Arizona State coach Todd Graham was discussing the Territorial Cup the other day when he uttered one of the all-time rivalry-game bromides.
“You can throw all the records out,” Graham said.
Can we? Please?
This is a Territorial Cup unlike any other — and not in a good way.
Both the Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats have losing records. That hasn’t happened entering this matchup since 2003. Arizona had a new coach the following season.
The UA and ASU have combined to lose 13 consecutive games. The last time both entered the Territorial Cup with losing streaks was 2011. Both had new coaches the next season — Graham and Rich Rodriguez.
Nothing that drastic is expected to happen after the 2016 Territorial Cup, regardless of the outcome. Ray Anderson already announced that Graham will be back. Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne has declined to comment on Rodriguez’s future in recent days, but all indications are that he is safe despite a 2-9 season.
Both teams are struggling for a variety of reasons, and only ASU, with a win, can qualify for a bowl game. That doesn’t render the Territorial Cup meaningless. It’s anything but, according to the participants.
“It’s the biggest game we play every year, regardless of what’s at stake,” Rodriguez said. “Some years there’s been a whole lot at stake.”
The last time they won the Territorial Cup, in 2014, the Wildcats clinched the Pac-12 South. Friday night, they’re just hoping to win a game, something they haven’t experienced in more than two months.
“It’s a feeling we haven’t had for quite a while now,” said UA quarterback Brandon Dawkins, who’s likely to make his ninth start of the season with fellow QB Anu Solomon questionable because of a foot injury.
“I know all the guys are (eager) to get back in the locker room and sing our fight song. It means everything to us.”
For a select few Wildcats, 2016 feels a lot like 2011. Arizona had only two wins entering that year’s Territorial Cup. Coach Mike Stoops already had been dismissed. Arizona defeated Arizona State 31-27 in Tempe. Two members of that team will be playing their final games as Wildcats on Friday night.
Defensive linemen Aiulua Fanene and Sani Fuimaono are the last vestiges of the Stoops era. Both went on two-year LDS missions after the 2011 season, extending their college careers into this year.
“Good game. Close game,” Fanene said of the 2011 Territorial Cup. “We didn’t go to a bowl game, but it was a good feeling to be able to beat them.”
Said Fuimaono: “I remember that season very vividly. It kind of reminds me of this season. There is no better feeling than winning against ASU, and we beat them up there. It will be nice to get the victory on Senior Night.”
Winning — or losing — the Territorial Cup can have a lasting impact. As Rodriguez said this week, “it’s not going to erase all the stuff” that preceded it. “But at least for a moment,” he added, “it’ll make you feel good.”
Maybe even longer than that.
Dawkins and other current players interacted with former Wildcats before practice Tuesday morning. The older guys were quick to remind the younger guys of the importance of Friday night’s game.
“It’s all they would talk about,” Dawkins said. “‘I played back in ’68. We lost that year. It’s all I’ve been thinking about ever since.’ I don’t want to have any bad memories about it.”
Recent results have not been favorable for Arizona. The Wildcats have lost three of the past four meetings. Rodriguez would fall to 1-4 against Graham with another loss.
But at least those UA teams had something else to look forward to. The three Rodriguez-led clubs that lost to ASU went on to win season-ending bowl games.
Fuimaono is treating the Territorial Cup as Arizona’s 2016 bowl. His position coach, Vince Amey, who has been on both sides of the rivalry, said the game is almost its own mini-season. No matter what happened before, the Wildcats can say “We beat ASU” if they win.
Sage veteran that he is, Fuimaono perfectly summed up the current squad’s situation and outlook heading into Friday night.
“It would mean everything for our seniors, our program and for our fans, especially for our coaches who have put so much time into preparation for this season,” Fuimaono said. “Although this season hasn’t been what we expected and hoped for, this is the biggest game on our calendar every year. They need one more win to go to a bowl, so if we can’t go, they shouldn’t either.”
Fuimaono also provided a preview of what he might say to his teammates in the moments leading up to the game. For him and his fellow seniors, it’s their final game at Arizona. For all of them, it’s their final game together.
Fuimaono said he usually says whatever comes to him “in the spur of the moment.” But the basic message will be something like this:
“Just give it everything you have and bear down.”
