As the cliché goes: In Texas, football isn’t just a game, it’s a way of life. Immortalized in pop culture touchstones like all three iterations of “Friday Night Lights” and “Varsity Blues,” football transcends sport in permeating the lives of all who live within the state's borders.
So when players leave the confines of their home state to play four years somewhere else, and they see a local team on the schedule, it becomes an even bigger game. For the 16 players currently on the ASU football roster, many of whom were overlooked by schools in their home state, Saturday's game against Texas Tech presents a unique opportunity.
Before traveling to Houston for last season's opener against Texas A&M, ASU head coach Todd Graham spoke excitedly about future prospects in Texas.
"I'm a native Texan, and proud of it, so going back there and competing, that's the reason why we took the games," Graham said. "You look at our future schedule, we'll be going back there quite a bit."
The resources spent on high school football in Texas verges on insane, fueling the appetite of those who embrace it. Graham’s old stomping grounds of Allen have their own 18,000-person capacity crown jewel.
This will be ASU's third game against a school from Texas in the Todd Graham era, and second against Texas Tech — the first a 37-23 loss in the 2013 Holiday Bowl. The Sun Devils have also made two trips to the state for a game against Notre Dame and the Sun Bowl against Duke, keeping the pipeline from Texas to Tempe intact.
Redshirt junior receiver Ellis Jefferson has enjoyed those opportunities to show off against schools that overlooked him.
"I'm happy that coach Graham is from Texas because he loves playing Texas schools," Jefferson said. "Us playing Texas Tech and UTSA, I have a lot of friends from there. It's going to be exciting and I'm so excited to play Texas schools."
Jefferson and senior kicker Zane Gonzalez are two of the three Texans remaining on the roster from when ASU fell to Texas Tech three years ago, along with redshirt junior receiver Cameron Smith. Gonzalez was the only one of the three to record a stat, making three of four field goal attempts and both extra points.
Gonzalez, who's from Deer Park, said he treats every game the same way, but said he'd be lying if he said there wasn't something extra on his mind.
"Definitely it's always fun to play a Texas school, because back in the day, I didn't get many looks from them," Gonzalez said. "It's fun to go against them and compete."
Jefferson echoed his teammate's sentiment, wanting to prove his worth to teams that overlooked him.
"I didn't get any offers from Texas schools," Jefferson said. "It's just a little chip on my shoulder. It gets my energy hot and my blood boiling, honestly. It just gets me more excited to play to the best of my abilities."
Not many of ASU's Texas natives were recruited by the Red Raiders, save junior linebacker Christian Sam, who may not play Saturday due to a right foot injury.
But Texas Tech, specifically, is an interesting case study.
According to senior cornerback Bryson Echols, a transfer from the University of Texas and a native of DeSoto, Texas Tech was never a school that made waves, comparatively, for a lot of his childhood.
"Tech, growing up, was never on the map," Echols said. "Texas was so big and everyone was like, 'oh, UT runs the Big 12' or 'OU runs the Big 12.' But now, Baylor is up there, TCU is up there, Tech is up there."
From 1998, the first football season this year's college freshmen were alive for, through 2007, Tech finished with no fewer than three losses. Not bad, but almost always behind the powerhouses of the Big 12.
Then came the 2008 season.
Led by quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree, the Red Raiders put themselves on the map with one of the most prolific offensive seasons in recent memory, averaging 531 yards and over 43 points per game en route to a Cotton Bowl appearance.
"What I remember from Tech is Michael Crabtree back in the day beating Texas," Gonzalez said.
From a receiver perspective, Jefferson said loved watching the Air Raid led by Harrell, seeing how often the ball was thrown and pushed down the field.
"It was exciting because he was a receiver that put up a lot of yards and they were throwing the ball around," Jefferson said. "Any receiver wants to go to an offense that's throwing the ball. It was just amazing."
This week, the Red Raiders will leave Texas and bring their high-powered offense to Sun Devil Stadium, but as these Sun Devils can attest, Texas never really leaves you.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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