Dear Mr. Football: Have Wildcats and Sun Devils ever been friends?
A: This is the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Territorial Cup, in which two buses of ex-ASU football players trekked to Tucson and had a pregame lunch with ex-Arizona players at the old Tidelands Hotel (now the Sahara Motor Inn on Stone Avenue).
At the time, both Tucson newspapers referred to ASU as “Demons” as often as “Devils.” Either way, it wasn’t a term of endearment.
The schools hoped to repair long-damaged feelings from a rivalry that had gone off the tracks. In the 1955 game alone, Arizona’s Ed McCluskey, Max Burnett and ASU’s Frank Bell all were kicked out of the game for “ungentlemanly behavior.”
This is difficult to imagine now — Rich Rodriguez and Todd Graham do not often generate warmth, even within their own communities — but the rivalry had gotten so bitter that in 1958 hard-edge Frank Kush agreed to speak to the UA’s Phoenix booster group, the Towncats, “to promote greater harmony between the schools.”
Dear Mr. Football: How did that work?
A: At the 1991 20-year reunion of the 1971 ASU team, one of Kush’s key players, offensive lineman Roger Davis, displayed a tattoo on his left biceps that says: “1971: Arizona State 31, Arizona 0.”
Davis told the Phoenix Gazette he got the tattoo during “The Streak,” the Larry Smith-triggered 7-0-1 era against ASU from 1982-1990. “I wanted everybody to know we beat those guys,” Davis said.
Dear Mr. Football: Who is the Greatest Territorial Cup Player ever?
A: Maximillian Javier Zendejas was 4-0 against the Sun Devils from 1982-85, and no player, any position, had a greater impact over 100 years. OK, maybe Chuck Cecil is close, with a game-ending interception 1985, a game-changing interception in 1986 and a game-altering fumble recovery in 1987.
Zendejas kicked a walk-off, winning field goal of 45-yards in a 17-15 victory at Sun Devil Stadium in 1983. A year later, he kicked three field goals, the margin of victory, in a 16-10 victory in Tucson.
The Max Factor’s legend grew in his final Territorial Cup, in Tempe, in 1985. The Sun Devils needed to beat the Wildcats to go to the Rose Bowl; they were so good defensively that Arizona gained just 186 total yards. Zendejas kicked a 57-yard field goal to tie the game at 13 with 5:29 remaining.
A tie would get ASU to the Rose Bowl, but coach John Cooper, fearing a short punt and good field position for Zendejas, chose a risky third-down pass at his own 11-yard line on the ensuing possession. UA nose guard Dana Wells sacked Sun Devil QB Jeff Van Raaphorst and forced a fumble.
Zendejas kicked the winning field goal with 1:27 remaining. He was the football equivalent to Cubs relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Sooner or later, he was going to get you.
Dear Mr. Football: Who had a better career, Zendejas or ASU’s Zane Gonzalez?
Gonzalez might be the most successful kicker in college football history. He has kicked 96 field goals. Zendejas: 79.
But for whatever reason, Gonzalez hasn’t been put in clutch situations. He has but one career walk-off FG, an overtime win against Utah in 2014. As good as he is, he hasn’t inspired football fairy tales.
But Zendejas had walk-off FGs (or the equivalent) to beat undefeated Notre Dame and two ASU teams. Max is history. Gonzalez is in the record books. Big difference.
Dear Mr. Football: How good is Gonzalez’s nickname “Legatron”?
It doesn’t compare to the Super Six nicknames in UA football history:
1. The Cactus Comet. Tailback Art Luppino, who led the NCAA in rushing in 1954 and 1955.
2. Jackrabbit Joe. Tailback Joe Hernandez was a key part of Arizona’s 8-1-1 team of 1961, playing in the All-American Bowl all-star game.
3. The B&E. Linebacker Byron Evans, the Pac-10’s 1985 defensive player of the year, caused a game-turning fumble for a touchdown that set up Zendejas’ winning field goals in the ’85 game that kept ASU out of the Rose Bowl.
4. “The Eel.” Bill Hargis became Arizona’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 1930, and set a then-record of 167 rushing yards in a Territorial Cup victory over ASU.
5. Two-Star Scoob. Scooby Wright’s most enduring play as a Wildcat was forcing a fumble on a sack of QB Taylor Kelly in the 2014 Territorial Cup, returned for a touchdown, giving Arizona a 7-0 lead and impetus for the Pac-12 South title.
6. Button. Quarterback John “Button” Salmon, who created the “Bear Down” legend, only played against ASU once, in 1925. Arizona won 13-3.
Dear Mr. Football: Is ASU coach Todd Graham a smoker?
A: Graham is featured on TV commercials for “Ashline,” which encourages people to stop smoking. Graham said he had a devil of a time stopping a habit of chewing tobacco.
A front-page photograph of Arizona’s 1957 coach Ed Doherty, who was also ASU’s head coach from 1947-50, shows him smoking while on the sideline during the Territorial Cup. He’s the last UA football coach who openly smoked cigarettes.
The Pac-12’s most-known coach who had a smoking habit was Oregon State’s local legend Ralph Miller, after whom OSU’s basketball court is named. I once interviewed Miller after a practice at Gill Coliseum and he crushed his cigarette butt on the Beaver emblem at center court.
That’s sort of how ASU and the UA would like to extinguish one another Friday night.
Dear Mr. Football: Is either team worthy of possession of the Territorial Cup?
A: Someone suggested that the trophy be changed to the Err-izona Cup.
Err-izona vs. Err-izona State.
Arizona has been so bad that Oregon State offensive line coach T.J. Woods disclosed that the Beavers’ line had “40-something knockdowns” against Arizona last week. He said the Beavers, who were 2-8, hadn’t gotten close to 30 knockdowns all season.
ASU has been so bad it allows 383 passing yards per game, the worst total in NCAA history, challenged only by Cal’s 2014 team that yielded 341 yards per game (and gave up Arizona’s famous “Hill Mary,” a 47-yard TD pass to lose the game).
You might say there is an err of uncertainty about this game.
If it’s close, the Sun Devils are apt to win on a Gonzalez field goal.
Do you realize that in 117 years only five Territorial Cups have been decided on walk-off type field goals: 1979, 1983, 1985, 2005 and 2009.
After Arizona walk-on freshman Brett Weber kicked the walk-off FG to win 18-17 in Tempe in 1979, he told reporters “You spell my name with two T’s and one B.”
This time, you’re likely to spell the winner’s name with one Z and two M’s. The Wildcats win this game in the memory of their late teammate, Zach Hemmila.
Wildcats 44, Sun Devils 34
