The 1977 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

(WAC) during the

1977 NCAA Division I football season The 1977 NCAA Division I football season was one in which the top five teams finished with 11–1 records. Notre Dame, which beat top-ranked and undefeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl, became the national champion. The 1977 season was the last ...

. In their first season under head coach Tony Mason, the Wildcats compiled a 5–7 record (3–4 against WAC opponents), finished in fifth place in the WAC, and outscored their opponents, 256 to 250. The team played its home games in

Arizona Stadium Arizona Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12 Conference. Original ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. This was Arizona’s (and rival Arizona State’s) final season as members of the WAC and joined the

Pac-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, which became the Pac-10, in the following season. Mason replaced

Jim Young James Norman Young (born June 6, 1943) is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. Young played running back and wide receiver for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for two seasons (1965–66), and the CFL's BC Lions f ...

, who left for

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

after the 1976 season ended. The team's statistical leaders included Marc Lunsford with 1,344 passing yards, Derriak Anderson with 568 rushing yards, and Harry Holt with 423 receiving yards. Linebacker Corky Ingraham led the team with 153 total tackles.

Before the season

Arizona concluded the 1976 season with a record of 5–6 (3–4 in WAC). Young accepted the head coaching position at Purdue afterwards, and Mason was chosen to be his successor. Mason, who coached at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, came to Arizona to rebuild the program and promised to return the team to its winning ways.

Schedule

Personnel

Game summaries

Auburn

For the second year in a row, Arizona opened the season against Auburn. It was also their first visit to an SEC team’s home stadium. In Mason’s first game as Arizona coach, the Wildcats started slow and never recovered as the Tigers got the victory. As of 2021, both Arizona and Auburn have not played each other since.

Iowa

Arizona traveled to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes. The Wildcats got their offense going and Mason captured his first win as Wildcat coach.

New Mexico

The Wildcats faced New Mexico in their home finale. Arizona’s offense struggled at times but was able to get past the Lobos and the

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...

Rifle returned back to Tucson for the first time since 1974. This turned out to be Mason’s only meeting against New Mexico. It was also the last meeting between the Wildcats and Lobos until 1987 (due to Arizona leaving the WAC). As a result, the two schools would no longer play annually as rivals.

Arizona State

In Mason’s debut against Arizona State, the Wildcats were unable to overcome Arizona State and its home crowd and lost to the Sun Devils for the third straight year. This was the final WAC game played by the two teams.

Hawaii

The Wildcats played a twelfth game of the season due to non-conference scheduling. They traveled to Hawaii in their season finale. Both Arizona and Hawaii’s defense shut down the offense and led to a low-scoring game. In the end, the Wildcats came out victorious. Coincidentally, Hawaii was coached by

Dick Tomey Richard Hastings Tomey (June 20, 1938 – May 10, 2019) was an American football coach and player. Tomey served as the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1977–1986), University of Arizona (1987–2000), and San Jose State ...

, a future Arizona coach who would have a successful tenure with the Wildcats.

Season notes

* Arizona seemed to have struggled for wins for most of the season. After Young departed for Purdue, the Wildcats may have been affected by the absence of his leadership and that Mason could not duplicate his success, which led to the team losing six of their first eight games, though they recovered to win three of the final four games. * This was the last season that Arizona played in the WAC before moving to the Pac-10. In addition, this was also the last year that Arizona and New Mexico played an annual rivalry series together as conference opponents. The Wildcats defeated the Lobos in this season to reclaim the Kit Carson Rifle, the rivalry’s trophy. The rifle was eventually retired in 1997. New Mexico remained in the WAC until 1999 when then joined the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

. The win over New Mexico was the Arizona’s first over a rival since 1974, when they defeated Arizona State. * This was the first season that Arizona played twelve regular-season games. This feat would not occur again until 1998. * After losing to San Diego State, the Wildcats would not lose to them at home again until 2021, which would also be a home opener for Arizona. * In three of Arizona’s five wins, they scored more than 40 points.

References

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Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Arizona Wildcats football seasons

Arizona Wildcats football The Arizona Wildcats football program represents the University of Arizona (UA) in the sport of American college football. Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac- ...