Even after Oregon loss, ASU players feel the weight of the Territorial Cup

TEMPE, Ariz. — They played for their Pac-12 South title future last week and lost.

Yet it hardly feels like the Arizona State Sun Devils’ defeat at Oregon took away any luster for the regular season finale against the Arizona Wildcats. The Territorial Cup is the carrot at the end of the stick, always dangling in front of them — even after a win, always still there a year later.

So no, their Sunday game in Tucson won’t be for a Pac-12 Championship Game berth.

It doesn’t matter.

“Just got to put everything on the line. All the cookies in the basket. Empty the tank,” ASU senior Manny Wilkins said. “Can’t walk out of this game and have any regrets … say if we would have did this or could have done this, we got to do it.

“I’m treating this like this is my Pac-12 Championship,” the quarterback added. “It’s a terrible feeling losing to this team.”

ASU head coach Herm Edwards planned to educate his players about the rivalry’s history this week.

Senior defensive back Demonte King has felt the rivalry go deeper than football just this week.

Sophomore cornerback Kobe Williams said the aura of the Duel in the Desert since the hours following ASU’s loss in Eugene on Saturday has surprised him — just not so much in person.

“I got all online classes,” Williams said Tuesday, “… but I do see it on social media and everything like that. People do say, man, this is the game. I saw it right after the Oregon game, even though I was still mad about it. They were saying, ‘Get over it.'”

Wilkins, a senior who’s lived the rivalry for five years, knows the feeling of both outcomes in the Territorial Cup. He’s split the series 2-2 with wins in 2015 and 2017 and losses in 2014 and 2016.

The team’s emotional leader, Wilkins isn’t worried that having less to play for will impact the Sun Devils after a near victory against the Ducks, so much so that he made clear how Saturday will go.

In a Tuesday press conference, Wilkins explained just how he’ll lead his team into the game.

“I ain’t losing this game,” Wilkins said.

“They see the look I have in my eyes and the look that (junior offensive lineman Cohl Cabral) has in his eyes … they see that look, and if they’re not with the program and understand the leaders on this football team and how much this means to them, they can stay they (expletive) in the locker room.”

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