(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
This year’s crop of Arizona State seniors has never gone a season in which they haven’t gotten the opportunity to play in a bowl game.
Still, that reality is a possibility when the Sun Devils (5-6) travel to Tucson for the 91st Territorial Cup against a vulnerable Arizona Wildcats (2-9) team.
Regardless of the extra implications surrounding the Territorial Cup this season for Arizona State, those seniors who will be fighting to extend their collegiate careers into the postseason understand how important this game is at its core.
“The biggest thing is just getting the guys to understand how important, crucial this game is, you know, not only to this program, but to the state,” redshirt senior Laiu Moeakiola said. “Coming in as a freshman, you know, it’s just another game, but being here five years, you see the intensity of the game and what it means to, not only the fans, but to the guys around the community and in the state.
“We try to make sure that we do everything that we can to make sure the game is good.”
The Wildcats are currently in the midst of an eight-game losing streak following the team’s 42-17 loss to Oregon State (3-8). In the Pac-12, Arizona has averaged the least number of points scored per game with 21.9 and have only scored 19 touchdowns on the season, which equates to an average of just 1.1 touchdowns per game.
Numbers considered, this game is the Sun Devils’ most favorable match-up on defense this season – still, no one is taking the Wildcats lightly.
“Their quarterback [Brandon Dawkins], he’s definitely a good player, a guy who can work the pocket with his legs and arm as well,” cornerback De’Chavon Hayes said. “Another guy [Samajie Grant], receiver who’s playing running back now, good athlete-type player, so those two players stand out on their team.”
Under head coach Todd Graham, the Sun Devils have won three out of the last four Territorial Cup matchups. With that one blemish on Graham’s record against Arizona, these seniors understand how it feels to either re-capture, or retain, the cup and they also know how it feels to have to give it away.
That competition, and the heightened sense of implication that has come with the game this season, has left a resounding impact on those aforementioned seniors.
“When we went in that locker room [following the 2014 loss to Arizona], I almost busted up in tears because I was so angry,” senior tight end Kody Kohl said. “We had that, I mean it was a long line, the Pac-12 Championship, and they got to go. That should have been us, we beat ourselves that game, too many turnovers, so it was really hard.”
From a personal standpoint, Tim White, who is now in his second and final season with the Sun Devils having transferred from a junior college, recalled his favorite moment from last year’s 52-37 win.
It had nothing to do with anything he did.
“[My favorite memory was] Jalen Harvey’s first touchdown catch,” White said. “That’s one of the big things I remember, you know, him getting in and then running the post route, you know, and catching it in the end zone, knowing how excited he was and how long he’d been waiting coming off of an injury, that was probably my biggest moment for him.”
Even through all the struggles this season, Graham and the Sun Devils still have a chance to keep the streak of four bowl berths intact with a sixth win this Friday.
To snap that five-game losing streak while also ending Arizona’s season on a ninth consecutive loss, would make that reality even sweeter.
“You’ve got to have a controlled anger and when you do that, you’re going to play lights out,” Kohl said. “That’s the way you should always play and I feel like, this year, I’ve been playing with a lot of intensity.
“For some reason, it’s always extra in this week, I can’t explain it.”
PRACTICE NOTES:
- Gump Hayes, Kyle Williams both wore green, non-contact jerseys
- Zach Robertson was in a boot, on crutches
