The Territorial Cup
is a trophy that is awarded annually to the winner of the college football game (commonly referred to as "The Duel in the Desert
") between the Arizona State University (ASU) Sun Devils and the University of Arizona (UA) Wildcats and has also served as the symbol of the long standing rivalry between the two schools. The NCAA has certified it as the oldest award given for a rivalry game. [1]
The cup was originally awarded to the Arizona Territorial Normal School football team for winning the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship after a season of three games in 1899. As a result, the cup is actually the property of Arizona State University. The Normals, as they were known at the time, were undefeated in gridiron matches with the Phoenix Union High School (6-0), the Phoenix Indian School (6-0) and the University of Arizona (11-2).
The first “Big Game” against the University of Arizona was played on Thanksgiving Day, November 30, 1899 at Carillo Gardens field in Tucson before a vocal and enthusiastic crowd of 300 fans. Newspaper accounts suggested this was the University team’s first game and that the Normal squad was physically larger and better conditioned. The atmosphere was one of genuine sportsmanship as the University students met the Normal team at the train station, entertained them at a campus dormitory and hosted a post-game Thanksgiving feast.
Arizona State University records do not document an award ceremony after the first Big Game on Thanksgiving Day in 1899, and the early whereabouts of the cup remain a mystery to this day. A newspaper clipping from ca. 1980 suggests the cup was found in the basement of a church adjacent to the ASU campus, and staff from the ASU Alumni Association recall seeing it on display at the Alumni Association headquarters in Mariposa Hall at that time. Sometime between 1980 and 1983 the cup was transferred to University Archives, then under the jurisdiction of the late Alfred Thomas, longtime ASU Registrar and Director of Admissions. The cup was again placed on display at the University Archives Building (now the Piper Creative Writing Center) until approximately 1992 when the archival exhibits were remodeled.
In 2001 then ASU President Lattie Coor ordered that the Territorial Cup be shared with the University of Arizona such that the winner of the Big Game takes custody of the cup for the ensuing year. President Coor and then UA President Peter Likens signed a protocol governing use of the cup and assigning responsibility for the cup to specific offices at each university. Each year the tradition of the rivalry and the Territorial Cup is celebrated at a pre-game reception for ASU and UA boosters.
The cup itself is silverplate over britannia base metal and was manufactured by Reed and Barton of Taunton, Massachusetts. It was a standard style priced at $20 ($439.89 in 2007 dollars) in Reed and Barton’s 1910 catalog. The inscription reads “Arizona Foot Ball League Championship 1899 Normal”.
|
DUEL IN THE DESERT TICKETS
|
Arizona-Arizona State rivalry
The “Territorial Cup” also known as the “Duel in the Desert” is the rivalry between ASU and UA and is among the nation's oldest and most heated rivalries, including the oldest trophy in
college football. The winner of the game is then given possession of the Territorial Cup until the game is played the next year. In the modern era of the game, it is played on the day after
Thanksgiving (and in recent years on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to accommodate network television coverage).
The rivalry dates back to before
Arizona was admitted as a state, and was a
U.S. Territory. In the early history of Arizona, a resentment between the cities of
Phoenix and
Tucson emerged. The University of Arizona was founded in 1885 as the state's first university. The same year, Tempe Normal School was founded as a small teacher's college in the farming community of
Tempe, just east of Phoenix. Over the years, Tempe Normal School evolved into Arizona State Teacher's College, then Arizona State College at Tempe, and eventually Arizona State University. Although both athletic programs have been consistently in the top 20 in the
Director's Cup standings for the past decade, the two schools have featured a difference in athletic strengths.
Arizona State has generally featured the better
football, women's
basketball, and
wrestling teams.
Arizona has generally featured the better men's
basketball, women's
softball and Men's & Women's
Swimming/Diving. Both Arizona and ASU boast numerous players on
NFL rosters and
MLB rosters.
In addition, Arizona state and Arizona are very similar in National Championships won; ASU with 21 and Arizona with 22.
ASU has a bevy of bowl games to its credit including two appearances in the
Rose Bowl, five in the
Fiesta Bowl, three in the
Holiday Bowl, four in the
Sun Bowl among many others. ASU has also made a bowl game appearance in six out of its last nine. ASU however has not won a national championship. Arizona has been credited with less bowl success appeared twice in the
Fiesta Bowl, once in the
Holiday Bowl, and three in the
Sun Bowl; Arizona has not appeared in the
Rose Bowl.
