Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry

Duel in the Desert

Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils
First meeting	November 30, 1899 Normal School of Arizona, 11–2[1]
Latest meeting	November 25, 2023 Arizona, 59–23
Next meeting	November 30, 2024 (at Arizona Stadium)
Stadiums	Arizona Stadium, Mountain America Stadium
Trophy	Territorial Cup (1899, 2001–present) Saguaro Trophy (1998–2000)[2] Big Game Trophy (1979–1997)[2]
Statistics
Meetings total	97
All-time series	Arizona leads, 51–44–1 (.536)
Trophy series	Territorial Cup Series
Largest victory	Arizona, 67–0 (1946)
Longest win streak	Arizona, 11 (1932–1948)
Current win streak	Arizona, 2 (2022–present)

150km
100miles

Arizona State

Arizona

  

Locations of Arizona and Arizona State

The Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry (also known as the Duel in the Desert) is a college football rivalry between the University of Arizona Wildcats (UA) and the Arizona State University Sun Devils (ASU).

One of the longest football rivalries, the winner receives the Territorial Cup, created 125 years ago for the 1899 champion between schools in Arizona and which the NCAA has certified as the oldest rivalry trophy in college football.^[3][4] Although the Territorial Cup did not change hands as a regular part of the competition until 2001, the rivalry between the two schools continued after 1899, a semi-regular event until becoming an annual event, uninterrupted, from 1946 onwards. In the entire history of the rivalry, the game has never been contested anywhere beside Tempe or Tucson, and alternates between the two respective campuses. Games in odd-numbered years are played in Tempe at ASU, and even-numbered years in Tucson at UA. It is part of the wider Arizona–Arizona State rivalry, which crosses 20 varsity intercollegiate sports. It is also the biggest and most anticipated football game in the state of Arizona each year.^[5]

History

The rivalry dates to 1899 in the Arizona Territory, when the University of Arizona in Tucson played the Normal School of Arizona of Tempe – which later evolved into Arizona State University^[6] – as part of the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship. (Arizona, as well as New Mexico, achieved statehood in 1912.)

The championship was a four-way series that also included Phoenix Union High School and Phoenix Indian School. Arizona and the Normal School met on November 30, 1899, for a Thanksgiving Day match at Carrillo Gardens in Tucson.^[7] Contemporary newspaper stories indicate that this was the first game for the university squad, while the Normal team was comparatively more experienced and better trained. The event drew 300 enthusiastic fans and was followed by a post-game Thanksgiving celebration for both teams hosted by the university. The "Normals", as they were called, won the game 11–2; as they had previously defeated the other schools, they were declared champions and received the Territorial Cup.^[8]

The two teams played each other sporadically for the next decades, and have played almost every year beginning in 1925 (when Arizona State became a four-year college). The rivalry became particularly heated in the late 1950s amid the political contention over turning Arizona State College into an official university, a change opposed by the University of Arizona and many of its alumni. In 1958, the year the measure was to be put to a statewide vote, Arizona State defeated Arizona 47–0. The blowout win was a major point of pride for Arizona State, which became a university later that year.^[9]

Another heated game came in 1968. The contest was expected to decide which team would go on to the Sun Bowl, but before the game, Arizona coach Darrell Mudra issued an ultimatum to the Sun Bowl committee that his team would not play in the bowl unless they were selected regardless of who won. The committee chose Arizona, who promptly lost to Arizona State 30–7 in what became known as the "Ultimatum Bowl"; Arizona proceeded to lose the 1968 Sun Bowl 34–10 to the Auburn Tigers. The events led to the creation of the Fiesta Bowl as a default bowl for Arizona State should they receive no other bids. It went on to become part of the highly lucrative Bowl Championship Series^[9] and part of the College Football Playoff system.

The rivalry series has been known for having decades being dominated by each team, with ASU having the advantage during the 1960s and 1970s, and UA dominating the early years, as well as the 1980s and 1990s.

In the modern era of the game, it has often been played on the day after Thanksgiving. It has most recently been scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving to accommodate network television coverage. Starting with the 2009–2010 school year, both schools created a “Territorial Cup Series” that encompasses each of the 20 varsity intercollegiate sports that Arizona and Arizona State compete head to head in, apparently due to the schools believing that the rivalry happens in all sports and not only in football.^[10] Each sport is worth either a half or full point in the year-long competition. While the series has yet to have an official sponsor like other rivalry series between two universities, both UA and ASU have tracked down and promoted the series each season. The school that records the most points during the school year wins a trophy that is named after the Territorial Cup football trophy. If both schools finished tied, the winner of the football game decides the tiebreaker and is declared the winner. As of the 2023–24 season, UA leads the series and is in possession of the trophy.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Rivalry name

