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. 2 as the kickoff to the Wildcats’ season — and the start of the Rich Rodriguez era — is only two days away.

SCORE: No. 12 Arizona Wildcats 16, No. 1 Washington Huskies 3

DATE: November 7, 1992

SITE: Arizona Stadium, 58,510 in attendance

WHY IT MADE THE LIST: The definitive voice of college football broadcasts — Keith Jackson — punctuated the ABC-TV telecast of Arizona’s dominating 1992 win over No. 1 Washington this way:

“And now you know why they play the games …”

But was the one-sided victory really an upset?

“I don’t think it was an upset,” Arizona coach Dick Tomey said after the game. “We expected to win.”

Another translation to Jackson’s comment: Washington had to play Arizona to realize how suffocating the Desert Swarm defense — a phenomenon in college football at the time — can be to an opponent’s offense. Considering Arizona’s four-game winning streak entering the game after a near-upset of No. 1 Miami on the road, and the way the Wildcats shut down the Huskies, was anybody surprised the UA won?

Washington was ranked No. 1 with an incredible 22-game winning streak, but anybody who followed college football closely that season knew Arizona belonged on the same field. The Desert Swarm was No. 1 in the nation against the run and No. 4 overall.

“I’ve never been more confident going into a game,” Tomey said.

This statement coming from a coach whose team less than two months earlier tied an Oregon State club that finished 1-9-1. Washington beat its first eight opponents in 1992 by an average margin of 20.1 points. The Huskies annihilated the Wildcats 54-0 the previous season in Seattle. Still, the Wildcats believed they were the better team and who could argue?

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Note: Lamont “MoMo” Jones is the first regular starter to transfer from the Arizona program since Ruben Douglas left for New Mexico during the 1999-2000 season. Douglas started 14 games in 1998-99 and was labeled a returning starter until Gilbert Arenas took over the starting role.

The snapshot of Lamont “MoMo” Jones’ brief Arizona career, in my opinion, was not his 27-point heroic performance at Cal this season or his buzzer-beater at Stanford as a freshman.

Former Arizona guard Lamont Jones will take his leadership qualities to the East coast in 2012-13 (US Presswire photo/Gary A. Vasquez)

It was his demeanor in the Arizona locker room after Washington’s Isaiah Thomas nailed a game-winning jump shot over him as time expired in the Pac-10 tournament championship on March 12 in Los Angeles. The 77-75 overtime loss to the Huskies was hard enough to bear, but Jones also had one of his worst performances as a Wildcat.

Jones committed more turnovers (three) than he converted field goals (only one in a 1-of-8 afternoon).

He took it like a man. He did not hide from reporters. He did not offer one-word answers. He did not sulk. His eyes were not red from tears. I know this because he looked at me and other reporters in the eye. He spoke with conviction that he and his teammates would use the bitter loss as a springboard for the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats reached the Elite Eight thanks in part to Jones’ 16-point performance (14 in the pivotal second half) in the Sweet 16 rout of Duke. Jones tallied six assists without a turnover in 28 minutes.

Arizona freshman sensation point guard Josiah Turner, who is bound to fill Jones’ spot in the starting lineup, should follow Jones’ lead in terms of being a leader by looking adversity in the eye. Arizona’s greatest — Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr among them — never ducked a hard moment.

Jones is no different. He is by no means the second-coming of Mike Bibby, but his leadership qualities do not take a backseat to most. Jones’ fiery, take-no-bull personality will be missed by the Wildcats. It’s a far cry from early in his freshman season, when UA coach Sean Miller benched him for complaining about playing time.

He matured mentally as much as Derrick Williams progressed physically in their two-year Arizona careers.

With Jones’ pending transfer to a school closer to his New York City home, Arizona just became decidedly younger and more wide-eyed.

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