A classic rivalry always carries its fair share of side niches that people will be looking out for over the course of the game. This year, the wide receiver match up will be one most fans will most definitely want to feast there eyes on.
Coming down to the last regular season game, ASU junior wide receiver Shaun McDonald and UA senior wide receiver Bobby Wade have exactly the same amount of receiving yards, 1,280. McDonald leads the Pac-10 in touchdowns with 13, while Wade leads the Pac-10 in average yards per game at 116.4. Wade has just eight touchdowns, but his 87 receptions rank second in the conference.
Although the two match up quite evenly based on statistics McDonald said he is not concerning himself with Wade's performance, but rather getting his game ready.
"I let (sophomore cornerback) RJ (Oliver) and the other (defensive backs) deal with Bobby," McDonald said. "I just need to worry about my own stuff and worrying about their DB's and try to put some points up on the board."
Both teams have shown they are capable of putting up a large amount of points on the board. Although UA has struggled most of the season, two weeks ago versus California showed the kind of offensive firepower the Wildcats have. UA senior quarterback Jason Johnson went 31-45 for 492 yards and four touchdowns in a 51-42 win over the Golden Bears. It was the first conference win for UA (4-7, 1-6 Pac-10).
ASU quarterback Andrew Walter is no stranger to big game offense either, as seen by his 536 yard, four-touchdown game against Oregon in Eugene. On top of that Walter helped the Sun Devils (7-4, 4-3) shell out 65 in a murderous victory over Stanford.
What this all boils down to is some quality quarterbacks looking to hit their favorite receivers for some big time plays in a big time game. As always, the revenge factor will be present for last year's loser, this time being ASU. In a Tempe showdown last November, the Wildcats took it to the Sun Devils early and won 34-21. In that contest, Wade caught 11 balls for 157 yards and a touchdown. It was Wade's biggest game of the year in both receptions and yardage. McDonald did not fare as well, grabbing just three pigskins for 71 yards, one of his poorest outings in 2001. However, it doesn't take a sub par performance last year from McDonald to get him ready for this Friday's contest.
"It's UA in general," he said about preparing for the game. "You always want to do good against them. We're going to go down there and just try to give it to them and try to dominate them the whole game and that's just what we need to do."
McDonald has the edge over Wade in the past two years, as his 1104 yards and 10 touchdowns were greater than Wade's 882 yards and eight scores last season. But why talk numbers? Come Friday, the only thing that will matter is beating the other side into a bloody pulp.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
