For two redshirting freshmen on the Arizona football team, it’s all about family.

Cory and Ricky Elmore – an offensive lineman and defensive end, respectively – look, talk and act in the same way. That’s because they are identical twins at the same college for the same reason: to play football together.

“”It’s cool,”” Cory said. “”We’ve been playing football together our whole life. That was the big deciding factor on where we were going. We had to go together.””

The Elmores, who hail from Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley, Calif., both said that aside from playing football together, the two have shared a very close bond their whole lives.

“”It’s nothing that different for us,”” Ricky said. “”We don’t really know anything else.

“”Going on to the same school was a big deal for us. We had offers at other places, but we didn’t think of any of the places that didn’t offer us together.

The brothers said they considered three schools – Arizona, Oregon and Wyoming – and Arizona was the program that looked most impressive and closest to home.

Going into their freshman year of high school, the Elmores entered a private school that never received any attention for being a football school. Grace Brethren is made up of about 200 students, with a graduating class around 50 every year, about the normal size of a high school football team.

Before the Elmores started high school, their football team only played eight-on-eight matchups, but that changed when the two started playing.

Playing for such a small team allowed the twins to explore several positions. Cory was mainly a defensive and offensive lineman, while Ricky played defensive line, tight end, wide receiver and middle and outside linebacker, and he spent a year playing backup quarterback.

“”Ricky played quarterback in high school, and I played on the offensive line a little bit, so I was protecting him, which is kind of funny,”” Cory said. “”It can get nerve-racking. We used to play defense together so we used to watch each other’s backs. Now that we’re on opposite sides of the ball, it’s kind of weird not playing both ways with each other.””

Cory also said that at the beginning of their collegiate training, coaches would tease the twins about their athletic abilities.

“”Everyone would always ask me at the beginning of training, ‘Hey Elmore, can you take your brother?'”” Cory said. “”The first thing that happened was the coaches told us to go against each other.””

Cory, who is now strictly an offensive lineman, and Ricky both said that the most unusual adjustment they had to make from high school to college was the amount of time they spent together on the field.

“”The only hard part was just not playing with each other 24/7 on the field,”” Cory said. “”I was used to always talking to him in the huddle, but now I never see him in the huddle. It’s a different feeling.””

What won’t be a different feeling for the Elmores will be this weekend’s Family Weekend. On top of the brothers still being together on the same team, their parents drive from California for all the home games, and this weekend won’t be any different.

“”Our parents still come out to all the games,”” Cory said. “”They love football.””

Although the Elmore parents let the twins decide where they went to school, Cory said the fact that they ended up at the same place made their parents’ travel plans much more convenient.

“”They thought it was nice that we wanted to go together because having kids in two separate areas isn’t the same.””

Aside from their parent’s convenience, the Elmores are more than happy to continue growing up together, playing the sport they have loved for so long.

“”The chemistry is great,”” Cory said. “”Having a brother on the team is a lot easier because you have family there. If you ever need anything, you already have family on the field.

“”I’ve been here for five months now and it’s been tough, but it’s definitely been a lot easier having a brother here, especially a twin. Twins are a lot closer than normal brothers.””