Arizona State Football: 3 takeaways from thrashing of Arizona in Week 15

1. It’s very clear who the state belongs to

Arizona leads the all-time series between these two teams 49-44-1 and while that might signal who the “big brother” in the state is, it’s not quite indicative of how much Arizona State has been trending in recent decades.

The Wildcats won 20 of the first 22 games in the series, but since then, it’s been 42-29-1 in favor of the Sun Devils. Since 2000, the Sun Devils lead the series 14-7. The rivalry has been favoring the Sun Devils for the past two-plus decades and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon and that was never more evident than it was on Friday night.

Herm Edwards’ first taste of the rivalry in 2018 was a close game with the Sun Devils sneaking by with a 41-40 win. He then led Arizona State to a 24-14 win last season. And this season, his Sun Devils won by even more. That talent gap in the rivalry is only getting wider and that’s even with Kevin Sumlin in town for just as long as Edwards. He’s only losing ground.

Friday’s win for Arizona State was big for the program because it just shows recruits in the state of Arizona who the real “big brother” is despite the all-time record.