The rivalry has had several nicknames, including the “Battle of Arizona”, the “Grand Canyon Rivalry” (not to be confused with the rivalry between Northern Arizona and Southern Utah that shares the same name), “Desert Wars” (due to Arizona being known for having a desert climate), the “Cactus War” (named after Arizona's prominent feature, the saguaro cactus), and the “Phoenix–Tucson rivalry” (due to both schools being located in state's two largest metropolitan areas, with ASU in Tempe, Phoenix's east suburb, and UA located within the Tucson city limits), with the most famous nickname for the rivalry being the “Duel in the Desert” (or the “Desert Duel”), since both schools wanted to battle for pride and to be the best team in the state, not only in football, but in all sports.^[15]

Territorial Cup

Main article: Territorial Cup Series

In 1899, and continuously since 2001, each year's winner receives the Territorial Cup, a traveling trophy.^[3] The trophy was originally used in 1899 for the series that involved the teams' first ever meeting. As the Normal School won all three of its games, it was declared champion and awarded the trophy.^[3][16] The cup's name refers to the fact that Arizona was a U.S. territory at the time; it, along with New Mexico, became a state in 1912.

After the tournament the trophy's whereabouts were unknown until 1980 when it was rediscovered in the basement of a church adjacent to Arizona State's campus.^[3] The cup was put on display in the Alumni Association headquarters and then the University Archives.^[17] It was later authenticated as the original cup by the NCAA, making it the oldest rivalry game trophy in college football.^[4]

In 2000, Arizona contacted Arizona State about displaying the cup on their campus. The following year, then ASU President Lattie Coor ordered that the Territorial Cup be shared as a traveling trophy, to be displayed by each year's winner. Coor and then UA President Peter Likins signed a protocol governing the cup's use and care. Each year the tradition is celebrated at a pre-game reception for boosters. A replica version was also made and is the trophy presented to the winner after the game.^[17][18]

The cup is silver plate over Britannia base metal and was manufactured by Reed & Barton of Taunton, Massachusetts. It was a standard style priced at $20 ($462.05 in 2010 dollars) in Reed and Barton's 1910 catalog. The inscription reads "Arizona Football League Championship 1899 Normal".^[18]

Series history

Arizona State University was previously known as the Normal School of Arizona (1899–1901), Tempe Normal School (1901–1925), Tempe State Teacher's College (1925–1928), Arizona State Teacher's College (1928–1945), and Arizona State College (1945–1958) before becoming its current name since 1958 (Arizona has always been called the University of Arizona since their football program began playing in 1899).^[6][19] Arizona State did not come under the control and patronage of the state's Board of Regents until 1945 and the teams did not play each other every year until 1946.

In the early part of the rivalry series, the games were played in Tucson due to the fact that ASU's home stadium held very few fans. In 1931, ASU hosted the game for the first time. Arizona dominated the early portion of the series, winning 20 of the first 22 meetings, by having more physical and better-trained players than ASU. The Sun Devils had a reign of dominance from 1949 to 1981, winning 24 of 33, including a 13–2 stretch from 1965 to 1979, under the leadership of ASU's legendary coach Frank Kush. The Wildcats got the best of ASU from 1982 to 1998, going 13–3–1 (with the occurring in 1987) under the guidance of coaches Larry Smith and Dick Tomey and a dominant defensive unit that was one of the nation's best in the early 1990s.

Since 1999, Arizona State has dominated, winning 16 of the last 25 meetings, mainly due to Arizona State having more strong recruiting and on-field performance by being from a larger market and Arizona underperforming and having poor coaching as well as the Wildcats’ basketball success often overshadowing the football program, especially when the two teams meet at end of each season, though the teams’ play is somewhat even in recent years.^[20][21] ASU had a five-game winning streak from 2017 until 2021 (including a 70-7 blowout in 2020), though it was reduced to four, as their 2021 victory was vacated in 2024 due to NCAA violations including tampering, recruiting inducements, and impermissible tryouts (the game still existed as a loss on the Arizona side to it being played on field).^[22] Arizona won the 2023 meeting by a score of 59–23 and currently has a two-game winning streak.

