1986 Arizona Wildcats football team

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1986 Arizona Wildcats football
Aloha Bowl champion
Aloha Bowl, W 30–21 vs. North Carolina
ConferencePacific-10
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 11
1986 record9–3 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorChuck Stobart (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorChris Allen
CaptainByron Evans
Home stadiumArizona Stadium
Seasons
← 1985
1987 →
1986 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Arizona State $ 5 1 1 10 1 1
No. 14 UCLA 5 2 1 8 3 1
No. 18 Washington 5 2 1 8 3 1
No. 11 Arizona 5 3 0 9 3 0
Stanford 5 3 0 8 4 0
USC 5 3 0 7 5 0
Oregon 3 5 0 5 6 0
Washington State 2 6 1 3 7 1
California 2 7 0 2 9 0
Oregon State 1 6 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were coached by Larry Smith in his seventh and final season. The Wildcats ended the season with a 9–3 record (5–3 in Pac-10) and won the Aloha Bowl against North Carolina for their first bowl win ever.

A major highlight of the season was a 34–17 upset victory over rival Arizona State, that denied ASU an unbeaten season and chance at a potential national championship. The game also was known for Arizona returning an interception for touchdown that broke the game open.

After the season, Smith was hired by Pac-10 foe USC as the head coach (see below). He would be replaced by Hawaii coach Dick Tomey, who would ultimately have a successful tenure with the Wildcats.

Before the season[]

Arizona finished the 1985 season with a record of 8–3–1 (5–2 in Pac-10) and tied with Georgia in the Sun Bowl. The team entered 1986 with high expectations, and had their live television ban lifted following sanctions against them from 1983. They were also eligible to be placed in the poll rankings in the season. In addition, the Wildcats began the year in contention for the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl.[1]

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 6Houston*
KMSBW 37–352,433
September 13Colorado State*
  • Arizona Stadium
  • Tucson, AZ
KMSBW 37–1049,003
September 20at OregonNo. 17ABCW 41–1728,773
September 27Colorado*No. 10
Raycom/KMSBW 24–2141,024
October 11at UCLANo. 11CBSL 25–3251,279
October 18Oregon StateNo. 16
  • Arizona Stadium
  • Tucson, AZ
KMSBW 23–1252,669
October 25CaliforniaNo. 15
  • Arizona Stadium
  • Tucson, AZ
KMSBW 33–1649,016
November 1No. 18 USCdaggerNo. 14
  • Arizona Stadium
  • Tucson, AZ
WTBSL 13–2055,046
November 8at Washington StateNo. 17ESPNW 31–617,000
November 22No. 4 Arizona StateNo. 14
  • Arizona Stadium
  • Tucson, AZ (rivalry)
CBSW 34–1758,267
November 30vs. StanfordNo. 12
ESPNL 24–2955,000
December 27vs. North Carolina*No. 16ABCW 30–2126,743
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Personnel[]

1986 Arizona Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 2 David Adams Sr
OL Frank Arriola
QB 4 Craig Bergman
OL 50 Val Bichekas
QB Andy Crouch
OL Brian Denton
WR Jeff Fairholm
RB 40 Art Greathouse Fr
TE Jim Hanawalt
WR 82 Derek Hill So
WR Jon Horton
QB 1 Alfred Jenkins Sr
RB Chuck Knox
TE Kip Lewis
TE Vince Lotti
RB 20 Chris McLemore Sr
WR Branch McNeal
RB Joe Prior
OL Jeff Rinehart
C 52 Joe Tofflemire So
OL Hugh Verbalatis
WR Jeff Vickers
RB Chuck Webb
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB Jerry Beasley
DL Jim Birmingham
S 6 Chuck Cecil Jr
DB Troy Cephers
DB 38 James DeBow So
LB Byron Evans (C) Sr
DL Reggie Gaddis
LB Francis Gibson
DB Eugene Hardy
DT 97 George Hinkle Jr
DB Durrell Jones
DB Randy Kindred
LB Dan Lockett
DL Stan Mataele
CB 27 Martin Rudolph Sr
LB Chris Singleton
LB Kevin Singleton
DL 37 Dana Wells So
LB 35 Brent Wood
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 11 Gary Coston Fr
P 8 Ruben Rodriguez Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Final 
AP NR NR 17 10 10 11 16 15 14 17 14 14 12 16 11 
Coaches NR 16 15 10 10 9 14 15 14 17 13 15 11 13 10