Both universities have historically featured perennial top-25
baseball teams. ASU has won five national championships, appearing in the title series a total of ten times with 32 NCAA Tournament Appearances, while Arizona has won three national championships, appearing in the title series a total of six times with 34 NCAA Tournament Appearances. Among the many baseball greats to play at ASU are Hall of Famer
Reggie Jackson,
Home Run Record Holder*
Barry Bonds,
Sal Bando,
Rick Monday,
Bob Horner,
Paul LoDuca, and
Dustin Pedroia. Arizona boasts
Terry Francona,
Kenny Lofton, Future Hall of Famer
Trevor Hoffman,
J.T. Snow,
Shelley Duncan,
Joe Magrane, and
Chip Hale.
The University of Arizona has consistently featured a superior men's
basketball team earning a
national championship in 1997 as well as 11
Pac-10 titles (21 in total), numerous top ten finishes, and the nation's longest active (and second-longest altogether, 27 years) series of consecutive appearances (25 years) in the
NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats' men's basketball team also is tied for second in the nation in players participating currently on
NBA rosters. NBA Wildcat alums include
Gilbert Arenas,
Bison Dele,
Richard Jefferson,
Andre Iguodala,
Luke Walton,
Jason Terry,
Hassan Adams,
Channing Frye,
Mike Bibby,
Salim Stoudamire,
Damon Stoudamire,
Steve Kerr,
Khalid Reeves,
Michael Dickerson,
Tom Tolbert,
Wooden Award Winner
Sean Elliott, and Hall of Fame coach
Lute Olson.
The Arizona
softball team is among the top programs in the country and a perennial powerhouse. The softball team has won eight
NCAA Women's College World Series titles, in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, & 2007 under head coach
Mike Candrea (
NCAA Softball Championship). Arizona defeated the
University of Tennessee in the 2007 National Championship series in
Oklahoma City. The team has appeared in the
NCAA National Championship in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2007 a feat second only to
UCLA. Coach Mike Candrea, along with former Arizona pitcher
Jennie Finch, led the 2004 U.S. Olympic softball team to a gold medal in
Athens, Greece. Arizona State, however, won the 2008 Women's College World Series for its first national title.
Sports in which the two schools are roughly even include
golf, where both programs are among the best in the country. In men's golf, ASU has won 2 national championships to Arizona's one, and has won 5 individual championships, including 3 by
Phil Mickelson. In women's golf, ASU has won 6 national titles, and Arizona has won 2, including 1 individual championship by
Annika Sörenstam and 2 by
Lorena Ochoa both are know as the best golf in the sport. Both schools have been crowned with 4 individual champions.
Painting "A Mountain"
Both universities feature a small
butte, with a gigantic concrete letter "A" prominently displayed on the side of it. Originally Arizona was the first to feature the "A" in 1916. (Arizona State's "A" is on
Hayden Butte next to the Tempe campus, while Arizona's is perched on top of
Sentinel Peak, about two miles southwest of campus). Arizona State's "A" is painted gold for the school's colors of "maroon" & "gold". Arizona's "A" is traditionally painted white. On rivalry weekend during football season, each university tries to paint the other's "A" with the colors of their school (red and blue for Arizona; maroon and gold for Arizona State), while students and police guard each site.
