The long storied rivalry between Arizona and Arizona State continues on Saturday as the Wildcats look to keep the Territorial Cup in Tucson.
While this season has not gone as expected or planned for Arizona, it does have a chance to play spoiler to Arizona State as it has done many times before in this rivalry game.
The most recent notable upset came in 2016 when Arizona entered the game 2-9 overall and 0-8 in conference play before Samajie Grant ran wild for 176 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-35 win for the Wildcats over the Sun Devils. Arizona was able to keep Arizona State out of advancing to a bowl game that year.
Back in 2004, a 3-8 Arizona team knocked off No. 18 Arizona State 34-27. In that game, the Wildcats scored a season-high 34 points and forced a season-high five turnovers.
It is games like that which show how little the rest of the season means entering the Territorial Cup.
During the 1980's, Arizona knocked Arizona State out of the Rose Bowl in 1982, 1983 and 1985.
There are a number of coaches on both sides who have played in this rivalry in the past, and they tend to get amped the most during the week of the Territorial Cup.
Brent Brennan talked about his observation of how passionate the coaches are about this rivalry.
"How special their memories are of it," Brennan said. "One of the things that is really cool is how clearly people remember what happens in these games.... I think that's a really special thing."
In these rivalry games, it can get chippy at times between the two teams on the field. Brennan said the team has talked about it every day in terms of keeping their emotions in check on the field.
"I think that's something that has to be on your mind," Brennan said. "I made the statement before, you want to be right on the edge of the cliff and not fall off. That's something important in these big rivalry games. To me one of the characteristics that always gives you a chance to be in or to win is who plays with the most poise and that's a critical component of this game."
The status of Jonah Savaiinaea remains up in the air for Saturday after he got banged up in the loss to TCU. Brennan said he is "hopeful" Savaiinaea can play this weekend. With all of the shuffling of the offensive line throughout the season for Arizona, Savaiinaea has moved around to several different positions in different games for the Wildcats, doing whatever has been asked of him to help the team.
"That speaks to what kind of teammate he is and how much he cares about Arizona football," Brennan said. "His willingness to move from right tackle to left tackle and then back to right and back to left, that speaks to me so much about how much he cares about the team, how much he cares about his teammates and how much he cares about the UofA."
This will be one of those games in this rivalry for Arizona where the Wildcats are playing with nothing to lose and a lot to gain from not just the bragging rights of a third straight win over Arizona State but also knocking them out of being able to make the Big 12 Championship and potentially the College Football Playoff this year.
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