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
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1982 record	6–4–1 (4–3–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Larry Smith (3rd season)
Home stadium	Arizona Stadium

1982 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	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
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 83 Mark Keel QB Tom Tunnicliffe	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 46 John Kaiser	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 13 Max Zendejas Fr	Head coach Larry Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result
September 11	Oregon State		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 38–12
September 18	No. 1 Washington		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	ABC	L 13–23
September 25	Iowa*		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		L 14–17
October 9	at No. 8 UCLA		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	CBS	T 24–24
October 16	at No. 9 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	ESPN	W 16–13
October 23	Pacific*		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 55–7
October 30	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 34–17
November 6	at Stanford	No. 23	Stanford Stadium Palo Alto, CA		W 41–27
November 13	No. 16 USC	No. 20	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	USA	L 41–48
November 20	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		L 7–13
November 27	No. 6 Arizona State		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (rivalry)	USA	W 28–18
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Season summaries

Iowa

Iowa at Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 0 7 7 3 17 Wildcats 0 14 0 0 14 Date: September 26 Location: Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona Elapsed time: 2:35 Game attendance: 41,353 Game weather: 90° F, Partly cloudy, Wind 6 mph

Scoring summary 2 11:12 ARIZ Keel 6-yard pass from Tom Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick) ARIZ 7–0 2 8:54 IOWA Love-Jordan 9-yard pass from Chuck Long (Nichol kick) Tie 7–7 2 1:55 ARIZ Griffin-3 yard run (Zendejas kick) ARIZ 14–7 3 7:34 IOWA Moritz 14 yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) Tie 14–14 4 2:20 IOWA Nichol 20 yard field goal IOWA 17–14

at Notre Dame

Arizona at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • Wildcats 0 0 6 10 16 Fighting Irish 10 0 0 3 13 Date: October 16 Location: Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana Game attendance: 59,075

Scoring summary Q1 ND Johnson 22 yard field goal ND 3–0 Q1 ND Pinkett 25 yard run (Johnson kick) ND 10-0 Q3 Ariz Zendejas 38 yard field goal ND 10-3 Q3 Ariz Zendejas 32 yard field goal ND 10-6 Q4 ND Johnson 43 yard field goal ND 13-6 Q4 Ariz Freeman 1 yard run (Zendejas kick) 13-13 Q4 Ariz Zendejas 48 yard field goal Ariz 16-13

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

USC at Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total • Trojans 3 21 17 7 48 Wildcats 10 10 7 14 41 Date: November 13 Location: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona Game attendance: 55,110

Scoring summary Q1 USC Jordan 42 yard field goal USC 3–0 Q1 ARIZ Boadway 32 yard interception return (Zendejas kick) ARIZ 7–3 Q1 ARIZ Zendejas 19 yard field goal ARIZ 10–3 Q2 ARIZ Zendejas 26 yard field goal ARIZ 13–3 Q2 USC Simmons 5 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick) ARIZ 13–10 Q2 ARIZ Anderson 72 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick) ARIZ 20–10 Q2 USC Simmons 36 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick) ARIZ 20–17 Q2 USC Browner 53 yard interception return (Jordan kick) USC 24–20 Q3 USC White 33 yard pass from Tinsley (Jordan kick) USC 31–20 Q3 USC Jordan 25 yard field goal USC 34–20 Q3 USC West 27 yard interception return (Jordan kick) USC 41–20 Q3 ARIZ Edwards 2 yard run (Zendejas kick) USC 41–27 Q4 9:22 ARIZ Gobel 3 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick) USC 41–34 Q4 5:35 USC Hopper 59 yard interception return (Jordan kick) USC 48–34 Q4 3:38 ARIZ Stivers 16 yard pass from Tunnicliffe (Zendejas kick) USC 48–41

• USC Defense: 3 INTs for TD (NCAA record)

[6][7]

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

1. "1982 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
2. "Arizona Football 2016 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona. 2016. p. 107. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
3. "1982 Arizona Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
4. 2016 Media Guide, p. 86.
5. "'Cats down No. 9 Irish on last-second FG". Arizona Daily Star. October 17, 1982.
6. "Trojans top Arizona on INT returns". Los Angeles Times. November 14, 1982.
7. "Turnovers doom Wildcats in loss to USC". Arizona Daily Star. November 14, 1982.
8. "UA wilts ASU Rose bid, 28–18". Arizona Daily Star. November 28, 1982.
9. "UA 28, ASU 18: Devils' Rose Bowl bid thwarted by Wildcats". The Arizona Republic. November 28, 1982.
10. "'Cats deny Devils roses for big upset win". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 29, 1982.
11. "Desert Wars: How Wildcats denied mighty Devils' shot for roses". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 29, 1982.