Edwards puts the ‘Kitties’ on leash
Herm Edwards has the Wildcats on a leash.
Arizona State’s coach has played the University of Arizona four times and four times, he’s declawed, defanged and defeated the Sun Devils’ rivals from down south.
ASU beat UA 38-15 on Saturday afternoon at Sun Devil Stadium, marking the fifth-straight Territorial Cup win for the Sun Devils.
“When you first arrive here and become the head coach,” Edwards said, “it’s amazing how many people talk about this game. They give you the history of it.”
Edwards hasn’t had any pity on the school that ASU supporters derisively call the “Kitties.”
He’s guided his teams to a combined score of 173-76 over UA.
“I’m happy for our players,” Edwards said. “I’m happy for our staff. This is about those guys. I just happened to be the head coach. It’s about the other people who help you do this.”
It started in 2018, a 41-40 win that saw ASU come back from a 19-point deficit by scoring 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
It hit a zenith last year when Edwards led ASU to a 70-7 win. That score has been printed on everything from a billboard heading out of Tucson to T-shirts that fans wear around Tempe.
“Herm, during rivalry week, is very excited about the opportunity, about the moment that’s coming,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill said. “There’s a little bit of that competitive anxiety that goes through all of us. We could all feel it this week. And we knew that it didn’t matter the records … this game is gonna be a tough one.” Maybe it’s tough. Maybe not. ASU now has nine wins in the last 12 series games, and the Sun Devils are 17-9 since 1996.
UA leads the overall series 49-45-1, but most of those wins came before the modern era.
Since 1949, ASU is 43-29-1.
But no other ASU coach, not even the legendary Frank Kush, got out to a 4-0 start.
“It’s not me,” Edwards said. “It’s the team. It’s the football players. … when you think about that, you think, ‘Wow, this game has been played a long time. To win four of them, you’ve been fortunate. You’ve been on the good side. I haven’t been on that other side.”
The rivalry game started in 1899, back before Arizona was even a state.
The trophy, the Territorial Cup, is the oldest college rivalry trophy in the nation.
And Herm has kept it in Tempe each year of his tenure.
It’s a huge part of his legacy. “Herm is back next year, word on the street!” defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce said.
But it’s more than that.
After the game Saturday, athletic director Ray Anderson and university president Michael Crow went into the locker room and told the team that Edwards would be returning to guide the team next season.
Arizona State (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) didn’t hit all of its goals this season. The Sun Devils didn’t win the Pac-12. They aren’t going to the Rose Bowl.
But this is the best regular season record the team has had since 2014.
And they got there by putting a leash on the Wildcats (1-11, 1-8).
For Coach Herm, however, this is just the beginning.
“We’re continuing to build,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do. It’s a process.”