In 2005, Arizona State beat in-state rival Arizona to become bowl eligible, and erasing the Wildcats’ bowl hopes in the process. Last season, both teams entered in the exact same scenario as the year before – and the Sun Devils won, again.
Now, as the teams prepare for Saturday’s nationally televised 5 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2 from Tempe, Ariz., the stakes aren’t any different for the 81st meeting between the two schools. With a win, ASU (9-2 overall, 6-2 Pacific-10 Conference) can continue to make its case for a BCS bowl game (possibly the Fiesta Bowl, in nearby Glendale, Ariz.). If Arizona (5-6, 4-4 Pac-10) can win for the first time in Tempe since 2001, the Wildcats will become bowl eligible for the first time in head coach Mike Stoops’ three-year tenure.
The Wildcats had last week off after beating then-No. 2 Oregon 34-24 on Nov. 15. It was the team’s third consecutive win after losing six of the first eight games of the season. The win gave cornerback Antoine Cason, who ran an interception back 42 yards for a touchdown, the national defense player of the week award. Cason was also recently named a Thorpe Award finalist for the nation’s best player in the defensive secondary.
Not to be outdone, fellow senior Spencer Larsen was named the Pac-10 defensive player of the week for his 16 total tackle effort against the Ducks. Larsen leads the conference with 116 total tackles and is eighth nationally in solo tackles, with 74.
“He (Larsen) is what football is all about,” said ASU coach Dennis Erickson about Larsen in his weekly press conference on Monday. “He plays how he should, and he’s a senior leader.”
While the Wildcats could enjoy Thanksgiving, the No. 13 Sun Devils used last Thursday more for business than pleasure. Erickson’s squad endured a drubbing at the hands of USC to the tune of a 44-24 loss. But with a win Saturday, the Sun Devils are assured of no worse than second place in the conference, with a chance to win it should USC stumble against UCLA.
But of course, that means taking care of the business at hand. And in this college football season, that’s no easy feat. But as a program, the Sun Devils have won the last three meetings between the schools. The magnitude of the rivalry hasn’t been lost on Erickson, who has been in his fair share of high-profile rivalries before, coaching at Miami, Washington State and Oregon State.
“That’s all you hear when you win during the season, ‘What are going to do against the U of A?’” Erickson said.
The Wildcats have found a late-season identity, not by playing lockdown defense, but by simply finding a way to outscore opponents, whether the scores come by offense, defense or special teams. Besides his interception return for a touchdown against Oregon, Cason returned a punt for a score as well. During his team’s current winning streak, quarterback Willie Tuitama has thrown for 10 touchdowns against three interceptions.
During Arizona’s three-game losing stretch against Oregon State, USC and Stanford in the middle of the season, however, Tuitama threw for one touchdown, with six interceptions. Tuitama ranks second in the conference in total offense per game, and has the luxury of throwing to Mike Thomas, who leads the Pac-10 with 12.7 receptions per game.
“Our kids are starting to make plays and it turns things in a hurry when people really doubted anything we were doing a month ago,” Stoops told The Arizona Republic this week.
Turnovers will continue to make-or-break both teams, which both feature defenses that have a nose for the ball. Both the Wildcats and Sun Devils have forced 23 turnovers this year, but the Sun Devils lead the Pac-10 in turnover margin by committing five fewer turnovers on offense. It’s just one of many aspects of the rivalry game, one which the new coach in the matchup already understands quite well.
“It’s important to win the rivalry game,” Erickson said. “It’s important for Arizona State. It’s important for Arizona. It’s like I said, it’s the biggest game of the year.”
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Rivalry gets downright Territorial
Daily Emerald
November 29, 2007
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