All-time football results
- Arizona: 45 wins
- Arizona State: 36 wins
- Ties: 1
- The historical breakdown for this series is as follows:
- 1899-1944
= University of Arizona vs Tempe Normal School/Az State Teachers College (ASU was a teachers' school during this time)
U of A leads series 17-2
- 1945-1957
= University of Arizona vs Arizona State College (ASU became a fully accredited college in 1945)
Series tied 6-6
- 1958-Present
= University of Arizona vs Arizona State University (ASU became a fully accredited university in 1958)
ASU leads series 28-22-1
- 1978-Present
= University of Arizona vs Arizona State University both as Members of the PAC-10 conference, a first tier Conference in College Football, Arizona leads series: 17-13-1
| Year
| Winner
| Score
| Notes
|
| 1899
| ASU
| 11-2
|
|
| 1902
| UA
| 12-0
|
|
| 1914
| UA
| 34-0
|
|
| 1915
| UA
| 7-0
|
|
| 1919
| UA
| 59-0
|
|
| 1925
| UA
| 13-3
|
|
| 1926
| UA
| 35-0
|
|
| 1928
| UA
| 39-0
|
|
| 1929
| UA
| 26-0
|
|
| 1930
| UA
| 6-0
|
|
| 1931
| ASU
| 19-9
|
|
| 1932
| UA
| 20-6
|
|
| 1933
| UA
| 26-7
|
|
| 1934
| UA
| 32-6
|
|
| 1935
| UA
| 26-0
|
|
| 1936
| UA
| 18-0
|
|
| 1937
| UA
| 20-6
|
|
| 1941
| UA
| 20-7
|
|
| 1942
| UA
| 23-0
|
|
| 1946
| UA
| 67-0
|
|
| 1947
| UA
| 26-13
|
|
| 1948
| UA
| 33-21
|
|
| 1949
| ASU
| 34-7
|
|
| 1950
| ASU
| 47-13
|
|
| 1951
| ASU
| 61-14
|
|
| 1952
| ASU
| 20-18
|
|
| 1953
| UA
| 35-0
|
|
| 1954
| UA
| 54-14
|
|
| 1955
| UA
| 7-6
| Arizona All-American Art Luppino scores the lone touchdown, as Arizona defeats ASU.
|
| 1956
| ASU
| 20-0
|
|
| 1957
| ASU
| 47-7
|
|
| 1958
| ASU
| 47-0
| Frank Kush shuts out Arizona in his first Duel in the Desert as head coach. He would go on to a 16-5 record all-time against UA.
|
| 1959
| ASU
| 15-9
|
|
| 1960
| UA
| 35-7
|
|
| 1961
| UA
| 22-13
|
|
| 1962
| UA
| 20-17
|
|
| 1963
| ASU
| 35-6
|
|
| 1964
| UA
| 30-6
|
|
| 1965
| ASU
| 14-6
|
|
| 1966
| ASU
| 20-17
|
|
| 1967
| ASU
| 47-7
|
|
| 1968
| ASU
| 30-7
| Despite winning the game, Arizona makes it to the Sun Bowl over Arizona State after being picked before the game. This snub led to the creation of the Fiesta Bowl.
|
| 1969
| ASU
| 38-24
|
|
| 1970
| ASU
| 10-6
|
|
| 1971
| ASU
| 31-0
|
|
| 1972
| ASU
| 38-21
|
|
| 1973
| ASU
| 55-19
|
|
| 1974
| UA
| 10-0
|
|
| 1975
| ASU
| 24-21
| "The Catch": John Jefferson's touchdown grab
|
| 1976
| ASU
| 27-10
|
|
| 1977
| ASU
| 23-7
|
|
| 1978
| ASU
| 18-17
|
|
| 1979
| UA
| 27-24
| Arizona comes from behind to earn a Fiesta Bowl bid.
|
| 1980
| ASU
| 44-7
| ASU defeats Arizona in Larry Smith's inaugural season.
|
| 1981
| ASU
| 24-13
| 21 points in the second quarter spells doom for Arizona as ASU continues its domination.
|
| 1982
| UA
| 28-18
| Arizona's defense records two safeties as Arizona spoils an ASU Rose Bowl bid.
|
| 1983
| UA
| 17-15
| Max Zendejas kicks a field goal in the waning seconds to seal the fate of the Sun Devils.
|
| 1984
| UA
| 16-10
| The Wildcats slow the tempo down and Vance Johnson wins his final game as an Arizona Wildcat.
|
| 1985
| UA
| 16-13
| Wildcats win on another kick from Max Zendejas.
|
| 1986
| UA
| 34-17
| Despite ASU eventually winning Rose Bowl, their season is spoiled on Chuck Cecil 100 yard INT return for TD.
|
| 1987
| Tie
| 24-24
| ASU has game locked up until ill-fated punt attempt, gives Arizona salvation in Dick Tomey's big game debut.
|
| 1988
| UA
| 28-18
| Tomey's Cats leave no doubt in Tucson, behind ASU miscues.
|
| 1989
| UA
| 28-10
| David Eldridge scores twice in the third quarter, behind a Daryl Lewis forced fumble.
