1982 Arizona Wildcats football | |
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Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Record | 6–4–1 (4–3–1 Pac-10) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Arizona Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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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 being bowl-eligible with a winning record, the Wildcats did not appear in a bowl game, as they self-imposed a postseason ban due to NCAA violations prior to Smith becoming coach in 1980 (see below).
Memorable highlights of the season included a big road win at Notre Dame and a huge upset of rival Arizona State which denied ASU a chance to potentially play in 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]
Arizona completed the 1981 season with a 6–5 record, highlighted by a huge road upset victory over USC. The Wildcats entered 1982 with high hopes that they were contenders for the Pac-10 title, with fans crediting Smith for rebuilding the program. [5]
However, despite Smith rebuilding the team, the Wildcats have been embroiled in a scandal that happened in the late 1970s under Smith’s predecessor Tony Mason. Both the NCAA and the Pac-10 investigated and determined that Arizona operated a slush fund which involved Mason allegedly paying players cash, which turned out to be fraud, and the Wildcats were put on probation as a result. [6] As NCAA sanctions were soon to be handed out, Arizona decided to self-impose a postseason ban for the 1982 season as punishment, which meant that they would become ineligible for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance. [7] The NCAA would eventually penalize the Wildcats as a result of the scandal and put them on probation, as well as handing the team bowl bans in 1983 and 1984, respectively.
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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Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result |
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September 11 | 7:00 p.m. | Oregon State | KZAZ | W 38–12 | |
September 18 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Washington |
| CBS | L 13–23 |
September 25 | 7:30 p.m. | Iowa* |
| ESPN | L 14–17 |
October 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 8 UCLA | ABC | T 24–24 | |
October 16 | 10:30 a.m. | at No. 9 Notre Dame* | ESPN | W 16–13 | |
October 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Pacific* |
| KZAZ | W 55–7 |
October 30 | 2:00 p.m. | at Washington State | W 34–17 | ||
November 6 | 2:30 p.m. | at Stanford | USA | W 41–27 | |
November 13 | 6:30 p.m. | No. 16 USC |
| ESPN | L 41–48 |
November 20 | 2:00 p.m. | at Oregon | L 7–13 | ||
November 27 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 Arizona State |
| USA | W 28–18 |
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After a dominant season-opening victory against Oregon State, Arizona hosted Washington, who was ranked first at the time. The Wildcats would play tough, but it became difficult for the Arizona offense to score points against a top-ranked opponent like the Huskies, and Arizona ultimately came up short. [8] The loss prevented the Wildcats from upsetting a number-one-ranked team for a second straight season (Arizona defeated USC the previous year). It would be another ten years before Arizona finally got an upset victory over a top-ranked Washington squad at home.
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Arizona faced Iowa at home. The Wildcats defeated the Hawkeyes on the road in coach Smith's first season in 1980. A late Iowa field goal in the fourth quarter decided the game, and led to an Arizona loss. [9]
Arizona visited UCLA and played at the Rose Bowl for the first time ever (UCLA began playing home games here this season after decades playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, sharing with USC). Both the Wildcats and Bruins fought tough and the game ultimately ended in a tie. [10] The Bruins would go on to win the Pac-10 and play in the Rose Bowl at home.
