The Territorial Cup game wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Actually, it was, but the team on the cusp of punching its ticket to the Big 12 championship game and taking one step closer to the College Football Playoff was expected to be Arizona (4-7), while the four-win team was Arizona State (9-2), the team voted to finish last in the preseason Big 12 poll.
Considering the expectations entering the season, Arizona and ASU essentially saw each other at Big 12 media days in Las Vegas and jersey-swapped seasons.
The rising Sun Devils, under the direction of fiery 34-year-old head coach Kenny Dillingham, are one of the hottest teams in college football. ASU is 6-1 in one-possession games and has lost two road games by a combined 18 points.
For ASU, Saturday is a fork in the road for its program, which has been known as a sleeping giant for decades. The Sun Devils will either reach unprecedented territory with a win on Saturday or lose to their rivals from Tucson again and fall out of the conference title race.
For Arizona, a season littered with injuries and poor execution by coaches and personnel in head coach Brent Brennan’s first season at the helm, the Territorial Cup battle “is our bowl game, that’s our Super Bowl,” said Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. The Wildcats aren’t bowling for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
“Being able to beat them at our home, send our seniors off the right way and keep the Territorial Cup in Tucson, that’s the end all, be all for us. ... It’s huge,” Fifita said. “Give credit where it’s due, they’re having a great year and we have a chance to spoil that. That’s our mindset, that’s our goal.
“It’s perfect because, yeah, we didn’t make a bowl game, it sucks, but we’re full speed ahead to go dominate our rival at home.”
Arizona is no stranger to playing the spoiler role in the Territorial Cup. In 1986, Arizona took down the unbeaten Sun Devils, courtesy of UA great Chuck Cecil’s 106-yard interception returned for a touchdown, which prevented ASU from staying in the national championship conversation. The Wildcats capped a 3-9 season in 2016 with a dominant win over ASU and set a school rushing record — running on every play in the second half — and prevented ASU from bowl eligibility.
“Regardless of the records, regardless of what ASU has an opportunity to play for, regardless of what we don’t have the opportunity to play for, this game is the most important game of the year and I think everyone will tell you that,” said Arizona wide receivers coach Bobby Wade, who went 1-3 against ASU as a player from 1999-2002. “They’re not taking it lightly and we sure aren’t either. We’re going to put our best foot forward and try to give our team the best opportunity to win.”
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) hops out of the hands of Arizona State defensive back Ed Woods (10), racking up more yards after the catch in the fourth quarter of the Territorial Cup game in Tempe on Nov. 25, 2023.
Arizona senior center Josh Baker, who is playing in his final game on Saturday, said the Wildcats haven’t played up the spoiler mantra in the days leading up to the “fistfight (and) dogfight.”
“We’re just worried about what’s ahead of us right now,” Baker said.
Saturday will be “all about doing whatever we can to win,” Brennan said.
“Whatever we need to call on either side of the ball to get that done, we gotta do that,” he added. “I still think it’s going to be about playing good football consistently.”
ABOVE: Arizona football coach Brent Brennan exchanges high fives with fans on his first Wildcat Walk as the team heads into Arizona Stadium for the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 31, 2024, in Tucson. BELOW: Arizona safety Dalton Johnson (43) jumps in front of Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (0) for an interception in the second quarter of the Wildcats’ dominant victory over the Sun Devils on Nov. 25, 2023, in the 97th Territorial Cup matchup in Tempe.
In the Territorial Cup matchup, emotions run high, and there’s an aggressive tension.
“This is probably a strong statement, but just some real hate between the universities,” said Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina.
Brennan said he wants Arizona’s emotions “to be right on the edge of the cliff but not fall off” to avoid unsportsmanlike conduct and other personal foul penalties.
“That’s something that’s important in these big rivalry games,” Brennan said. “To me, one of the characteristics that always gives you a chance to be in it or to win, is who plays with the most poise. That’s a critical component of this game.”
A win for either team will have a profound impact on the feel-good vibes for the programs. If ASU wins, the Sun Devils recapture the Territorial Cup for the first time in three years and go to the Big 12 title game. If Arizona wins, the Wildcats enter a hectic offseason with a consolation prize.
Arizona football coach Brent Brennan exchanges high fives with fans on his first Wildcat Walk as the team heads into Arizona Stadium for the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 31, 2024, in Tucson.
“It would be a big boost for this university, community and this football team, because they’re deserving of it,” Akina said. “They stuck through all of the adversity that’s been thrown their way and they continued to be coached hard and stay in it. It would be great for everyone who is involved in this.”
Added Brennan: “Having done this for a long time, no matter who you’re playing, it always feels better to end on a winning note no matter what. It always feels better. The momentum for the offseason, how the guys feel going into it, all of that stuff. I’ve been on both sides of that. It is really important, because you want to feel great.
“The disappointment and frustration of the season, that’s the reality and we can’t change that, but we have a chance to feel good on Saturday if we play great football. That’s what I’m looking (forward) to.”
