Senior quarterback Taylor Kelly poses with Coach Todd Graham before the last home game of the season. ASU beat Washington State 52-31 at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014. (Photo by Mario Mendez)There is no downplaying the severity of Friday's Territorial Cup game. It's a matchup of No. 13 and No. 15, 9-2 vs. 9-2 and potential Pac-12 South champions.
ASU coach Todd Graham knows that and acknowledges that. But he hopes his players don't treat it special — not because it's not a big game but because he wants his players to play every game like it's a big game.
"We don't ever get too high or too low," Graham said. "If you notice, when our guys come out of the locker room, no matter where they're at, they're arm and arm. They understand we're a link and chain, that our strength is within each other. We are always going to be passionate and intense. ...
"You shouldn't have to get up for a big game," he continued. "You should be up every game."
This is Graham's third Territorial Cup, and he's known how much it means to fans and the program since day one. But on the field, it's just another game for the Sun Devils. Graham's players are treating it as such, too — at least when speaking to the media.
There's no bulletin board material coming out of Tempe ahead of Friday's game. Redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly and junior running back D.J. Foster spoke to the media Tuesday and had nothing but respect and generic answers for the Wildcats.
That doesn't mean there isn't a fire beneath the Sun Devils, though. Graham doesn't believe he'll even have to give a motivational speech or anything of the sort.
As far as "all the other stuff," as Graham put it — the hatred, the pageantry, the taunting — that's for the fans.
"All the other stuff around the game is for the pageantry of it. It's for the fans and all that," he said. "We need to stay focused on the job at hand."
Although Graham doesn't want to focus on the distractions that come with rivalries such as this one, he still appreciates them. In his years of coaching, the Territorial Cup is the biggest rivalry Graham said he's been a part of.
With some rivalries going by the wayside, Graham is glad to see this one going strong. He wishes all rivalries — an integral part of college football, he thinks — would be like this one.
"One of the things I'm sad about is some of the rivalries around the country that have gone away," he said. "None to me that I've been around have been as intense as this one. ...
"That's what college football's all about. That would be the last thing, if you said, 'Coach, you can only keep one thing in college football,' man it would be the rivalries, man. That's what fuels the passion in college football."
Thanksgiving plans
A lot of attention is being paid to the game that is Friday — deservedly so — but before that, there's a major holiday the day prior. With the family motto Graham and his team preach day in and day out, Thanksgiving would seem to be an important day for the team.
On Thursday, the day of Thanksgiving, the team heads to Tucson in preparation for Friday's game. But Wednesday, the coaches allow players to celebrate the holiday a day early with their families. On Thursday, the plan is to have a team Thanksgiving lunch, then hop on the bus to Tucson.
Here's what some of the Sun Devils are thankful for this year.
Todd Graham: "My faith, my family and my football family."
Taylor Kelly: "My teammates, my family and everything they've done for me this year."
D.J. Foster: "Same, I'm thankful for my family, my team and just being a part of this community. It means a lot, just how much support we've gotten the last couple years that I've been here."
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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