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It’s been a fun ride thus far during the Rich Rodriguez era. In three season’s, Coach Rodriguez has been the architect of an up and coming program. Here is our list of the Top 5 Most Memorable Wins of the Rich Rod era so far. A big thanks to fellow Wildcat fan Emrick Clubb, who helped in a brain storm session, to come up with this list.
Note: Brian Jeffries, the Voice of the Arizona Wildcats announces most if not all of the plays and games that you will enjoy re-living.
Next: Honorable Mention: Duck Season in Tucson
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Honorable Mention
Arizona 42 (No. 5) Oregon 16
Going into this one I thought the Cats had a chance, but not a great chance. The Cats had lost the previous week at home to lowly Washington State. Tucson wasn’t prepared for what happened that overcast Saturday afternoon against the Ducks.
All I was worried about in this one was dressing warm enough and getting to my seat with beefy nachos before kickoff. If you have never had the beefy nachos at Arizona Stadium or McKale Center, do yourself a favor and order them the next time you go to a game. Even if you don’t like sports (why don’t you?), the beefy nachos are worth the trip to the campus on game days.
When the game started I was eating my nachos and was happy as a little kid. I wasn’t mentally prepared for what happened next. On the first play from scrimmage the unthinkable transpired. Marcus Mariotta threw an interception. The future Heisman Trophy winner had not thrown an interception in what seemed like a decade.
The turnover took place thanks to Shaquille Richardson tapping the pass backwards while falling out of bounds. Just behind him was Scooby Wright, who ended up catching the ball in bounds. It is one of the signature plays of the Rich Rod era so far.
That play was the beginning of the end for the Ducks. Arizona dominated the game. Ka’deem Carey became Arizona’s all-time leading rusher that afternoon. He finished with 206 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.
Next: No. 5 : Casey Skowron To the Rescue
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No. 5 : Nov. 15, 2014
(No. 14)Arizona 27 Washington 26
Arizona had a magical season in 2015. That magic continued against the Washington Huskies at Arizona Stadium last November. The Cats were trailing the Huskies late in the game. It seemed like any chance of continuing to contend for the Pac-12 South Title was going down the drain.
Thanks to a miscommunication by the Huskies coaching staff, Washington ran one more play they probably didn’t need to. UW was up by two and had the ball near midfield, with under 1:30 left. Instead of downing the ball a couple of times and having to punt with around 10 seconds left, Washington ran the ball.
Tra’Mayne Bondurant made them pay when he stripped the ball out of Deontae Cooper’s hands. Derrick Turituri recovered the loose ball. This set up kicker Casey Skowron to be the hero.
Some knucklehead Arizona fans attacked Skowron on Twitter earlier in the season after he missed a field goal against USC that could have won the game. Against Washington, Skowron shined bright. In the first half with the Wildcats sputtering, Arizona ran a fake field goal and Skowron scampered 18 yards for the touchdown.
Later in the second half Skowron’s 47-yard field goal as time expired gave Arizona it’s eighth win on the season.
Next: No. 4: New Mexico Bowl
No. 4 : Dec. 15, 2012
Arizona 49 Nevada 48
Rich Rod’s first season had a couple of big wins against ranked opponents that could of made our list, but the 2012 Gildan New Mexico Bowl is the most memorable of that year.
Arizona trailed 21-0 in the first half and a win against the Nevada Wolf pack looked to be unlikely as the seconds ticked away in the second half. The Cats trailed by 13 with under a minute left. Thanks to two Matt Scott touchdown passes and a recovered onside kick, Arizona left Albuquerque with a Bowl victory.
Arizona gave their first year coach a respectable 8-5 record.
That same night in Tucson, our Arizona Wildcat Basketball squad defeated the No. 5 Florida Gators, in another improbable victory. Trailing by six with about a minute left, the Cats clawed their way back into the game. Mark Lyons bucket with under 10 seconds left, gave Arizona a victory over Billy Donovan’s team.
Next: No. 3: The Hill Mary
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No. 3 : Sep. 20, 2014
Arizona 49 Cal 45
This one probably deserves to be a bit higher on the list. The games we have talked about thus far are strong evidence that you should never leave a game early. This game continues that trend.
The ending to this one rivals Ortege Jenkins ‘Leap By the Lake’ play against the Huskies in Seattle.
With one play remaining and the ball at midfield, the Cats were looking for a miracle. They needed a touchdown to win.
Anu Solomon heaved the ball to the right corner of the end zone and Austin Hill came up with the 47-yard Hail Mary pass. I was at the game and I couldn’t see what happened from my vantage point in the nosebleed section. I started celebrating when my friend started jumping up and down.
My pessimism made me think they would reverse the call after a review. I was never so happy to be wrong. The touchdown counted! The Cats scored 36 points in the fourth quarter for one of the most unlikely comebacks in school history.
Next: No. 2: Duck Season in Eugene
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No. 2 : Oct. 2, 2014
Arizona 31 (No. 2) Oregon 24
Arizona went into Eugene at 4-0, but were not ranked. The Ducks were no. 2 in the polls and were one of the favorites to win the National Title. For the second year in a row, no one thought Arizona had a chance against the Ducks, especially being 24-point underdogs in a hyped Autzen Stadium.
That’s why they play the games.
Arizona’s defense found a way to slow down Marcus Mariota for a second straight game. Late in the fourth quarter, helped by a controversial call (thank you refs), Arizona scored a few plays later when Terris Jones-Grigsby scored on a-one yard run with 2:54 left. That touchdown gave the Wildcats a seven-point lead.
Everything was set for Mariota to drive the Ducks down the field and send the game into overtime. Scooby Wright had other plans. Not only did he sack Mariota, he also stripped the ball out of his hands and recovered it himself.
A first down later, the Cats ran out the clock and had the biggest win on the college landscape during the young 2014 football season.
Next: No. 1 : Territorial Cup Comes Home
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No. 1 : Nov. 28, 2014
(No. 12)Arizona 42 (No. 13) ASU 35
Arizona Wildcats
The Wildcats have had some big wins at home through the years, but this one is arguably the most significant.
Arizona was ranked no. 12 and the Sun Devils were no. 13, making the matchup one of the most high profile the rivalry has ever seen. Going into the game, both teams needed Stanford to beat UCLA. If UCLA lost, it would give the winner of the 2014 Territorial Cup a Pac-12 South Championship.
It was a fun atmosphere in Arizona Stadium that day. Some ASU fans were sitting in front of me. Throughout the game we kept updating each other on what was happening 500 miles west of us in Pasadena. It felt strange rooting for the same team as my Sparky friends were.
Arizona’s defense came up big in the first half. On the third play of the game Scooby Wright knocked the ball away from Taylor Kelley, and Anthony Lopez recovered it for a 25-yard touchdown.
Later in the first half the Cats held Sparky in check with a 4-down goal line stand.
One of my favorite memories of this game was when Anu Solomon connected with Samaji Grant for an entertaining touchdown run that felt like Grant was channeling 2005 Reggie Bush.
Just before the game ended in Tucson, Stanford defeated UCLA. When the clocked hit 0:00 the Cats had won a game that mattered and had returned the Territorial Cup back to where it belonged.
The win gave the Cats a 48-39-1 advantage in the series and a 20-16-1 advantage since the schools joined the Pac-10/12 in 1978.
Did we miss a game you thought deserved to be in the Top 5? Let us know.
Bear Down!