With both teams leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big 12 prior to the start of the 2024 football season, the Wildcats won the series in the Pac-10/12 era, 23–21–1 (officially 21–23–1 on the Arizona State side due their vacated 2021 win).^[23]

Game results

Arizona victories

Arizona State victories

Ties

Forfeits/Vacated wins

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 30, 1899 Tucson Tempe Normal 11–2 2 November 22, 1902 Tucson Arizona 12–0 3 September 22, 1914 Tucson Arizona 34–0 4 October 9, 1915 Tucson Arizona 7–0 5 September 8, 1919 Tucson Arizona 59–0 6 October 10, 1925 Tucson Arizona 13–3 7 October 16, 1926 Tucson Arizona 35–0 8 October 20, 1928 Tucson Arizona 39–0 9 November 2, 1929 Tucson Arizona 26–0 10 October 18, 1930 Tucson Arizona 6–0 11 October 31, 1931 Tempe Arizona State Teacher's 19–6 12 October 22, 1932 Tucson Arizona 20–6 13 November 18, 1933 Tempe Arizona 26–7 14 November 17, 1934 Tucson Arizona 32–6 15 September 28, 1935 Tucson Arizona 26–0 16 October 10, 1936 Tempe Arizona 18–0 17 October 2, 1937 Tucson Arizona 20–6 18 October 25, 1941 Tempe Arizona 20–7 19 October 10, 1942 Tempe Arizona 23–0 20 September 28, 1946 Tucson Arizona 67–0 21 November 15, 1947 Tempe Arizona 26–13 22 October 30, 1948 Tucson Arizona 33–21 23 November 12, 1949 Tempe Arizona State College 34–7 24 November 11, 1950 Tucson Arizona State College 47–13 25 November 10, 1951 Tempe Arizona State College 61–14 26 November 8, 1952 Tucson Arizona State College 20–18 27 November 28, 1953 Tempe Arizona 35–0 28 November 20, 1954 Tucson Arizona 54–14 29 November 26, 1955 Tempe Arizona 7–6 30 November 17, 1956 Tucson Arizona State College 20–0 31 November 30, 1957 Tempe #15 Arizona State College 47–7 32 November 22, 1958 Tucson Arizona State 47–0 33 November 28, 1959 Tempe Arizona State 15–9 34 November 26, 1960 Tucson Arizona 35–7 35 November 25, 1961 Tempe Arizona 22–13 36 November 24, 1962 Tucson Arizona 20–17 37 November 30, 1963 Tempe Arizona State 35–6 38 November 28, 1964 Tucson Arizona 30–6 39 November 27, 1965 Tempe Arizona State 14–6 40 November 26, 1966 Tucson Arizona State 20–17 41 November 25, 1967 Tempe Arizona State 47–7 42 November 30, 1968 Tucson #20 Arizona State 30–7 43 November 29, 1969 Tempe Arizona State 38–24 44 December 5, 1970 Tucson #9 Arizona State 10–6 45 November 27, 1971 Tempe #9 Arizona State 31–0 46 November 25, 1972 Tucson #18 Arizona State 38–21 47 November 25, 1973 Tempe #13 Arizona State 55–19 48 November 30, 1974 Tucson Arizona 10–0 49 November 29, 1975 Tempe #8 Arizona State 24–21 50 November 27, 1976 Tucson Arizona State 27–10 No. Date Location Winner Score 51 November 26, 1977 Tempe #19 Arizona State 23–7 52 November 25, 1978 Tucson Arizona State 18–17 53 November 24, 1979 Tempe Arizona 27–24 54 November 29, 1980 Tucson Arizona State 44–7 55 November 28, 1981 Tempe #18 Arizona State 24–13 56 November 27, 1982 Tucson Arizona 28–18 57 November 26, 1983 Tempe Arizona 17–15 58 November 24, 1984 Tucson Arizona 16–10 59 November 23, 1985 Tempe Arizona 16–13 60 November 22, 1986 Tucson #14 Arizona 34–17 61 November 28, 1987 Tempe Tie 24–24 62 November 26, 1988 Tucson Arizona 28–18 63 November 25, 1989 Tempe Arizona 28–10 64 November 24, 1990 Tucson Arizona 21–17 65 November 23, 1991 Tempe Arizona State 37–14 66 November 21, 1992 Tucson Arizona State 7–6 67 November 26, 1993 Tempe #19 Arizona 34–20 68 November 25, 1994 Tucson #16 Arizona 28–27 69 November 24, 1995 Tempe Arizona 31–28 70 November 23, 1996 Tucson #4 Arizona State 56–14 71 November 28, 1997 Tempe Arizona 28–16 72 November 27, 1998 Tucson #8 Arizona 50–42 73 November 27, 1999 Tempe Arizona State 42–27 74 November 24, 2000 Tucson Arizona State 30–17 75 November 23, 2001 Tempe Arizona 34–21 76 November 29, 2002 Tucson Arizona State 34–20 77 November 28, 2003 Tempe Arizona State 28–7 78 November 26, 2004 Tucson Arizona 34–27 79 November 25, 2005 Tempe Arizona State 23–20 80 November 25, 2006 Tucson Arizona State 28–14 81 December 1, 2007 Tempe #13 Arizona State 20–17 82 December 6, 2008 Tucson Arizona 31–10 83 November 28, 2009 Tempe Arizona 20–17 84 December 2, 2010 Tucson Arizona State 30–29^2OT 85 November 19, 2011 Tempe Arizona 31–27 86 November 23, 2012 Tucson Arizona State 41–34 87 November 30, 2013 Tempe #13 Arizona State 58–21 88 November 28, 2014 Tucson #12 Arizona 42–35 89 November 21, 2015 Tempe Arizona State 52–37 90 November 25, 2016 Tucson Arizona 56–35 91 November 25, 2017 Tempe Arizona State 42–30 92 November 24, 2018 Tucson Arizona State 41–40 93 November 30, 2019 Tempe Arizona State 24–14 94 December 11, 2020 Tucson Arizona State 70–7 95 November 27, 2021 Tempe Arizona State 38–15† 96 November 25, 2022 Tucson Arizona 38–35 97 November 25, 2023 Tempe #15 Arizona 59–23 98 November 30, 2024 Tucson Series: Arizona leads 51–44–1[25] † Arizona State vacated 2021 win due to NCAA violations.[24]

