TEMPE – It’s a rivalry that has led to heartbreak, barnburners, and – mostly recently – ugly blowouts. However, in its 99th rendition, the stakes of the Arizona State-Arizona Territorial Cup game are higher than they’ve been in years.
For the first time since 2014, ASU and Arizona come into the game above the .500 mark and with bowl eligibility. A game that has always held meaning within the state now could also have national implications as ASU clings to its aspirations for a return to the Big 12 Championship game.
For both teams, the game would be circled on the schedule even if only bragging rights were at stake.
“You always want to beat your brother,” Dillingham said. “When you play your brother, there is nothing more you want to do. If not, you will hear about it for a year.”
Arizona State needs a win and some help to get back to Dallas for the championship game, but Dillingham and his team have their full focus on the Wildcats.
“I told the guys after Colorado, it’s a one-game season,” Dillingham said. “We finished the regular season 8-3, and now we’ve got a bonus game right here, then whatever is after that.”
The ASU coach credited Arizona’s core of players, who have fought through the ups and downs of the last three years to have what Dillingham called “an unbelievable season.” Arizona won 10 games in 2023, then just four in 2024 before bouncing back this season.
“They’re playing as good of football, in our league, as anybody right now,” Dillingham said. “And the thing about them is they won 10 games two years ago. Their quarterback is the same quarterback. Their free safety, who’s the most valuable player in their defense, is the same kid. They have the core of that team, so it’s not a shock that they’re having this amount of success.”
Defensively, it starts in the secondary for Arizona. The Wildcats own the best pass defense in the conference and rank sixth nationally. Led by Genesis Smith and Treydan Stukes, Arizona has been locked down against the pass this season.
Fortunately for ASU, Arizona’s weakness falls at the feet of a Sun Devils strength. Junior running back Raleek Brown is coming off of a 255-yard game on the ground, an effort that broke ASU’s single-game rushing record on the road as ASU mauled Colorado’s run defense.
A similar recipe could find success against a middle-of-the-pack Wildcats rush defense.
Arizona will come in with the 74th-ranked rushing defense in the country, allowing just under 150 rush yards per game. A strong running game, led by Brown, could allow ASU to control the game and keep the Wildcats’ stout secondary at bay.
However, the leader and engine of the Wildcats is quarterback Noah Fifita, who was the 2023 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and has returned to that form this season. The junior gunslinger is completing nearly 65% of his passes, throwing for 2,677 yards and 25 touchdowns.
During that freshman campaign, Fifita lit up the Sun Devil secondary while breaking the Territorial Cup’s record for single-game passing yards with 527. Fifita’s performance led the Wildcats to a 59-23 win over the Sun Devils, which brought a painful end to Dillingham’s first year.
With many Sun Devils from that roster still here today, Dillingham said it will be “really cool” for his seniors to walk off that field on Friday knowing that the program has flipped.
“It’s really fun to see our guys go out there in their last game, knowing that they took this place when there were 30,000 fans in that stadium to all sellouts their senior year,” Dillingham said.
“That’s unbelievable. They saw the transition. I think that’s something that not everybody can say they were a part of, a complete change of an organization. I think these seniors can say that.”
It is a transition that can reach new heights with a win and some help around the league. The Sun Devils have never played in back-to-back conference championship games, but can snap that streak this weekend.
The Sun Devils’ most likely route to Dallas is with a win combined with a Texas Tech win, a BYU loss, and a Utah loss.
But for Dillingham, it is all about playing what he called “meaningful football” during rivalry week.
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