|
| 1990
| UA
| 24-21
|
|
| 1991
| ASU
| 37-14
| ASU breaks "The Streak" in grand style, pounding UA behind a raucous home crowd.
|
| 1992
| ASU
| 7-6
|
|
| 1993
| UA
| 34-20
| Arizona completes a 10-2 campaign en route to a 29-0 Fiesta Bowl win over Miami.
|
| 1994
| UA
| 28-27
| Arizona's goal line stand holds in the final seconds, leaving ASU 18 inches away from a victory.
|
| 1995
| UA
| 31-28
| ASU leads most of the game until UA scores the game winning touchdown on a controversial call late in the fourth quarter.
|
| 1996
| ASU
| 56-14
| Jake Plummer, 0-3 vs. Arizona, destroys the Wildcats in his final game. ASU plays for a share of the national championship in the ensuing Rose Bowl, but loses in the final minute to Ohio State. This was the most lopsided rivalry game since ASU became a university.
|
| 1997
| UA
| 28-16
| UA ruins ASU's chance at clinching a share of its second Pac-10 title in as many years, as well as a Fiesta Bowl berth, with an upset over the heavily-favored Devils.
|
| 1998
| UA
| 50-42
| In one of the best games played, the teams trade touchdowns all night, until UA running back Trung Canidate caps the scoring with a a TD. Arizona finishes 12-1, bettering its 1993 mark. The Wildcats go on to defeat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl, 23-20.
|
| 1999
| ASU
| 42-27
| ASU caps UA's disappointing season in which the Wildcats opened the season at #3 nationally, only to have their last shot at a bowl game taken away by their rivals. This would begin a nearly decade long bowl-less streak for the Wildcats.
|
| 2000
| ASU
| 30-17
| With a touchdown run on a trick play, three field goals and three PATs, kicker Mike Barth outscores the Wildcats in Tucson.
|
| 2001
| UA
| 34-21
| Arizona wins in Tempe with a large number of passing yards in Coach Mackovic's only success vs. ASU as Arizona's head coach. UA players dance on Sparky, the Sun Devils' Mascot painted on midfield, and a fight ensues.
|
| 2002
| ASU
| 34-20
|
|
| 2003
| ASU
| 28-7
| In a disappointing season for both schools, ASU dominates, controlling the tempo all game.
|
| 2004
| UA
| 34-27
| In a major upset, Mike Stoops, coaching his first Duel in the Desert, sees his Wildcats hold on to earn him his first significant win as UA head coach.
|
| 2005
| ASU
| 23-20
| Arizona leads most of the game only to see ASU come back on a punt return for a TD by Terry Richardson. ASU wins on a last-second field goal. From this win Arizona State makes it to the Insight Bowl and wins it.
|
| 2006
| ASU
| 28-14
| In a fourth-and-short play at the end of the first half, coach Dirk Koetter changes his call and gets a touchdown, breaking the game open for the Sun Devils. From this loss, Arizona failed to secure a bowl game with a record of 6-6. From this win Arizona State makes it to the Hawaii Bowl, but loses to Hawaii.
|
| 2007
| ASU
| 20-17
| In Dennis Erickson's first Duel in the Desert, UA keeps pace with the heavily-favored Sun Devils, but ASU breaks the game open on a fourth-quarter Rudy Carpenter touchdown. From this loss Arizona failed to secure a bowl game, for a second time in a row from the loss to Arizona State and ends up with a record of 5-7. Arizona State goes on to make it to the Holiday Bowl, but ends up losing to Texas.
|
| 2008
| UA
| 31-10
| Willie Tuitama burns ASU's secondary for two touchdowns for his first win against the Sun Devils. Aided by a 52-yard punt return TD by WR Mike Thomas, Arizona clinches its first bowl appearance in ten years (and first in the Mike Stoops era) with its most lopsided win over Arizona State since 1964. Rudy Carpenter is unable to overcome Arizona's defense, completing only 13 of 31 passes with three sacks and an interception in his final Duel in the Desert. Finishing 5-7, ASU fails to make a school record-tying fifth straight bowl game. Arizona goes on to win the Las Vegas Bowl against BYU, 31-21, to finish the season 8-5.
|
All Wikipedia content is licensed under the GNU Free Document License or is otherwise used here in compliance with the Copyright Act
|