TEMPE, Ariz. — A lot has changed in the 12 months since Arizona State and Arizona last battled for the Territorial Cup.
Last November, Arizona was one of the top stories in the nation, competing for a spot in the Pac-12 Conference Championship Game and looking like they were about to start a run as the dominant football program in the Grand Canyon State. They went on to put on a dominant performance in the 97th edition of the Territorial Cup, beating ASU 59-23, and then going on to win the Alamo Bowl over No. 12 Oklahoma, 38-24. First-year head coach Kenny Dillingham and ASU finished the year 3-9 and did not play in a bowl game.
12 months later, that conversation has flipped. No. 14 ASU, sitting at 9-2 (6-2 in the Big 12 Conference) is the talk of the nation, competing for a spot in the conference title game and is even in the conversation for a spot in the newly-expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
Arizona, on the other hand, is struggling in its first season under first-year head coach Brent Brennan, who took over after Jedd Fisch left for Washington and the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats are 4-7 (2-6 in the Big 12 Conference) and will miss out on a bowl game.
But both coaches know that when it comes to the Territorial Cup, nothing that was written above matters.
"Well, the mindset is, this is the biggest game of the year, every year and that doesn't change," Brennan said. "For us, whether we're bowl eligible or not, all that matters is that we're playing the team from up north and that's something that is so important to everybody here, so important to our coaches and our players. And so, we're all in on right now and this week and what we need to get done to play good football on Saturday afternoon."
"This is the most important game on our schedule because we put ourselves in position for it to matter, not just from a rivalry perspective, but from a bigger perspective of achieving other aspirations," Dillingham said before later issuing a caution about the last Sun Devil team that finished the season undefeated at home, as this year's team has done.
"This week is a rivalry game," Dillingham said. "I think the last time Arizona State was undefeated at home was 2004. They were the 17th-ranked team in the country and they traveled to Arizona and they lost. It's a rivalry game. Anything happens in a rivalry game."
Dillingham was right, except that the Sun Devils were the 18th-ranked team in the nation, according to Sports Reference. ASU went into the 2004 Territorial Cup after getting back-to-back wins over Stanford and Washington State but lost to Arizona in Tucson, 34-27.
Both coaches talked about the importance that the history of this rivalry plays in making it such an important game during their press conferences on Monday.
Dillingham, who is a Valley local and ASU alum, spoke about how this rivalry became a part of his family's Thanksgiving traditions.
"I grew up going to these games, the rivalry games, my family grew up going to the rivalry games," Dillingham said. "So it's something that I've been, regardless of where I coached throughout the country, I would try to watch this game if I couldn't watch all of them. Like, I would try to watch this game, try to record this game just because it's what if you're from Arizona, like this is like, when's the Territorial Cup? Like that's a big deal."
Dillingham also mentioned that he is going to make it an offseason priority to make sure his teams at ASU are well-educated on the history and importance of playing Arizona.
As for Brennan, he mentioned how his favorite memory of the rivalry was when his brother, Brad, who played at Arizona from 1996-2000, caught a touchdown against ASU in the 1997 Territorial Cup.
"ASU ran an a-gap blitz and the linebacker ran past in between the a-gap on the right side of the formation and then ran around the quarterback and exited the a-gap on the other side of the formation," Brennan said. "And they snapped the ball, they didn't call it dead, and (Ortege Jenkins) threw a post to my brother for a touchdown on like a false start or on an encroachment penalty. It's just like a crazy play and a super cool moment. So that's a good memory for me."
But as for why this game matters more than any other for fans, Dillingham explained it well.
"I think obviously we live in the same state, right? That's a rivalry," Dillingham said. "Not every rivalry is interstate. Two, a lot of their alumni live with our alumni within the same community, right, so, now, not only is it, it's not like state boundaries, It's almost like brother, sister because you all live together. Everybody lives in the same Valley together. Right. And you're like, oh, where did you go to school? It's usually one of, you know, those two options are probably the answer. So I would say it's, it's very like, deep because how closely connected the two schools are with their fan bases."
And for the Sun Devils, the recent history may be all the motivation they need.
"We got our butt kicked last year," Dillingham said. "We got embarrassed. So it's a game that matters that you got your butt kicked. You got embarrassed. If you weren't here, the other guys on our team got embarrassed. I got embarrassed. So you better have a little bit about yourself."
The Sun Devils and Wildcats will square off in the 98th edition of the Territorial Cup at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
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