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On the road at Notre Dame, the Wildcats and Irish battled back and forth and the game came down to the last play. With the score tied, Arizona got into Irish territory. Kicker Max Zendejas kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to win the game, and Smith and the Wildcats earned yet another win over a top-10 ranked team (Notre Dame was ranked ninth), as well as defeating the Irish for the first and only time in school history. It also avenged Arizona’s loss to Notre Dame in Smith’s first season in 1980. [11] [12] To date, this remains the last time that both Arizona and Notre Dame would meet on the football field, and given the parity between two schools, it is highly unlikely that they will play each other again unless they meet in a bowl game in the near future. [13]
Similar to the 1981 win over USC, fans greeted the Wildcats with celebrations at the Tucson airport when they returned home hours after the game concluded. [14] [15]
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On homecoming weekend, the Wildcats hosted USC. Arizona had upset the Trojans in the previous year and were looking to make it two wins in a row against them. However, USC capitalized on the Wildcats’ mistakes throughout the game, including returning three interceptions for touchdowns, which set an NCAA record, and Arizona never recovered afterwards, despite rallying in the fourth quarter and ultimately coming up short as the Trojans held on for the win. [16] [17] [18] Smith blamed the loss on Arizona being blitzed by USC, which led to the turnovers and USC avenging their loss to the Wildcats the year before. [19] [20]
To conclude the season, Arizona hosted the rivalry game against Arizona State, who were ranked sixth and was near the top of the Pac-10 standings with a possible Rose Bowl berth on the line and the Wildcats looking to spoil ASU’s chances of that happening (ASU needed a win against Arizona to punch their ticket to Pasadena). [21]
As Arizona State was favored to win and was expected to continue its dominance over Arizona in the rivalry, many Wildcat fans theorized that Tucson was becoming more friendly towards ASU in terms of relevance, given that ASU was the state’s top football team at the time. [22] With bowl-eligibility being out of the picture for Arizona, Smith referred to the game as the Wildcats’ bowl game in an attempt to salvage the season. [23]
In the game itself, Arizona would blitz ASU all night, and the Wildcat defense recorded a pair of safeties and the offense came up big by connecting on two long touchdown passes to help the Wildcats upset Arizona State and deny the Sun Devils a trip to the Rose Bowl. It was the Wildcats' first win over ASU at home since 1974 and the victory also began a reign of dominance against the Devils after being dominated by ASU throughout most of the previous two decades. [24] [25] [26] [27] After the game, fans rushed the field and tore down the Arizona Stadium goal posts by celebrating the Wildcats knocking their rivals out of the Rose Bowl. [28]
Smith said during the postgame that the win put the Wildcats back on top and climbed them out of ASU’s shadow in the rivalry that lasted for decades, a reference to remarks that he made about ASU in 1980. [29]
The win gave Arizona a sixth win of the year and became bowl-eligible. However, the Wildcats had already self-imposed a bowl ban prior to the start of the season and that they were ineligible for the postseason as a result. [30]
With the Wildcats finishing the season on a high note, the victory over ASU in the finale would become the turning point for the program under coach Smith, as he would build the team into contenders for the Pac-10 title through the middle part of the decade and restore Arizona’s tradition of winning. [40] As Arizona was ineligible for bowl games in 1983–84, they would continue to improve and Smith would finally lead them to a bowl in 1985.
As the football team was returning to their winning ways, many fans have speculated that their interest in football affected Arizona’s basketball program, which led to losses, low attendance, and lack of popularity for that team. [41] However, as the decade progressed, both programs would become a force in the Pac-10 by both winning and recruiting that would last through most of the 1990s, and would energize the university. [42] [43]
1982 Arizona Wildcats football | |
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Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Record | 6–4–1 (4–3–1 Pac-10) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Arizona Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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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 being bowl-eligible with a winning record, the Wildcats did not appear in a bowl game, as they self-imposed a postseason ban due to NCAA violations prior to Smith becoming coach in 1980 (see below).
Memorable highlights of the season included a big road win at Notre Dame and a huge upset of rival Arizona State which denied ASU a chance to potentially play in 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]
Arizona completed the 1981 season with a 6–5 record, highlighted by a huge road upset victory over USC. The Wildcats entered 1982 with high hopes that they were contenders for the Pac-10 title, with fans crediting Smith for rebuilding the program. [5]
However, despite Smith rebuilding the team, the Wildcats have been embroiled in a scandal that happened in the late 1970s under Smith’s predecessor Tony Mason. Both the NCAA and the Pac-10 investigated and determined that Arizona operated a slush fund which involved Mason allegedly paying players cash, which turned out to be fraud, and the Wildcats were put on probation as a result. [6] As NCAA sanctions were soon to be handed out, Arizona decided to self-impose a postseason ban for the 1982 season as punishment, which meant that they would become ineligible for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance. [7] The NCAA would eventually penalize the Wildcats as a result of the scandal and put them on probation, as well as handing the team bowl bans in 1983 and 1984, respectively.
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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Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result |
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September 11 | 7:00 p.m. | Oregon State | KZAZ | W 38–12 | |
September 18 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Washington |
| CBS | L 13–23 |
September 25 | 7:30 p.m. | Iowa* |
| ESPN | L 14–17 |
October 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 8 UCLA | ABC | T 24–24 | |
October 16 | 10:30 a.m. | at No. 9 Notre Dame* | ESPN | W 16–13 | |
October 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Pacific* |
| KZAZ | W 55–7 |
October 30 | 2:00 p.m. | at Washington State | W 34–17 | ||
November 6 | 2:30 p.m. | at Stanford | USA | W 41–27 | |
November 13 | 6:30 p.m. | No. 16 USC |
| ESPN | L 41–48 |
November 20 | 2:00 p.m. | at Oregon | L 7–13 | ||
November 27 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 Arizona State |
| USA | W 28–18 |
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After a dominant season-opening victory against Oregon State, Arizona hosted Washington, who was ranked first at the time. The Wildcats would play tough, but it became difficult for the Arizona offense to score points against a top-ranked opponent like the Huskies, and Arizona ultimately came up short. [8] The loss prevented the Wildcats from upsetting a number-one-ranked team for a second straight season (Arizona defeated USC the previous year). It would be another ten years before Arizona finally got an upset victory over a top-ranked Washington squad at home.
