Arizona Football: Ranking the Top Five upsets in Arizona Stadium

No. 1 – Arizona upsets Washington in their lone win against a No. 1 ranked

Who: Arizona vs No. 1 Washington
When: November 7, 1992
Who: Tucson, AZ (Arizona Stadium)

Coming in, people thought this upset was likely not possible. The Washington Huskies were ranked No. 1, were a perfect 8-0, they were winners of 22-straight, and hadn’t lost since Nov. 10, 1990. Moreover, the Huskies were the defending National Champs from the year before!

With Arizona at 5-2-1, it was perhaps this game that officially kicked off the dominant defense era of Arizona Football, aptly known as the “Desert Swarm”.

Overall, this game was sloppy as a whole, but it was the defense mostly for both teams that stole the show. Washington struck first with a field goal, but it was Arizona kicker, Steve McLaughlin who made the next three field goals in the game from 34, 20, and 30 yards to give Arizona the 9-3 lead.

All of Arizona’s field goals came as a result of Washington turnovers, as the Huskies would finish the game with four turnovers, three coming way of fumbles.

Arizona coach Dick Tomey, was committed to the run the entire game, famously saying, “We were going to run inside, and then when that didn’t work, we were going to run inside again.”

Arizona quarterback, George Malauulu, threw just 12 total passes and completed only five for 54 yards, but aside from turnovers, another big key to the game for Arizona was field position.

Wildcat punter Josh Miller, averaged 47.3 yards per punt over eight punts, even kicking a 68-yard punt during the game, keeping Washington deep in their own territory.

The biggest play of the game came when Mark Brunnell found wide receiver Jason Shelley at the Arizona 19-yard line, from the Arizona 48-yard line, but as soon as he caught it, Arizona free safety Tony Bouie smacked into him, and the ball went into the air, and landed in the hands of Arizona cornerback, Keshon Johnson, effectively icing the game for the Cats.

Arizona would march down the field and score on a 1-yard touchdown quarterback sneak from Malauulu with 48 seconds left. The game was over at 16-3!

Unfortunately, Arizona could not recapture the momentum from this win, and would lose it’s next two games against USC and ASU to close out the year, and would ultimately lose in the John Hancock Bowl against Baylor to finish 6-5-1.

Washington would win it’s next game against Oregon State, but lost the Apple Cup against Washington State, as the Huskies would still go on to play in the Rose Bowl, before losing to Michigan to finish the year at 9-3.

This game is still considered to be the biggest upset in the history of Arizona Stadium, and maybe the biggest in the history of Arizona Wildcats Football.

Anyways, that’s our list of the Top Five upsets that have happened at Arizona Stadium! Like our selections or have different picks? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter, and as always, Bear Down, Arizona!