Editor's note: This story is part of the Star's Aug. 27 college football preview section.
The Territorial Cup is just one game at the end of the season. It shouldn’t, at least in theory, have any bearing on what happens the following year.
Some games have a longer shelf life — like when Arizona clinched the Pac-12 South championship in 2014. Or last year, when the Wildcats stormed ASU in a game the Sun Devils, on paper, probably should have won.
Arizona State entered last year’s game 5-6, needing just one win to make the postseason. Arizona was 2-9, losers of eight straight games. The Wildcats’ previous three defeats had come by 25, 25 and 62 points.
The UA then blew out its rival, 56-35.
The Sun Devils insist they haven’t thought about that game much in a while, though Arizona fans have been quick to point out what happened. Arizona didn’t throw a single pass in the second half of the game, and still won by three touchdowns.
The game was a microcosm of ASU’s season as a whole. Inconsistency, particularly on defense, doomed the Sun Devils.This year, they’ll try to improve — and forget about last year’s loss.
“To be honest, that’s probably the most embarrassing game I’ve ever played in,” said ASU defensive lineman Jojo Wicker. “They ran the ball on us every play. They just beat us up, to be honest with you. It was a bad game, it wasn’t fun. It definitely motivated me for this year.”
Running back Kalen Ballage said he thinks less about the rivalry game and more about the season.
“The whole season was motivation. You never want to go 5-7,” Ballage said. “It’s never really one game in particular. Obviously that was at the end of the season and we weren’t able to get to a bowl game like we wanted. But just everything collectively wasn’t what we wanted, and this year we want it to be better.”
This year, Todd Graham is coaching for his job. Another losing campaign, and ASU might be searching for a new head honcho.
But Graham insists he’s not thinking about his future. The coach says he’s focused on getting his team back to where it was when it won its own Pac-12 South title in 2013. To get there, he says, the Sun Devils must be tougher.
“I think that our motto this year is ‘Sun Devil Tough,’” Graham said. “Every single Sun Devil you talk to, it’s about being tough. Tough people come out of tough times … this is a tough, physical sport. We’ve got to get back to running the ball and playing with speed and physicality and to finish every play with a passion.”
Running the ball shouldn’t be an issue. ASU returns Ballage, who rushed for 14 touchdowns, including seven in one game. Demario Richard, a senior who ran for 1,098 yards in 2015, joins him.
ASU has a budding star in sophomore wide receiver N’Keal Harry. Junior Manny Wilkins will start at quarterback after beating out Alabama transfer Blake Barnett for the job.
Defense is still a question mark, though — the Sun Devils lost five of their top six tackles from a defense that already allowed the most yardage in the Pac-12 last season.
“I think we definitely have been working on communicating better between the front end and the back end,” Wicker said. “I think that was our biggest thing last year as far as our misfortune last year.”
Communication and consistency, defense and running the football. The keys to the comeback.
If none of that comes to pass, this might be Graham’s last Territorial Cup.
“We’ve done it. We’ve been to the championship in (2013),” Graham said. “We’ve had success and success, sometimes, is hard.”
