The 1975 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

1975 NCAA Division I football season The 1975 NCAA Division I football season saw University of Oklahoma repeat as national champion in the Associated Press (AP) writers' poll, and were ranked No. 1 in the United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll, just ahead of runner up Arizon ...

. In their third season under head coach

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 ...

, the Wildcats compiled a 9–2 record (5–2 against WAC opponents), finished in second place in the WAC, were ranked No. 18 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

, and outscored their opponents, 330 to 169. The team played its home games at

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 ...

. Even though they captured their second straight nine-win season, the Wildcats missed out on a bowl due to not winning an outright conference title for the third season in a row. Arizona lost in the season finale to their rival

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in a game that decided the WAC title. Both of Arizona's losses this season were to their rivals, (

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and Arizona State). The team's statistical leaders included Bruce Hill with 1,747 passing yards, Dave Randolph with 657 rushing yards, and Scott Piper with 718 receiving yards. Linebacker Obra Erby led the team with 188 total tackles.

Before the season

Arizona concluded the 1974 season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in WAC), and lost out on the WAC title and bowl eligibility due to their loss to

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

that season. The Wildcats ended the year by defeating Arizona State for the first time since 1964 with a shutout and brought back bragging rights for the state of Arizona. The team went into the 1975 season with high expectations and was looking to contend for the WAC championship and was ranked in the top 20 in preseason polls. Many Wildcat fans believed that Young was rebuilding a resurgence of winning to a football program that was struggling for nearly a decade.

Schedule

Game summaries

Northwestern

In a game that featured two teams that shared the same nickname, the Wildcats, Arizona took care of Northwestern at home. Arizona gave up two field goals to Northwestern, and ended a streak of three consecutive shutout wins dating back to the previous season finale against Arizona State (Arizona began 1975 with shutouts over Pacific and Wyoming).

New Mexico

In the rivalry game between Arizona and New Mexico, both teams’ offense put up several points on the board, with the Lobos coming out on top to upset the Wildcats and handed Arizona its first loss of the season. The Wildcats’ loss led to 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 (the rivalry's trophy) returning to Albuquerque for the first time since 1971.

San Diego State

Arizona faced San Diego State on the road for a top-15 non-conference matchup (the Wildcats were ranked 15th whereas the Aztecs were 13th). The game was a big test for Arizona, and the Wildcats ultimately prevailed in a close win.

Colorado State

Against Colorado State, the Wildcats’ defense blitzed the Rams and limited them to only nine points in yet another win. This remains the last time to date that Arizona traveled to Fort Collins to play the Rams, as future meetings between the two teams since then have been played in Tucson.

Arizona State

The Wildcats traveled to Tempe to face unbeaten Arizona State in a game that decided the WAC championship and a berth in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

(the loser would have their season end due to a lack of bowl spots available). Due to the fact that cable and satellite television didn't exist at the time and that all national broadcasters’ schedules of games were booked, the Arizona-Arizona State game was not televised. Late in the second quarter with Arizona leading 14–3, the Sun Devils drove into Wildcat territory and an Arizona State receiver dove and made a sensational catch in the end zone for a touchdown. There has been debates of whether or not it was indeed a catch, in which many Wildcat fans believe it was not. Due to a lack of instant replay at the time and that all officials’ calls were based on judgment and thus were final, the touchdown catch was upheld, much to the ire of Wildcat fans. The disputes of the ASU touchdown catch still continue to this day. The touchdown gave ASU momentum at halftime and carried it with them in the second half and took the lead. The Wildcats had a chance to respond, but fell short and Arizona State went on to capture the WAC with the win and ended the Wildcats’ season. Arizona matched the 1974 season with back-to-back 9–2 records but without a bowl appearance. Arizona State would ultimately go on to win the Fiesta Bowl and finish with a perfect 12–0 record.

References

{{Arizona Wildcats football navbox

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- ...