No. 24 — UA shuts out ASU, Kush during dominating run for Sun Devils coach
by Javier Morales on Aug. 07, 2012, under Sports
In the 50 days leading up to Arizona’s season-opener against Toledo, on Sept. 1 at Arizona Stadium, TucsonCitizen.com and its affiliate WildAboutAZCats.net will rank the Top 50 games in the history of the football program. The ranking is at No. 24 as the kickoff to the Wildcats’ season — and the start of the Rich Rodriguez era — is only 24 days away.
SCORE: Arizona Wildcats 10, ASU Sun Devils 0
DATE: Nov. 30, 1974
SITE: Arizona Stadium, 40,782 in attendance (the last game between the rivals before the east section of Arizona Stadium was expanded)
WHY IT MADE THE LIST: Although Frank Kush has not coached at ASU since 1979, he remains the figurehead for Arizona’s dislike for ASU in the football rivalry between the schools. Between 1965-1978, the Wildcats went 1-13 against Kush and ASU. In that 14-year span, the Wildcats lost six of seven games in Tucson by an average margin of 12.5 points.
The one loss for Kush in his 13-1 run against Arizona was this dominating 10-0 victory for Jim Young and the Wildcats. It remains the last shutout by either team in the series. It also improved the UA’s season to 9-2 — the first nine-win season in the program’s history. The game, which was the UA’s last win against a Kush-coached team, ended a nine-game losing streak against the Sun Devils. Kush and ASU shut out the UA two times previously, including Kush’s first season with the Sun Devils in 1958, when they defeated Arizona 47-0 in Tucson.
Young, who coached Arizona from 1973 to 1976 and helped the Wildcats gain the mindset they can competitively go from the WAC to the Pac-10, is quoted as saying in an Associated Press article of the 10-0 win over ASU: “It is the best win since I came to Arizona.” It was his lone victory against ASU and Kush and it occurred a year after the Sun Devils routed Arizona 55-19 in Tempe.
“Last year we didn’t hit before we played ASU,” Young said after the 10-0 win in 1974. “We knew ASU would be a hard-hitting team. From now on, the ASU-UA series is going to be hard hitting.”
After Kush’s 13-1 run against Arizona, the Sun Devils have gone 13-19-1 against the Wildcats. That means it took ASU 32 years and six coaches after Kush to equal his 13-victory mark against the Wildcats from 1965-78.
The Wildcats finished 6-1 in the WAC in 1974, one-half game behind BYU, which beat the Wildcats 37-13 earlier that season in Tucson. ASU finished 6-5 and 4-3.
“Our offense was disappointing but credit a lot of that to a good U of A defense,” Kush said in the AP article.
Arizona coach Jim Young beat ASU and nemesis Frank Kush only once in four seasons but it happens to be the last time either team has shut out the other in the series
Freshman place-kicker Lee Pistor made a 36-yard field goal with 5:51 remaining in the fourth quarter and running back Willie Hamilton scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run with 32 seconds left for the Wildcats.
Arizona’s Mitch Hoopes, a Bisbee native who later played for the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, punted 11 times for an average of 45 yards per kick. ASU punted 10 times in the defensive struggle.
With less than two minutes remaining, Kush was forced to go for a first down on a fourth-and-3 situation at the ASU 36. The Wildcat defense stuffed the attempt. Arizona quarterback Bruce Hill led the Wildcats from there for the UA’s lone touchdown. The drive was aided by a personal-foul penalty on the Sun Devils.
The Wildcats defense included All-WAC selections Mike Dawson at tackle, Mark Jacobs at linebacker and Dennis Anderson at safety. Obra Erby, an All-WAC pick the following year, was a junior linebacker in 1974. An interception by Jacobs off a Dennis Sproul pass at the ASU 35, set up Pistor’s go-ahead field goal.
The countdown:
No. 25 — Arizona’s defense and Doug Pfaff’s last-second FG enough to upset sixth-ranked Oklahoma
No. 26 — UA upsets ASU from Fiesta Bowl consideration in program’s best stretch (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 27 — Trung Canidate rushes for record 288 yards and three long TDs in ’98 shootout against ASU (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 28 — UA dominates No. 3 SMU, highest ranked non-conference foe to lose to Cats (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 29 — Arizona stuns second-ranked Oregon in most significant victory in Mike Stoops era (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 30 — Arizona win on last-second FG over ASU ends Kush dominance in series (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 31 — Arizona reaches its zenith under Stoops with victory over Brigham Young in Las Vegas Bowl (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 32 — Arizona owed Cal a couple, knock Bears out of BCS title, Rose Bowl run (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 33 — Arizona’s 10-9 loss at Oregon in 1994, derailing its Rose Bowl hopes, still hurts (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 34 — ASU ripe for picking in banana uniforms for “The Streak” to reach eight (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 35 — Arizona tries risky fake PAT to beat California but loses in epic 4 overtime game (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 36 — Veal to Hill “Hail Mary” pass highlights “The Streak” reaching seven games against ASU (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 37 — USC outlasts Arizona 48-41 in one of most wild games played in Tucson (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 38 — Arizona shows signs of life under Stoops with rout over No. 7 UCLA (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 39 — Art Luppino “The Cactus Comet” rockets toward 38 yards per carry and five touchdowns (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 40 — Fumblerooski enables Arizona to sweep USC, UCLA in L.A. for first time (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 41 — Sun Devil nemesis Dan White quarterbacks Arizona into Fiesta Bowl with win over ASU (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 42 — Struggling UA gets improbable win against ’83 Pac-10 champ UCLA (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 43 — Closing chapter of “The Streak” includes Arizona’s dramatic fourth-quarter heroics (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 44 — Arizona overcomes rival Texas Tech with unfathomable late-game rally (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 45 — Dick Tomey, the Desert Fox, does a number on UCLA by changing offense in midseason (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 46 — “The Streak” reaches three games, UA achieves best Pac-10 finish (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 47 — Arizona’s first game at Arizona Stadium in 1929, a 35-0 win over Cal Tech (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 48 — Underdog Arizona’s 2011 thriller over arch-rival Arizona State (TucsonCitizen.com)
No. 49 — Arizona’s first win over arch-rival Arizona State, then known as Territorial Normal (WildAboutAZCats.net)
No. 50 — Arizona’s first win in program’s history: 22-5 over Tucson Indians (TucsonCitizen.com)
