TERRITORIAL CUP CONTROVERSY: No. 9 on the list is…

The Two-point Eruption in 1973

UA defensive coordinator Larry Smith became irate late in the 1973 Duel in the Desert at Sun Devil Stadium due to his belief that ASU head coach Frank Kush was attempting to run up the score on the Wildcats.

In the second half of the ’73 game, the outcome was in little doubt – the Sun Devils were about to beat the Wildcats for the ninth straight season. But after ASU scored a meaningless touchdown to pad the lead, Kush decided to attempt a two-point conversion, rather than kicking an extra point.

The Territorial Cup is the oldest trophy in College Football

It may have been an attempt to rub the win in Arizona’s face. Or, maybe mathematics suggested that going for two was the right thing to do in that situation. Or, perhaps it had something to do with ASU missing its previous two extra-point attempts.

Regardless, UA defensive coordinator Larry Smith didn’t take kindly to the decision, as a Wildcat who played in that ’73 game recalled Smith being “beside himself” on the sideline.

ASU would go on to win the game, 55-19, and add to its rivalry winning streak that the Wildcats would end the following year. But the decision to go for two was something that Smith definitely didn’t forget when he became UA head coach in 1980.

Throughout his seven-year tenure at the Wildcat helm, Smith introduced three rules to his team at the start of each season: 1. Have fun, 2. Win the Rose Bowl, 3. Beat the Sun Devils. 

Smith never accomplished goal No. 2, but he cashed in on goal No. 3 five times. After losing to ASU in 1980 and ’81, his Wildcats beat the Devils each year from 1982-86 to begin an era that would become known in Tucson as “The Streak.”

Territorial Quote

“That instilled – I wouldn’t call it hatred, but pretty damn close, into Larry Smith. He never forgot that.” -UA left guard and long snapper Jay Bledsoe (1972-74)

Shane Dale is the author of, “Territorial: The History of the Duel in the Desert.”