Football heads to Tempe for
in-state rivalry
The field will be 100 yards, they will play for 60 minutes and it will be 11-on-11; but to many Arizona football players, Friday's rivalry game with ASU is not going to be like any other game they've played this season.
"It's nothing like you've ever experienced before," said senior safety Darrell Brooks, who will be playing the last game of his Arizona career. "It's not like any other game you play all year. It's all about pride."
The Wildcats and the Sun Devils face off in Sun Devil Stadium at 1 p.m. in the annual contest for the Territorial Cup, with Arizona (3-7, 2-5 Pacific 10 Conference) playing for state bragging rights and ASU (5-5, 3-4) for a bowl berth.
Although no one on either side has said much about the bad feelings between the two schools, many have acknowledged the uniqueness of the game.
"It's going to be like our own little bowl game between UA and ASU," said senior running back Mike Bell. "You can expect the best competition of every player of each team."
Both teams enter the contest coming off losses two weeks ago, with Arizona falling 38-14 to Washington and ASU being bested by UCLA.
Although a win for the Wildcats wouldn't mean more than finishing with one more win than they did a season ago, it would prevent the Sun Devils from making their second consecutive trip to a bowl game.
"The fact that I get a chance to put a stamp on ruining their season gets me excited, but at the same time, that's not why I play every week," said senior tight end Brad Britton. "We've got to get up like any normal game."
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Much of the responsibility for beating ASU will ride on the defense.
The Sun Devils bring in one of the nation's top offenses, averaging 518 yards and 37 points a game, led by redshirt freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter and senior receiver Derek Hagan.
Arizona head coach Mike Stoops and his ASU counterpart, Dirk Koetter, agreed that the game would most likely be won on the defensive side of the ball, with the winner of the turnover battle probably taking home the Territorial Cup.
Last season, the Wildcats forced five turnovers to ASU's two, en route to upsetting the then-No. 18 Sun Devils 34-27 in Tucson.
"We beat them last year and we have the trophy, and we've got to keep the trophy," said sophomore defensive lineman Yaniv Barnett.
Stoops said he believes his team is better than they were at this point last year, and that a lot of it has to do with the influx of young talent, including freshman quarterback Willie Tuitama and first-year receiver Mike Thomas. Both players enter Friday coming off injuries but are expected to play.