Gerhard de Beer was a newcomer to football when his eyes were opened.
“Thousands of people were booing us,” he said.
Jacob Alsadek was a redshirting freshman when his ears first burned.
“These fans were crazy,” he said. “They were yelling stuff at you that your mom would never say to you, stuff you’d never heard before. I didn’t even know some were words that were used derogatorily.”
Will Parks was a second-year player, streetwise and strong, when he learned the truth.
“People,” he said, “don’t like us.”
The Arizona Wildcats return to Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday looking to win the Territorial Cup and, in the process, salvage a season that once appeared destined to go off the rails.
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The Wildcats (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) will be treated like enemies, a role they’re embracing. For one game, the team wearing white will play the role of the bad guys, the foreign invaders. The wreckers.
“That’s what we want to do,” said Parks, a senior safety. “We want them to be loud and then, at the end, have everybody in tears, quiet.”
A Territorial Cup win seems more likely Saturday than it did a month ago — or even eight days ago. The UA is coming off 37-30, double-overtime win over No. 10 Utah at Arizona Stadium, a victory that made the Wildcats bowl-eligible for the fourth time in as many years under coach Rich Rodriguez. The breakthrough victory came on the heels of a valiant performance at USC, and renewed hopes that the Wildcats’ season could be saved.
One hundred miles away, the Sun Devils (5-5, 3-4) kept their postseason hopes alive with a 27-17, come-from-behind win over Washington. With a Territorial Cup victory Saturday — and a win in next week’s regular-season finale at Cal — Arizona State can punch a ticket to the postseason and finish with a better record than its rivals.
But minor bowls pale in comparison to what’s at stake Saturday.
The Territorial Cup showdown has been achingly close for both teams in recent years. Five of the last six games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Sun Devils pounded the Wildcats 58-21 two years ago in Tempe, only to watch as the UA got revenge — and secured a Pac-12 South title — win a win last season in Tucson.
The success of their 2014 seasons, combined with their returning starters, led many to think one or the other would be national players again this fall. The Wildcats have been just average, double-teamed by a rash of injuries on defense and inexplicable offensive performances against Stanford and Washington.
ASU coach Todd Graham bragged that this year’s team was his best yet, but the Sun Devils lost their season opener to Texas A&M, fell to USC in their Pac-12 opener and have struggled since. Last week’s win over the Huskies snapped a three-game conference losing streak and reiterated that there was, indeed, life in Tempe.
Health is another matter.
Safety Jordan Simone, the nation’s leader in solo tackles per game, suffered a knee injury last week and won’t play again this season.
Arizona knows the feeling. The Wildcats will be without starting “Mike” linebacker Jake Matthews, who underwent surgery Friday to repair an injured foot. All-American Scooby Wright hasn’t played in two months, and backups Derrick Turituri (hip) and Cody Ippolito (knee) have been limited — if they’ve played at all. Haden Gregory returned a few weeks ago, and could start at what Rodriguez is now calling “inside linebacker.”
“I don’t think we’re even going to name it ‘Mike,’ because as soon as Jake got named ‘Mike,’ you know what happened,” he said.
Quarterback Anu Solomon is questionable to play after suffering a concussion, his second of the season, in last week’s win. Senior Jerrard Randall will start if Solomon is unable to go.
Both teams will be desperate, which should make for a competitive, intense afternoon game. The side that masters its emotions, stays calm and — oh yeah — wins the turnover battle will emerge with a win.
“People talk about getting guys up for it; it’s almost the opposite,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes, you have to calm them down so they’re more focused on assignments as opposed to the history of the rivalry. It still boils down to being able to execute and being able to avoid mistakes.”
A win will require a winning effort from Arizona’s offensive line, which has been shuffling over the last month. De Beer, a South African who came to the UA on a track scholarship, will start at left guard. Alsadek, one of the team’s brightest pro prospects, will play opposite him. Arizona’s quarterback, whoever it is, must be able to pass successfully against an ASU defense that commits enthusiastically to the run. The Wildcats’ tacklers must be efficient and opportunistic.
And Arizona’s special teams must be solid, as so many games have come down to field goals, PATs, blocked punts and muffed returns.
Do that, and Arizona just might exit the Devils’ den with a win.
“You go in there not knowing a soul, not knowing the grass, not knowing the field,” Parks said. “Going up there and ruining everybody’s ticket-buying or whatever, it’s great.”
