After playing in his sixth Territorial Cup, Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes reflected on his Arizona career and his pivotal interception in Friday’s win.
Stukes’ interception was one of five turnovers the Wildcats forced on the way to winning the Territorial Cup, and following the game, Arizona coach Brent Brennan called Stukes’ pick one of the best football plays he’s ever seen.
“And what I saw in that play was I saw him playing in the back door of a vertical off a heavy play action. He’s exactly where he’s supposed to be, and then as that ball got launched, I saw him climb up the back of that guy and play it off the top of his head,” Brennan told reporters after Friday’s game.
Not only did Stukes display an incredible amount of athleticism on the play as he jumped over Arizona State wide receiver Jaren Hamilton to make the snag, but the play shifted the game’s momentum in favor of the Wildcats.
At the time, Arizona was clinging to a 10-7 lead in the third quarter and had just missed its third field goal of the game.
TREYDAN STUKES: TAKE A BOW pic.twitter.com/0eWu4Mt6I3
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) November 29, 2025
Arizona followed the interception with a 16-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a made field goal. The Wildcats wound up ending the game on a 13-0 run in the 23-7 victory over their rivals.
Stukes’ interception was his fourth of the season (tied for the second-most in the Big 12) and the first time the sixth-year player recorded an interception in back-to-back games.
“Yeah, they had a fast receiver in there. We knew they wanted to take him vertical,” Stukes told reporters after Friday’s victory. “Just having to lean on the post, knowing that it might not be help. Quarterback launched a pretty deep ball, but I felt like I got a good jump on the trajectory, and I was able to make a play jump on time and use the hands, finish it.”
Treydan Stukes began as a walk-on and later tore ACL
Prior to his Territorial Cup heroics, Stukes had to overcome plenty of adversity. He went from walk-on to then earning a scholarship, to having to overcome even more adversity when he tore his ACL last season.
“I think Treydan Stukes is just such a special football player and such a special kid,” Brennan said. “You don’t need to spend much time with him to get a feel for just how amazing of a young man he is, and to think about like his journey here at the U of A, walk on, scholarship, torn ACL last year, game three or four. The road back.
“You know, early in the season, he couldn’t play much. Everyone’s on my ass because, ‘How come Stukes isn’t playing?‘ Like, dude, he’s coming back from an ACL, you know? But he just kept working and he’s an incredible leader.”
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Following three seasons playing on varsity at Gooodyear Millennium, Stukes wasn’t highly recruited out of high school and started his collegiate career as a walk-on at Arizona. He appeared in three games as a freshman, and his first Territorial Cup appearance came when he recorded seven tackles in Arizona’s 70-7 Territorial Cup loss in 2020.
“Significantly different,” Stukes said on how this year’s Territorial Cup compares to his first. “For those who don’t know, my first territorial cup was 2020. Wasn’t fun, but it felt good to go out with a group of guys like this and just end my college career in this way. It’s fantastic.”
Stukes went on to play in 35 games over the next three seasons for the Wildcats, including 24 starts.
He was named a captain before the start of the 2023 season, where he started 12 of 13 games and made 55 total tackles (31 solo, 24 combined) and tallied nine pass breakups as part of the Arizona team which won the Alamo Bowl.
Stukes said he sees similarities between the 2025 team and the 2023, which finished with 10 wins for just the fourth time in program history.
“I mean, you can definitely find some similarities with the way the season went in ‘23, but you know, it’s just because of this group of guys that we put so much hard work in to get to this point,” Stukes said.
“And you know, we just kept attacking week after week, and team kept getting better and better. And, you know, I think that’s something we had in common that ’23 team, like every week we just kept improving, and we kept finding ourselves more and more each week. So I think this team has done a great job doing the same.”
However, during Arizona’s Week 4 win the following season, Stukes tore his ACL, immediately ending his season.
He was then granted a medical redshirt and the chance to return and lead Arizona to what would be another 10-win season with a bowl victory in 2025.
“Gonna soak it in. Our last few weeks as an Arizona Wildcat and with this special group of guys, you know, these moments are going to be the days we look back on,” Stukes said. “These were good old days, like that Office quote. So we’re going to soak it in as much as we can for this last month for sure.”
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