After a 5-1 start, Arizona State football has lost five in a row during a downward spiral headlined by injuries. Now, the Sun Devils travel to Tucson on Friday with both the Territorial Cup and bowl eligibility at stake.

On Monday, head coach Todd Graham — who used to be a part of the Backyard Brawl rivalry between Pitt and West Virginia during his head coaching days at Pitt — said the Territorial Cup rivalry is the most intense he has ever experienced.

“It’s always an exciting week for us and the most important week that we emphasize with our players,” he said. “Obviously, our total focus is on keeping that cup here in Tempe. We understand how important this game is.”

Graham said there are not many fans in the country more passionate about a rivalry than ASU’s fans are for the Territorial Cup. He noted he has already received emails and messages regarding the game, as he does every year.

He also said he still talks to players from the ASU’s 1987 Rose Bowl team. Even though that group defeated Michigan to win the school’s first Rose Bowl title, Graham said those players still mention not beating Arizona that year.

Just two years ago, the Territorial Cup game in Tucson was for the Pac-12 South title, which Arizona won. This season, ASU (5-6, 2-6 Pac-12) and Arizona (2-9, 0-8) are not playing a game quite near those implications, but that does not diminish its meaning.

“Our program is always about competing for championships, but this is one of those must-wins on our schedule,” Graham said. “…There’s a lot of emotion in this game. It’s that type of battle.”

Arizona features quarterbacks Anu Solomon and Brandon Dawkins. Before last weekend’s game against Oregon State, Solomon had not started a game since the team’s opener because of an injury suffered in practice the next week.

Solomon missed last year’s Territorial Cup game with an injury. Jerrard Randall, Solomon’s backup, was benched after completing just 4 of 13 passes for 35 yards, a quarterback rating of just 4.1.

Dawkins replaced Randall and finished 16 of 30 for 305 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

“Dawkins is a really talented athlete, a guy that is really, really fast,” Graham said. “He’s really a dynamic runner and has really good arm strength…He can take the ball to the house. He has tailback skills at the quarterback position.”

Added Graham on Solomon: “(Anu) is athletic too, he can extend plays, but he’s a really accurate passer.”

Graham said Arizona has great skill players, pointing out Samajie Grant’s move from running back to wide receiver and how it has given the Wildcats an effective speed back.

ASU is playing for bowl eligibility, so Arizona — with just two wins— will be looking to play spoiler. Graham noted there may be a tendency for the favorite in a rivalry game to sometimes get tripped up underestimating the opponent.

“Every year that we’ve played them since I’ve been here, we’ve gotten their best game,” Graham said. “We’re going to get their best game. We’ve got to be on our best game…You’re going to get everything thrown at you and you’re going to get that team’s best.”

Injury updates:

When asked if he could provide injury updates, Graham joked: “How much time we got?”

He then provided multiple injury updates.

-RT Zach Robertson is out this week

-Graham expects Marcus Ball to play this week

-WR Cam Smith is out again this week

-Graham is hopeful OG Sam Jones can return this week: “We’re counting on that.”

-Graham hopes WR Jalen Harvey, OG Stephon McCray, DL George Lea, DL Christian Hill can all return this week.

-Graham said he expects DB De’Chavon Hayes to be able to play this week

-DL Jalen Bates was hurt during pregame warmups at Washington. Graham said he “planted wrong” during a pass rush drill and is out for the season.