Nobody has to tell ASU football coach Dennis Erickson how important the Territorial Cup rivalry game is to each university.
The veteran head coach is entering his fourth rivalry game at ASU, but has seen many rivalries at each of his stops in college football.
“I have been in a lot of other rivalries games and this is as big as any and when you’re in a state where people are either a Wildcat or a Sun Devil,” Erickson said. “That is kind of how this state is. It is bragging rights for a year. It is huge and having been here and been involved in three of them, and losing two of them, I know the bad side of it is [huge] too.”
Erickson won his first rivalry game against UA, but has dropped the past two.
This year both programs enter the game desperate for a victory. UA started the season 7-1 and had high hopes of reaching a BCS bowl game, but three straight losses have dashed those dreams.
A win for Erickson and the Sun Devils would not only keep alive their slim bowl hopes, but it would place ASU at an identical 4-5 conference record as their rivals and would be a major coup to in-state recruiting.
In the Wildcats, ASU will get an experienced group, mostly on offense where UA is led by a former ASU commit, junior quarterback Nick Foles.
Foles leads the Pac-10 in passing yards per game and Erickson referred to him as “one of the best in the nation.”
Having the top receiver in the conference hasn’t hurt Foles either. Junior Juron Criner leads the Pac-10 with 67 receptions and 1,091 yards.
“[Criner] is probably as good as a receiver as there is in college football, [he] is a playmaker like I have never seen,” Erickson said. “When they have a chance to win the games, he makes plays. He goes out and gets the ball as well as anybody. They throw it up to him and he’ll make plays like he has been doing for the past couple years. He makes them at crucial times and he is that kind of a playmaker and that is what makes him so outstanding.”
The outcome could be decided on the play of both teams’ secondaries. UA and ASU are the top two passing offenses in the conference and run similar spread schemes.
“We are very similar in a lot of ways,” Erickson said of the two offenses. “Our passing game is similar and some of the screen game we both use is very similar. They get in two tight ends a little bit more and close it down a little bit more on the running game on occasion. But there are quite a few similarities.”
With UA dropping back and throwing the ball as much as they usually do, ASU’s defense is going to be presented with the challenge of playing up to their potential, something Erickson hasn’t seen consistently all season.
“We have been kind of up and down defensively,” Erickson said. “Not as consistent as we would have liked to be all the time, but we’ve played okay. We are making plays, getting some turnovers now, putting pressure on the passer probably more than we have. We are going to have to play well on Thursday if we are going to have a chance to win the game.”
Regardless of stats, numbers or what has happened earlier in the season, rivalry games bring out the best in both sides.
“So many different things happen, and there a lot of emotions involved in rivalry games on TV throughout the season,” Erickson said. “You never know what is going to happen. Last weekend, Indiana comes back and beats Purdue, funny things happen.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
