What a difference a year makes.
A season after finishing as the two best teams in the Pac-12 South, the annual football game between ASU and Arizona will not have the same significance, as both programs have struggled to this point of the season.
No matter, though, as both sides treat this game as a season in itself, as do the fans and players, making this one of the most heated rivalries in the country.
Coach Todd Graham has been heavily involved with pumping up this rivalry in each of his four seasons in Tempe and he knows the circumstances don't define this matchup.
"It doesn't matter what the records are," Graham said. "It doesn't matter what you've done up to this point. The bottom line, this is going to be a – this is a rival game and one that is very passionate on both sides."
However, this year's game will lack the star power of past duels in the desert. Arizona junior linebacker Scooby Wright and ASU redshirt senior safety Jordan Simone are both out. Sophomore running back Nick Wilson has been injured on-and-off all year for the Wildcats, but he is expected back Saturday.
The key to the game for the Wildcats is the situation behind center. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Anu Solomon is questionable after leaving last weekend's win over Utah with a concussion, leaving the door open for redshirt senior Jerrard Randall to start in his stead.
Preparing for two different passers presents issues in any case, but the two Wildcat signal callers attack the game in very different ways. Solomon is more of a prototypical pocket passer who can, and will, run when necessary, shown in his 61 attempts for 186 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
On the other hand, Randall is an athletic scrambler who presents more of a threat with his legs than his arm. This season, Randall is third on the team in rushing yards with 680, averaging 9.2 yards per carry. Conversely, he completes barely over half of his passes and has been intercepted three times compared with five touchdowns.
Redshirt senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington said the contrasting styles present a challenge, but not one that can't be overcome by the Sun Devils.
"We understand what we need to do as far as game-planning for each quarterback," Carrington said. "Our main focus is focusing on us as a team and making sure we're all on the same page and playing as a unit in each phase of the game."
If Soloman is cleared and gets the starting nod, ASU is at a disadvantage because of the injuries that have plagued the Sun Devil secondary – sophomore Armand Perry is still out in addition to Simone's injury.
Sophomore Chad Adams and redshirt sophomore James Johnson were thrust into the game last weekend against Washington and improved as the game went on, despite early struggles with communication and missed coverage.
Despite the influx of new starters this late in the season, Carrington does not anticipate any issues in communication moving forward.
"We all have a next man up mentality, so guys have been able to come in," Carrington said. "They know what they're doing, so it's not really a big thing for me to try to communicate or make them do something different, because they understand what we're supposed to do."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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