Game summaries[]

UCLA[]

Undefeated and eleventh-ranked Arizona visited UCLA at the Rose Bowl. The Wildcats led 18-0 earlier in the game and seemed like they would stay unbeaten before the Bruins bounced back to grab the lead before Arizona regained it the fourth quarter. With over a minute remaining, UCLA drove into Arizona territory and scored to retake the lead for good, and Arizona suffered a tough loss to the Bruins for the second season in a row and lost for the first time in 1986.[3]

USC[]

On homecoming day, the Wildcats hosted USC in a top-20 matchup. Although the Wildcats (ranked 14th) would hang tough with the Trojans (18th), their offense didn't do enough to put up more points and fell short at the end.[4] Smith would become USC's coach after the season (see below).

Arizona State[]

#4 Arizona State Sun Devils (9–0–1) at #14 Arizona Wildcats (7–2)
1 2 34Total
Arizona State 0 10 0717
Arizona 7 7 71334

at Arizona StadiumTucson, Arizona

In the regular season finale, Arizona hosted fourth-ranked and unbeaten Arizona State in the annual rivalry game. Entering the game, Arizona State had already clinched both the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth. The Wildcats defense shut down the Sun Devils’ offense for most of the game, including a goal-line stand in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, ASU, down 24–10, drove down the field and attempted to cut into Arizona's lead. Quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst dropped back and lofted a pass to the end zone. However, Wildcat safety Chuck Cecil intercepted the pass and ran back the other way down the sideline for a 100-yard touchdown return to give Arizona a 31–10 lead that sent Arizona Stadium (and Tucson) into a frenzy. The play led to Arizona grabbing momentum and ASU would not recover from it for the rest of the game and the Wildcats went on to win by a score of 34-17 and gave the Sun Devils their first and only loss of the season and ended ASU's chances for a possible national championship.[6][7][8] Arizona fans often declare Cecil's pick-six as the greatest moment in Wildcat football history and not just in the UA-ASU rivalry.[9]

Stanford[]

Riding high on the momentum after its big victory over Arizona State, the Wildcats traveled out of the country to play Stanford in Tokyo in a special matchup. The Cardinal would narrowly get past Arizona, ending the regular season. This was the first and so far, only time in Wildcat history that the team played a game outside of the United States.[10]

North Carolina (Aloha Bowl)[]

In the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii, Arizona faced North Carolina (whom, like Arizona, are best known for their prestigious men's basketball programs). The Wildcats played hard and defeated the Tar Heels to win their first-ever bowl game in program history (the Wildcats had been winless their previous bowl appearances, including a tie in the previous year).[11] It turned out to be Smith's final game as Arizona's coach.

Awards and honors[]

Season notes[]

