It has been heartbreak hotel for long-suffering Arizona Football fans at times. The feeling is attuned to being punched in the gut, but don’t worry, we have found the silver linings.
Arizona Football has not been shown much love by the pre-season pundits. It’s not surprising to head-strong Arizona fans because this is one of the most uncertain seasons the Cats have had since Rich Rodriguez took over in Tucson.
Anything can happen, especially with the Cats break-neck offense. But just in case this season doesn’t pan out the way Arizona fans want it to, hopefully, they will know it can’t get much worse than these painful five memories.
These top five blows are hard to swallow. Let’s see if you can stomach it. Take a look at the Top 5 Gut Wrenching football losses of the last 25 years.
WARNING: The phrase ‘Rose Bowl’ is mentioned countless times in the following contribution.
Next: No. 5 : Unhappy Valley
No. 5: Unhappy Valley (August 28, 1999)
Penn State 41
Arizona 7
Going into the 1999 season, Arizona was coming off their best season in school history. Expectations were more than big.
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The Cats were fortunate to land an opening game on the road against a big-time football school. It was must see television. No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 4 Arizona.
Once the game started, it unraveled faster for the Cats than a ball of yarn thrown into the Grand Canyon. The game was never close and the Cats headed back to Tucson licking their wounds.
Silver Lining
Six weeks later Arizona defeated No. 22 USC 31-24 in Tucson.
Not So Silver Lining
The Cats would drop three of its last four games and would not be invited to a bowl game.
Next: No. 4: The Ducks Strike Back
No. 4: The Ducks Strike Back on Nov. 21, 2009
Oregon 44
Arizona 41 (Double OT)
Late in the fourth quarter and holding onto a seven-point lead, Arizona appeared to be in the driver’s seat for a long-awaited Rose Bowl birth.
The Ducks needed to go 80 yards with 3:11 left to force overtime.
Hundreds of students started to make their way from the student section onto the field, preparing for a celebration that would rival any Arizona win in the stadium’s history. What the students didn’t seem to grasp was that until the clock reads 0:00, the game is not officially over.
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Oregon quickly marched down the field and scored with six seconds left to force overtime.
The students went back to their seats and watched the Cats lose in double overtime.
Silver Lining
The next week Arizona defeated rival ASU in Tempe when Alex Zendejas kicked a field goal as time expired giving the Cats a 31-28 victory.
A week later Mike Stoops picked up his first win against Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans when the Cats won a close one at the Coliseum.
Not So Silver Lining
Had Arizona won the Oregon game, the Cats would have made their first trip to the Rose Bowl. Also, a much higher and thicker wall was built in front of the ZonaZoo so it would NEVER happen again!
Next: No. 3: UCLA Does No Favors
No. 3: UCLA Does No Favors (Oct. 10, 1998)
UCLA 52
Arizona 28
Going into this matchup, Arizona had won nine straight games and UCLA had won 13 straight. The winner of this early season battle was sure to have the advantage in the coveted Rose Bowl race.
The Cats had a 28-24 lead late in the third quarter, but UCLA scored 28 unanswered points to destroy another Arizona Rose Bowl dream, but the Cats still had a chance late in the season to smell the roses.
With the new B.C.S. system, if UCLA beat Miami in their last game of the year, the undefeated Bruins would skip the Rose Bowl and would go straight to the championship game.
With Arizona being next in line in the conference with a 7-1 record, Tucson thought the Cats would be playing on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.
The Hurricanes ruined Tucson’s New Year’s plans by beating the Bruins 49-45.
Silver Lining
Arizona got an invitation to play the defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl.
A late game interception by all-world Chris McAlister all but sealed the game for the Cats late in the fourth quarter.
The Cats ended the year 12-1 and finished No. 4 in the nation; their highest ranking ever.
Next: No. 2 : Cal Makes Hurtful Comeback
No. 2: Cal Makes Hurtful Comeback (Nov. 13, 1993)
California 24
Arizona 20
The famous Desert Swarm defense held the Bears to 1.2 yards per carry and recorded nine sacks in this match-up.
With a 20-0 halftime lead, Tucson started to smell the scent of Pasadena’s Rose Bowl Parade, but Arizona would give up 24 unanswered points in the second half.
When the game ended, the Cats headed back to the Old Pueblo with the costliest of losses.
The Cats would defeat rival Arizona State the next week finishing with a 6-2 Pac-10 record.
UCLA also finished with a 6-2 record, but an early season win over the Cats gave them the birth into the Granddaddy of them all.
Silver Lining
Arizona got to strut it’s stuff up the road in Tempe in a bowl game their rivals created for themselves when the Cats played Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Chuck Levy was the offensive hero, gaining 142 yards on the ground.
His 68-yard touchdown run in the second quarter is a Top-10 Arizona Football history highlight.
The Cats would run roughshod over the Canes’, winning 29-0.
Arizona would finish the season ranked No. 10 in the nation.
Next: No. 1 : Sparky's Children Trespass
No. 1: Sparky’s Children Trespass (Nov. 23, 1996)
Arizona State 56
Arizona 14
Forget the late game losses in 2010 and 2012 that seemed like bad dreams, the 1996 Duel in the Desert was an actual nightmare.
When Jake Plummer brought his team down to Tucson, Sparky’s 1996 seniors were trying to do something they had never done against the Wildcats.
Win.
The Sun Devils were pretty good. They defeated No. 1 Nebraska 19-0 and had little trouble running through their Pac-10 schedule, but the talented Sun Devils knew not to underestimate an Arizona team that was hovering at .500.
Arguably the best Sun Devil team in history took care of the Wildcats quite easily in a nasty game.
To make it worse for Arizona fans, it seemed like the entire city of Tempe was at the game. When the contest ended the field turned into what looked like a big yellow mustard stain, when Sparky’s children attacked the field and jumped on the goal posts.
Silver Lining
The Sun Devil fans never found a way to take down the indestructible goal posts in Arizona Stadium.
The few Arizona fans who had stayed to watch the mustard stain assault the field, cheered in unison when the last of Sparky’s kids were pried from the goal posts.
Next: Top 5 McKale Game Endings
A month later Ohio State defeated the Sun Devils in the Rose Bowl, ending Tempe’s national championship dreams.
BearDown Arizona, let’s not have any more of these gut-wrenching losses, please!