See also

• Arizona–Arizona State men's basketball rivalry
• Arizona–Arizona State baseball rivalry
• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "ASU-UA Football Rivalry – Tempe, Arizona". Archived from the original on September 30, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2011., http://www.tempe.gov/museum/football/fbasuua.htm .
2. "Territorial Cup isn't only prize on the line". The Arizona Republic. November 28, 2003. Retrieved September 16, 2024. The Territorial Cup was in various displays before the tradition of it being given to the winner was revived in 2001. — The Big Game Trophy, a sculpture by Ben Goo, went to the winner from 1979 to 1997 and now goes to the game MVP. It went unclaimed by the winner several times. — The Saguaro Trophy, a sculpture by Dora Perry, was the reward from 1998 to 2000 while effort was under way to restore the Territorial Cup. The Saguaro now goes to the winning coach.
3. Haller, Doug (November 22, 2023). "The Territorial Cup's untold story: How did the Arizona-ASU trophy disappear into a church vault?". The Athletic. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
4. "History of the Territorial Rivalry Trophy between Arizona and Arizona State". Yahoo News. October 29, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
5. "Annual football rivalry game between UA, ASU the biggest statewide". The Arizona Republic. November 22, 2014.
6. "Tempe Normal School Records, 1885–1930 MSS-149". azarchivesonline.org. Arizona Archives Online. 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
7. "A way-too-early, game-by-game look at Arizona's 2019 football season". Arizona Daily Star. December 4, 2018.
8. "History" Archived February 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, territorialcupseries.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
9. Rappoport, Ken; Wilner, Barry (2007). Football Feuds: The Greatest College Football Rivalries. Globe Pequot. pp. 183–185. ISBN 978-1599210148. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
10. "UA, ASU to create year-long rivalry competition series". The Arizona Republic. August 15, 2009.
11. "UA declared winner of Territorial Cup Series in short season". Arizona Daily Star. May 25, 2020.
12. Metcalfe, Jeff. "ASU clinches fourth consecutive Territorial Cup Series undisputed title". The Arizona Republic.
13. "Wildcat Wednesday – Heeke Announced As New Athletic Director". University of Arizona Athletics. March 2017.
14. "Sun Devils Claim Fourth Straight Territorial Cup Series Title". May 14, 2017.
15. "The origin of the UA–ASU rivalry, 100 years later". The Arizona Republic. November 23, 1999.
16. [1], http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2007/11/27/the-arizona-territorial-cup/ Archived April 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
17. "Out of Bounds: History of the Territorial Cup". statepress.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
18. "State Farm Territorial Cup Series". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2011., http://www.territorialcupseries.com/genrel/trophy.html Archived March 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
19. "The New ASU Story: Academic Programs". www.asu.edu. Arizona State University. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
20. "Being from Phoenix area makes ASU more football-friendly than UA as season nears start". The Arizona Republic. August 26, 2013.
21. "Wildcat football affected by basketball dominance as rivalry week vs. ASU approaches". Arizona Daily Star. November 25, 2013.
22. "Arizona State gets probation for NCAA violations". April 19, 2024.
23. "Wildcats win football series over Sun Devils in Pac-10/12 era". Arizona Daily Star. November 27, 2023.
24. "Arizona State gets probation for NCAA violations". April 19, 2024.
25. "Winsipedia – Arizona Wildcats vs. Arizona State Sun Devils football series history". Winsipedia.