  • This was the first season in which the Wildcats won in the postseason.
  • Arizona Stadium used a new logo at midfield, which featured a large red “A” with the words “Bear Down” (with “Bear” on the top of the “A” and “Down” on the bottom of it). “Bear Down” is the Wildcats’ motto.[12] The logo would be used until the end of the 1988 season.
  • All three of Arizona's losses were by seven points or less. The team lost by a combined 19 points and came within at least 20 of finishing with a perfect season record.
  • The win over Houston remains Arizona's first and only win over the Cougars to date. The two teams would not play each other again until 2017–18, with Houston winning in both years.
  • Arizona and Colorado would play each other again until 2011, when Colorado joined the Pac-10 (which was renamed the Pac-12).
  • After this season, Arizona would not defeat Oregon on the road again until 2006.
  • Had the Wildcats defeated UCLA and got past either USC or Stanford, they would have finished first in the Pac-10 and made it to their first Rose Bowl and Smith would have remained Arizona's coach from 1987 onwards.
  • Arizona's win over Arizona State featured an interception return for a touchdown that officially went 100 yards by the NCAA. Wildcat fans would often refer to the play as “The Interception”, “The Interception Return”, or “The Pick-Six”, and would be known as the greatest moment for the football program. In addition, the play would often play on the Arizona Stadium scoreboard during pregame in later years.[13]
  • The Wildcats won nine games in a season for the first time since 1975 and it was the most under Smith. Arizona's win total increased each year with Smith, as he rebuilt the program during most of the early-to-mid 1980s. The team won five in 1980, six in 1981–82, seven in 1983–84, eight in 1985, and nine this season. Prior to leaving for USC, fans thought that Smith would win win ten in 1987.[14]
  • An Arizona player was honored as the Pac-10 defensive player of the year for the second time, as linebacker Byron Evans won the award, joining Ricky Hunley, who was honored in 1983.

After the season[]

At the conclusion of the season, Smith left Arizona to accept the head coaching position at USC, due to the fact that the Trojans’ football tradition lasted longer than the Wildcats and that he would be offered more money since Los Angeles is a much larger market than Tucson, and that Arizona didn't pay him as much as the coach.[15]

To replace Smith, the Wildcats hired Hawaii coach Dick Tomey, to take over the program (coincidentally, Arizona's Aloha Bowl victory occurred on Hawaii's home field). Arizona believed that Tomey would build a chemistry with the players and to help rebuild the team after Smith's departure.[16] Tomey would build the Wildcats to greater heights, highlighted by a dominant defense in the early-to-mid 1990s. Tomey stepped down as coach after the 2000 season.

References[]

  1. ^ "Cats enter 1986 season as Rose Bowl contenders". Arizona Daily Star. August 20, 1986.
  2. ^ 2011 Arizona football media guide.
  3. ^ "UCLA comes back late to stun No. 11 Arizona in wild upset". Los Angeles Times. October 12, 1986.
  4. ^ "Wildcats fall short against #18 USC on homecoming". Arizona Daily Star. November 2, 1986.
  5. ^ "Arizona claims state supremacy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1986 Nov 23. Retrieved 2019-Jan-08.
  6. ^ "UA wins fifth straight over ASU". Arizona Daily Star. November 23, 1986.
  7. ^ "Cecil's INT return TD leads 'Cats to big upset victory over No. 4 Sun Devils". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 24, 1986.
  8. ^ "Wildcats' pick-six leads to fifth consecutive win over ASU, ends Sun Devils' national title quest". Tucson Citizen. November 23, 1986.
  9. ^ "30 years later: Is Cecil's pick-six vs. ASU in 1986 the greatest Wildcat football moment?". Arizona Daily Star. November 22, 2016.
  10. ^ "No luck in Tokyo, as Stanford edges Wildcats in Coca-Cola Classic". Arizona Daily Wildcat. December 2, 1986.
  11. ^ "Say Aloha, Arizona! 'Cats top Tar Heels to finally win first bowl game". Arizona Daily Star. December 28, 1986.
  12. ^ "Arizona Stadium to feature "Bear Down" logo at midfield". Arizona Daily Wildcat. August 3, 1986.
  13. ^ "Top Arizona football moments vs. ASU". Arizona Daily Wildcat. November 22, 2016.
  14. ^ "Wildcats keep winning more each year under Smith, future could be bright". Arizona Daily Star. December 29, 1986.
  15. ^ "Smith leaves UA for USC, citing tradition and more cash". The Arizona Republic. January 3, 1987.
  16. ^ "Wildcats hire Hawaii's Tomey as new football coach". Arizona Daily Star. January 18, 1987.
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