(Photo: Marina Williams/ WCSN)
Following Arizona State football’s 42-17 victory over Colorado last week, the Sun Devils turn to a Territorial Cup matchup against Arizona.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham spoke Monday morning about how he recognizes this rivalry matchup isn’t like any other.
“This is a game that matters to the state,” Dillingham said. “Your neighbor could have gone to either school; that’s what makes this fun. People are friends with people on both sides, and that’s what makes it so big.”
Dillingham also recognized that the scheduling of this game – the day after Thanksgiving – adds another layer to the rivalry.
“When I think about Thanksgiving, I also think about the Territorial Cup,” Dillingham said. “You get together with your family, you eat Thanksgiving, you eat leftovers, and you also watch the Territorial Cup.”
The game against Arizona comes after a dominant performance against Colorado, which kept ASU’s Big 12 Championship berth hopes alive.
The main cog in the Sun Devils’ engine was the legs of redshirt junior running back Raleek Brown. Brown finished with a career-high of 255 rushing yards on 22 carries.
“For Raleek, it’s awesome to see him have success,” Dillingham said. “Dudes got so much energy and passion, and he does it in his own unique way. He is awesome to coach.”
Brown led an ASU offensive explosion, as its offense created more explosive plays than at any point this season.
“We played well at the end of last week’s game, so hopefully we can build on that,” Dillingham said. “They’re playing very good football, if not top-two football in our league.”
Arizona will make the 111-mile-long trip to Tempe on the back of a four-game winning streak. Under head coach Brent Brennan, Arizona struggled a year ago, finishing with a 4-8 record, and lost 49-7 in the Territorial Cup.
Now, a year later, Arizona will be looking for vengeance, as they’ve already doubled their win tally.
“They won ten games two years ago,” Dillingham said. “Their quarterback is the same quarterback. Their free safety – who’s the most valuable player on their defense – is the same kid.”
The quarterback, redshirt junior Noah Fifita, has thrown for over 8,000 yards in his career and has tacked on 2,677 this season.
The free safety Dillingham mentioned is redshirt senior Dalton Johnson. Johnson was voted Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Baylor last week, where he finished with 18 total tackles.
“It’s not a shock that they’re having this amount of success,” Dillingham said. “It’s that same group and same core of kids who have stayed there through and through.”
Dillingham also acknowledged the difference between his group of seniors and Arizona’s, but also said it’s cool to see two programs have seniors who hold the program close to their hearts.
“It’s two completely different groups of seniors,” Dillingham said. “They’ve got a group of older leaders that had that success. Our guys showed up and had to figure it out how to change the dynamic.”
Friday night will likely be the final home game for many ASU seniors, including redshirt seniors Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah.
Both joined the Sun Devils in Dillingham’s first season in 2023, when the team finished 3-9, and stayed through ASU’s ascent to Big 12 challengers.
“They took this place from when there were 30,000 fans in this stadium, to sold out their senior year,” Dillingham said. “That’s something not everybody can say; that they were a part of a complete change of an organization.”
One of the pieces of the Sun Devils’ change was former running back Cam Skattebo, who’s now with the New York Giants. Skattebo is expected to be in Tempe for the Territorial Cup matchup.
“He’s fired up. I’m fired up,” Dillingham said. “It’s what college football is supposed to be. You should graduate from a school and have a passion about that place, and come back to that place and feel like you’re at home.”
Skattebo return to the Valley of the Sun is a part of Dillingham’s favorite parts of college football. Now, Dillingham hopes this year’s roster does the same down the line.
“Our players love it here,” Dillingham said. “The majority of our team loves it here. The majority of our team is truly a Sun Devil.”
While ASU isn’t eliminated from Big 12 Championship Game contention, they will need help beyond their own victory. However, like all seasons, Dillingham and the Sun Devils aren’t focused on other teams, rather their own ‘one-game season.’
“I’m expecting this place to be rocking,” Dillingham said. “Unfortunately, there’s going to be some other colors in there, because a lot of their fans live up here as well, but I want this place to be rocking. This should be one of the best environments in college football this weekend.”
