Arizona’s football players noticed something new in their lockers when they arrived at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility on Sunday: News articles and photos detailing decades of Territorial Cup games.
Rivalry week is the perfect time for a little history lesson.
“I think they know about it anyway, but we have 35 newcomers in our program,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They need to understand the importance of this game.”
If history is any indication, Saturday’s showdown between the UA and ASU in Tempe will be raucous, ugly, exhilarating, brutal, compelling — and close. That Arizona is 6-5 and ASU 5-5 may not matter.
“This as intense as any (rivalry) I’ve been involved in,” said Rodriguez, who was a part of the West Virginia-Pitt “Backyard Brawl” series and the showdown between Michigan and Ohio State. “The fact it’s in the same state, the same conference, the same division. … Our players and our staffs know each other. You recruit against each other a lot. Our fans talk about it year-round. Our players and our coaches hear about it year-round.
“Usually, there’s a lot at stake.”
Here are five things to know about the annual battle for the Territorial Cup:
1Records don’t matter. This rivalry game cliché fits. The team with the worse record has won 11 times since 1978, and four times in the teams’ last 11 matchups. In 2004, Mike Stoops’ 2-8 Wildcats stunned the 8-2 (and 18th-ranked) Sun Devils at Arizona Stadium. A 5-6 ASU team beat the Wildcats’ 30-29 in double overtime in 2010, and the 6-5 Devils beat 7-4 UA in 2012.
“It doesn’t matter what the records are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done up to this point,” ASU coach Todd Graham said. “The bottom line is, this is going to be a — this is a rival game and one that is very passionate on both sides. …You know, this is one that’s the most important game on our schedule, and obviously to our fans and to our coaches and to our players.”
2Visitors shine. Home teams have won the last two games, but there is no advantage to speak of. Arizona is 18-20-1 all-time against ASU in games played in either Phoenix or Tempe, and has taken two of the last three games in Sun Devil Stadium.
Arizona leads the all-time series 48-39-1.
3Strangers step up. Rivalry game heroes are almost never the guys you expect. Last year’s star was safety Anthony Lopez, who scooped and scored a touchdown — the first of his college career — after linebacker Scooby Wright sacked Sun Devils quarterback Taylor Kelly. Lopez isn’t the only one: Remember backup quarterback Bryson Beirne’s game-winning touchdown pass that beat the Devils in 2011? Or Orlando Vargas’ blocked punt return for a touchdown in 2009?
None were considered stars — or even starters — when they wrote their names into rivalry history.
4Tensions boil over. There’s not enough space in this publication for stories about the hatred on the field — and in the stands — when the Wildcats and Sun Devils play. The past decades have seen uniform shenanigans, a Clarence Farmer stomp of Sparky the Sun Devil at midfield and, in 2011, Shaquille Richardson’s game-ending celebration over a fallen ASU player.
The Sun Devils have done their fair share of taunting and teasing, too, though Graham — and, for that matter, Rodriguez — have done a good job of keeping their teams in line.
The rage is still there, below the surface.
“You wait for this game all year, the second the schedule comes out,” ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici said.
5Games are close. The annual rivalry game is likely to be a close one, regardless of each team’s record. Consider: Arizona has outscored ASU 1,861-1,801 all-time, a minuscule margin when you consider the series is 88 games old. Do the math, and Arizona has outscored the Devils by an average score of 21.1 to 20.4.
Five of the teams’ last six meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. The only outlier? A 58-21 victory by the Sun Devils in 2013.
“I kinda really forgot about it,” UA receiver David Richards said with a smile. “I’m more focused on last year’s win.”
