All roads in Arizona lead to the Territorial Cup. No matter where they wandered before, they always end up at the same destination, with the oldest rivalry trophy in the nation at stake.
For the ASU football team, its season started out with the promise of national prominence and flickered down to desperation off the heels of consecutive subpar losses. For UA, its disappointing year began from the start and continued until its coach bit the bullet.
Now the two major Grand Canyon state universities meet in Tempe with clashing aspirations on the line. The Sun Devils (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) try to finally take a step forward in their Pac-12 south hopes while the Wildcats (2-8, 1-7 Pac-12) look to drill a nail in their rival’s Rose Bowl dreams.
“When you play in this game, it doesn’t make any difference what’s happened during the season,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “In this state, you’re either a Sun Devil or a Wildcat. That kind of rivalry, when you have to live with it for a year, that’s what, makes it so big.”
A season ago the roles were reversed with UA playing for bowl position and ASU for pride. ASU junior quarterback Brock Osweiler got his first start after Steven Threet went down with another concussion the game prior.
“I’ve come a long way since last year,” Osweiler said. “It was sloppy, my pocket presence especially. I just didn’t have any game experience. Every football game I go into, I expect to play perfect. We all know how many interceptions were dropped (against UA). Looking back, I felt like I underachieved.”
The Sun Devils ended up defeating the Wildcats 30-29 in double overtime on a James Brooks blocked extra point attempt. Even though he made mistakes young quarterbacks often make, Osweiler’s teammates recall the game as his coming out party as a leader.
“His leadership showed up, especially when he brought the whole team together and told us that we were going to win that game,” ASU redshirt senior defensive tackle Bo Moos said. “I think that’s the game where he started to take over as the guy.”
This Saturday will pose a different challenge for the Sun Devils. After allowing 999 combined yards in its last two games, the ASU defense faces the stiff task of handling the best pass offense in the conference and fourth best in the nation.
“I would think they’re probably licking their chops right now,” Erickson said. “We just have to be more disciplined. We can’t give up the big play with the pass. We just have to keep everything underneath us and force them to drive the ball down the football field and not make big plays.”
Leading the charge for the Wildcats is their senior quarterback Nick Foles. He leads the Pac-12 in passing by more than 600 yards with 3,612 on the season.
“He’s so accurate and has command of the game, but to me, it is his toughness,” Erickson said. “You don’t see that a lot. To me, that’s where I respect him. He gets hit, he keeps getting up, and he keeps making plays.”
On the other side of the ball, UA ranks dead last in the conference in total defense, allowing 457 yards per game. The Wildcats, like the Sun Devils, have been riddled with injuries throughout the season.
“They’re young but they seem athletic,” Osweiler said. “We can’t settle too much [against them.] It’s my job to get into the end zone. We haven’t turned the average play into a scoring play and we haven’t done a good job in the red zone the last two weeks.”
There are multiple scenarios that would allow ASU to reach the Pac-12 title game, but the most conceivable is for the Sun Devils to win their final two games and UCLA to fall to Southern California in its finale.
“It's crazy to think after these two weeks we still have a chance at our goal,” Moos said. “It's kind of the feeling, how many chances are you going to get? Obviously, we have proven that we are a home team this year and we are grateful that these last games are home. We know we have to take care of business.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
