then proceeded to show the fans just what a lateral pass should be when he tossed the ball to Wally Smith, the latter moving the pigskin up to the Tempe 36. On the next play, Jackson again proved that he had a bad night last spring against this same team when he slanted off the Tempe left tackle for another touchdown. He also accounted for the extra point, making the score 13 to 0, in favor of the Wildcats.
Arizona received the next kickoff and proceeded in the same manner it had been playing. After an exchange of punts, Ted Bland tossed a long forward pass to Tom Carlyle, Wildcat end, but he failed to catch it. The officials ruled he had been interfered with and allowed the pass. With the ball lying squarely on the Tempe 32-yard marker, Bland threw a beautiful pass to Vickers, but the Arizona wingman let it slip through his fingers on the goal line. Outguessing the Tempe defense completely, Ted Bland called the same play on the very next down, and it was completed, Vickers taking the pass on the 15-yard line and advancing it to the two-yard stripe.
With another Arizona score imminent, the Wildcat linemen went haywire and committed two penalties, both for holding, which set the Cats back to the Tempe 32-yard line. At this point in the game, an entire new Arizona team galloped onto the field, and the new combination’s first offensive attempt, a forward pass from Eckenroth to Wallace, was good for 17 yards. But here the Bulldog defense tightened, and the Arizona reserves lost the ball on downs.
Tries Offense
Tempe made its first attempt at advancing the ball, and after two line plays and an offside penalty on Arizona, the Bulldogs chalked up their first down of the contest. An exchange of punts followed, after which Rudy Lavik’s bunch pulled off one of the offensive gems of the evening, a forward pass tacked on to a lateral that advanced the ball to Arizona’s 38-yard marker. The Bulldogs elected to punt from that point, the kick being taken by Sidney Woods, Cat safety man, deep in Arizona territory. On the next play, Woods made it a first down on his 35-yard line, and was immediately followed in the ground-gaining process by Claire Preininger, who broke through his own left tackle and went on a 49-yard jaunt to place the ball in “pay-off” territory. Woods made 10 yards more, but Arizona drew a five-yard penalty for being offside. Preininger made up the difference by knifing through the Tempe line to place the ball on the seven-yard line. Two plays by Woods and Preininger placed the ball on the one-yard marker, from where it was taken over by Woods. Preininger’s kick split up the uprights for the extra point.
Arizona kicked off to Tempe in the waning minutes of the quarter and play was confined to midfield, a series of offside penalties comprising the actions as the half ended.
Play in the third period was desultory, both elevens deciding to play for the breaks evidently. Punting was carried on by both teams, the Bulldogs usually getting the better of the exchanges. On one occasion, Jenkins, Tempe fullback, unleashed a boot that went outside on the Arizona five-yard line. Wynne immediately booted out of danger, and play went on with neither eleven getting the advantage. Late in the quarter, Tex Oliver sent his first-string outfit back into the fray, but they were unable to get their scoring machine rolling and the quarter ended. This was the only period of the contest in which Arizona did not score.
Fumble Helps
The Bland-Jackson combination looked like it was working order again when the boys got together and placed the ball on Tempe’s 30-yard marker, but an intercepted pass by Parry of Tempe on his five-yard line halted them temporarily. An exchange of punts gave Tempe the ball again and as Kajikawa attempted a journey around his left end, he was brought down by Jackson, who knifed through the Tempe interference with a hard tackle. The Tempe back fumbled, and Arizona recovered on the Bulldogs’ nine-yard line. Two tries by Jackson and one by Eckenroth put the oval on the one-foot marker. With the Tempe line crouched over the ball, Jackson calmly strolled around his left end for the fourth and final touchdown. Jackson’s kick was too low in an attempted try for the point.
The game ended with the ball in Arizona’s possession in mid-field.
Climb into the Arizona Daily Star’s time machine as we revisit every Territorial Cup matchup between U of A and ASU football ahead of the Nov.…
