TEMPE, Ariz. — We are just five days away from the 97th edition of the Territorial Cup kicking off at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
As ASU and Arizona get ready for their annual rivalry game, both of their head coaches spoke about what this game means to their programs.
"I told our guys, there's two seasons when you play at ASU," Sun Devil head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "There's the first 11 games, and that's one season. And then there's the team down south week. And that's an entirely another season, and you only play 11 regular season games. And then you play one other entire season. And it takes seven days to play it."
Dillingham grew up in this rivalry. He's a Scottsdale native, ASU alum and spent time as an assistant coach at ASU in 2014 and 2015.
Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, on the other hand, is only experiencing the Territorial Cup for the third time. However, he learned the importance of this game on his very first day.
"That first day I did a Zoom call with former athletes that coach (Brandon) Sanders headed up before he was on the staff," Fisch said. "I think it was Brandon Sanders and had about 75 football alumni on and I was, you know, my job was to introduce myself to them. And I think their job was to kind of inform me a little bit about the history of Arizona football. And clearly, the game itself, the Territorial Cup, is one of the most important parts of Arizona football."
Fisch added that being hired after the 2020 Territorial Cup (which ASU famously, or infamously, depending on which side of the rivalry you are on, won 70-7), stressed the importance of the game for him.
Both coaches also found ways to show all of the players on their teams who have never experienced this rivalry just how important and intense it is.
"We showed a video to our players to kind of explain and teach them a little bit about the rivalry and the history and it's the oldest trophy amongst all the collegiate trophies," Dillingham said. "I was playing the highlight video from the team down south after they won the game last year. That's what was playing in the meeting room on loud, whatever cinematic recap, right? And just to show these guys you know, that we have to come and we have to prepare at a high level to get ready to compete and get the Cup back."
Fisch found a much simpler way to show the intensity of the Territorial Cup to his Wildcats.
"I just showed them a billboard," Fisch said.
Fisch did not say which billboard exactly, but it most likely was one of the two billboards put up by ASU fans on I-10 near Casa Grande after ASU's 70-7 victory and their 38-15 victory in 2021.
Arizona ended ASU's five-game win streak by winning the 2022 Territorial Cup 38-35 in Tucson. The end of that game got very chippy and saw several players get ejected. Some of them even had to sit out parts of games this season due to that game.
Both coaches also stressed the importance of staying composed in this year's game.
"I told our guys today, we've got to play with a passion and intensity and fire in our belly to go out there to win the football game," Dillingham said. "But you also have to play with a poise and composure.
"This is a rivalry game," Dillingham added. "Like rivalry games are, we already kind of mentioned it, they're about keeping your composure through what you're going to play with a passion. Anybody I talk to, if you don't come out there and like, aren't ready to practice this week more than other weeks, oh, man, I'm sorry for you. And so there's not going to be a lack of, there's not gonna be a rah-rah speech, there's not going to need to be me getting out there and try to motivate."
"I think that rivalry games are fantastic," Fisch said. "And they're great. And they're motivational but you still need to be disciplined and you still can't be playing in a manner that you're not understanding the game of football first and foremost."
These two schools will also come into this game with very different mindsets.
For ASU, this will be Senior Day and the season finale.
For Arizona, with a win and Oregon loss Friday night to Oregon State, they would be playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Wildcats will also be going to a bowl game for the first time since 2017.
Fisch is not worried at all about his team possibly thinking about what's ahead during this game.
"We are playing our bitter rival, and it is a duel in the desert," Fisch said. "It is two teams in the state of Arizona going at it. And I have no concern that no matter what happens on Friday night, between the two Oregon schools, that our play will be any different at 1:30 pm on Saturday."
The Sun Devils and Wildcats will meet in the 97th Territorial Cup, as Fisch said, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.
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