Tables turned this year for ASU, UA

TUCSON - During Arizona State’s postgame press conference after its win against Arizona last year, quarterback Rudy Carpenter declared that, for a rival school, there is no place like home for the holidays.

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“I love keeping them out of a bowl,” Carpenter said. “I love doing it every year.”

Indeed, a loss to the Sun Devils denied the Wildcats a bowl trip for the second straight season. Heading into today’s renewal of the rivalry, Arizona’s postseason ticket is already punched, but ASU needs a victory to earn a bowl berth.

The roles are reversed, but the Wildcats insist that returning the favor is not a motivation.

“I don’t worry about what it does to them,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. “We want it for our own personal reasons. They are our next opponent, and it’s a rivalry game with a lot of significance, and that’s more important to me than knocking them out of a bowl game.”

Surely, though, the Carpenter quote had to have been revisited in the Arizona locker room.

How could it not have? The irony is too delicious.

“This is the first time that they are in our spot, so they know what it feels like to have to win a game to go to a bowl,” Arizona defensive end Ricky Elmore said. “With the rivalry and everything else that is associated with this game, there is already a lot of pressure to have to deal with.”

The winner of today’s game will head to the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 20, provided that Southern California wins at UCLA, as expected. If Arizona loses, it will head to the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

An ASU loss, and, well, and there are about 100 days until the start of spring practice.

“We’ve been fighting for our lives for a while,” ASU linebacker Mike Nixon said. “We had to win three games in a row, and now we have to make it four. I’m sure that revenge is on their minds. Two years in a row, we ended their season, and that’s not something we want to happen to us. We’ll have to win a tough road game.”

Stoops looks back on the last two Territorial Cup games, and he acknowledges that his team felt the weight of what was at stake.

In 2006, the Wildcats came out flat, falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter. Last year, they were too wound up, including Stoops, who on several occasions was animated on the sideline.

“I think we were tight last year,” Stoops said. “We pressed throughout the game, for whatever reason. The year before, we got down, and we didn’t react well in that game. They were more prepared and beat us to the punch. Last year, we were in a good place and played with a lot of snap, but I don’t think we executed very well. Offensively, we struggled to make plays.”

ASU coach Dennis Erickson said that he is not overly concerned that the Sun Devils could buckle from the bowl pressure.

“We’re just going to go play like we normally do,” Erickson said. “A game like this is always much more than a game. If you are uptight, you’re uptight. I’m sure that’s just because the game is against Arizona.”

Extra nerves are by no means out of the ordinary in the Arizona-ASU rivalry, as many times, the team with the most to lose does stumble.

Each year at this time, Sun Devil fans are reminded of the 1982 and ’85 losses against the Wildcats that kept them out of the Rose Bowl.

Arizona denied ASU a bowl game in 1995, and in ’97, the Sun Devils might have earned an at-large berth in the Fiesta Bowl if not for a defeat against its rival.

Once again, the team with the most to lose is ASU, which began the season ranked 15th in the nation and with Bowl Championship Series aspirations. An upset loss against Nevada-Las Vegas on Sept. 13 started a six-game losing streak that put their postseason hopes in peril.

Carpenter spoke of the bowl-elimination love last year, and today, Arizona has a chance to share in it, at the Sun Devils’ expense.

“I try not to think about that,” Arizona guard Joe Longacre said. “It is what it is. We want to win that game no matter what. If we knock them out of a bowl and return the favor, oh well.”