When they kick off Saturday in Tempe, Arizona and Arizona State will write the latest chapter in an in-state rivalry that dates back to 1899. That’s a lot of history.
The Star, in conjunction with The Arizona Republic, asked former ASU and UA players to tell us their most memorable Territorial Cup experience. Their responses will run every day this week. Here’s what they said:
ASU QUARTERBACK DANNY WHITE (1971-73)
“Three-and-oh. I don’t remember anything about the games, except that we won all three of them. That’s all that matters to me. ... It was the biggest game of the year for us, even bigger than the Fiesta Bowl, which we played in three of. There was no question about it. From Day 1, Coach (Frank) Kush made it clear that, even though we didn’t want to overlook anybody during the season or anything like that, it was all a buildup to the game against U of A. That was, probably even more so than the Fiesta Bowl, a big, big game for us. I know we share a lot of pride and a lot of ego. For me, it goes back to the day I was born. My dad (ASU great Wilford ‘Whizzer’ White) was recruited to the U of A, and back then of course U of A really had a better program. He chose to kind of go with the underdog, ASU, and ended up being a part of ASU taking over the dominance in the series.
“So they hated Dad at U of A. Hung him in effigy. I’ve heard stories about some of those games from him. So it’s in my blood. It wasn’t just a game. It was a lifestyle.”
ARIZONA QUARTERBACK WILLIE TUITAMA (2005-2008)
“It’d have to be my senior year. It was the only one we won during my tenure there. Man, I just remember everything leading up to the game — if we won, we’d go to a bowl, if we won, we’d keep them out.
“That amplified it. The fact it was home was huge for us, to have our crowd behind us. We were able to come out with a victory.”
