1982 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 1982 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third season under head coach Larry Smith, the Wildcats compiled a 6–4–1 record (4–3–1 against Pac-10 opponents), finished in fifth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents, 311 to 219.[1][2] The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. Despite a winning record, the Wildcats did not appear in a bowl game, perhaps due to very few bowl games available at the time and that the six wins were not good enough. Also, late-season losses to USC and Oregon may have been a factor in the Wildcats not earning a bowl berth.
| 1982 Arizona Wildcats football | |
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| Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
| 1982 record | 6–4–1 (4–3–1 Pac-10) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Arizona Stadium |
| 1982 Pacific-10 Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 UCLA $ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Washington | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Arizona State | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 USC | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 4 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 0 | – | 7 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Memorable highlights of the season included a big road win at Notre Dame and a huge upset of rival Arizona State which prevented ASU from reaching the Rose Bowl.
The team's statistical leaders included Tom Tunnicliffe with 2,520 passing yards, Vance Johnson with 443 rushing yards, and Brad Anderson with 870 receiving yards.[3] Linebacker Ricky Hunley led the team with 173 total tackles.[4]
Personnel
| 1982 Arizona Wildcats football team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result |
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| September 11 | Oregon State | W 38–12 | |||
| September 18 | No. 1 Washington |
| ABC | L 13–23 | |
| September 25 | Iowa* |
| L 14–17 | ||
| October 9 | at No. 8 UCLA | CBS | T 24–24 | ||
| October 16 | at No. 9 Notre Dame* | ESPN | W 16–13 | ||
| October 23 | Pacific* |
| W 55–7 | ||
| October 30 | at Washington State | W 34–17 | |||
| November 6 | at Stanford | No. 23 | W 41–27 | ||
| November 13 | No. 16 USC | No. 20 |
| USA | L 41–48 |
| November 20 | at Oregon | L 7–13 | |||
| November 27 | No. 6 Arizona State |
| USA | W 28–18 | |
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Season summaries
Iowa
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at Notre Dame
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Max Zendejas kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.[5] To date, this remains the last time that both Arizona and Notre Dame would meet on the football field.
USC
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- USC Defense: 3 INTs for TD (NCAA record)
Arizona State
Arizona's defense recorded a pair of safeties and the offense connected on two long touchdown passes to help the Wildcats upset Arizona State and denied the Sun Devils a berth in the Rose Bowl. It was the Wildcats' first home win over ASU since 1974 and the victory also began a reign of dominance against the Devils under Smith and his successor.[8][9][10]
Season notes
- The Wildcats started a string of dominance over Arizona State this season, and went on to a 8–0–1 record against them, which was known as "The Streak" to fans, which lasted until 1991.
- After defeating Notre Dame, the Wildcats and Fighting Irish have not met on the football field since. Arizona claimed that scheduling non-conference games against tradition-rich powerhouse schools like Notre Dame would be too expensive for Arizona's small market.
- Arizona wore white jerseys for home games against USC and ASU. Smith said that they wore white due to them winning big road games during the season. The NCAA forced a rule that home teams were required to wear colored jerseys beginning in 1983.
- After the victory over ASU, many Wildcat players and fans claimed to have found roses that were either destroyed or tossed in trash cans around Arizona Stadium left behind by ASU fans. This was due to ASU needing a win over the Wildcats to clinch a Rose Bowl berth, and Arizona winning that prevented their rival from accomplishing that goal.
- Days after Arizona's upset of ASU, the Arizona Daily Wildcat (the university's newspaper), published an article of the game and featured a fan-made picture of the Wildcats' mascot defeating its ASU counterpart with blood and pieces of roses scattered in the Arizona desert, referencing the Wildcat victory.[11]
References
- "1982 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
- "Arizona Football 2016 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona. 2016. p. 107. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
- "1982 Arizona Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
- 2016 Media Guide, p. 86.
- "'Cats down No. 9 Irish on last-second FG". Arizona Daily Star. October 17, 1982.
- "Trojans top Arizona on INT returns". Los Angeles Times. November 14, 1982.
- "Turnovers doom Wildcats in loss to USC". Arizona Daily Star. November 14, 1982.
- "UA wilts ASU Rose bid, 28–18". Arizona Daily Star. November 28, 1982.
- "UA 28, ASU 18: Devils' Rose Bowl bid thwarted by Wildcats". The Arizona Republic. November 28, 1982.
- "'Cats deny Devils roses for big upset win". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 29, 1982.
- "Desert Wars: How Wildcats denied mighty Devils' shot for roses". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 29, 1982.