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Arizona faced Iowa at home. The Wildcats defeated the Hawkeyes on the road in coach Smith's first season in 1980. A late Iowa field goal in the fourth quarter decided the game, and led to an Arizona loss. [9]
Arizona visited UCLA and played at the Rose Bowl for the first time ever (UCLA began playing home games here this season after decades playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, sharing with USC). Both the Wildcats and Bruins fought tough and the game ultimately ended in a tie. [10] The Bruins would go on to win the Pac-10 and play in the Rose Bowl at home.
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On the road at Notre Dame, the Wildcats and Irish battled back and forth and the game came down to the last play. With the score tied, Arizona got into Irish territory. Kicker Max Zendejas kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to win the game, and Smith and the Wildcats earned yet another win over a top-10 ranked team (Notre Dame was ranked ninth), as well as defeating the Irish for the first and only time in school history. It also avenged Arizona’s loss to Notre Dame in Smith’s first season in 1980. [11] [12] To date, this remains the last time that both Arizona and Notre Dame would meet on the football field, and given the parity between two schools, it is highly unlikely that they will play each other again unless they meet in a bowl game in the near future. [13]
Similar to the 1981 win over USC, fans greeted the Wildcats with celebrations at the Tucson airport when they returned home hours after the game concluded. [14] [15]
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On homecoming weekend, the Wildcats hosted USC. Arizona had upset the Trojans in the previous year and were looking to make it two wins in a row against them. However, USC capitalized on the Wildcats’ mistakes throughout the game, including returning three interceptions for touchdowns, which set an NCAA record, and Arizona never recovered afterwards, despite rallying in the fourth quarter and ultimately coming up short as the Trojans held on for the win. [16] [17] [18] Smith blamed the loss on Arizona being blitzed by USC, which led to the turnovers and USC avenging their loss to the Wildcats the year before. [19] [20]
To conclude the season, Arizona hosted the rivalry game against Arizona State, who were ranked sixth and was near the top of the Pac-10 standings with a possible Rose Bowl berth on the line and the Wildcats looking to spoil ASU’s chances of that happening (ASU needed a win against Arizona to punch their ticket to Pasadena). [21]
As Arizona State was favored to win and was expected to continue its dominance over Arizona in the rivalry, many Wildcat fans theorized that Tucson was becoming more friendly towards ASU in terms of relevance, given that ASU was the state’s top football team at the time. [22] With bowl-eligibility being out of the picture for Arizona, Smith referred to the game as the Wildcats’ bowl game in an attempt to salvage the season. [23]
In the game itself, Arizona would blitz ASU all night, and the Wildcat defense recorded a pair of safeties and the offense came up big by connecting on two long touchdown passes to help the Wildcats upset Arizona State and deny the Sun Devils a trip to the Rose Bowl. It was the Wildcats' first win over ASU at home since 1974 and the victory also began a reign of dominance against the Devils after being dominated by ASU throughout most of the previous two decades. [24] [25] [26] [27] After the game, fans rushed the field and tore down the Arizona Stadium goal posts by celebrating the Wildcats knocking their rivals out of the Rose Bowl. [28]
Smith said during the postgame that the win put the Wildcats back on top and climbed them out of ASU’s shadow in the rivalry that lasted for decades, a reference to remarks that he made about ASU in 1980. [29]
The win gave Arizona a sixth win of the year and became bowl-eligible. However, the Wildcats had already self-imposed a bowl ban prior to the start of the season and that they were ineligible for the postseason as a result. [30]
With the Wildcats finishing the season on a high note, the victory over ASU in the finale would become the turning point for the program under coach Smith, as he would build the team into contenders for the Pac-10 title through the middle part of the decade and restore Arizona’s tradition of winning. [40] As Arizona was ineligible for bowl games in 1983–84, they would continue to improve and Smith would finally lead them to a bowl in 1985.
As the football team was returning to their winning ways, many fans have speculated that their interest in football affected Arizona’s basketball program, which led to losses, low attendance, and lack of popularity for that team. [41] However, as the decade progressed, both programs would become a force in the Pac-10 by both winning and recruiting that would last through most of the 1990s, and would energize the university. [42] [43]