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. 28 as the kickoff to the Wildcats’ season — and the start of the Rich Rodriguez era — is only 28 days away.

SCORE: Arizona Wildcats 28, No. 3 Southern Methodist Mustangs 6

DATE: Oct. 5, 1985

SITE: Arizona Stadium, 52,114 in attendance

WHY IT MADE THE LIST: This one would be ranked higher on this list if Southern Methodist was not on probation, banned from a bowl that season (in which if finished 6-5). In fact, the Mustangs were on probation five separate times between 1974 and 1985. The Mustangs had plenty of talent in 1985, with players such as five-year NFL running back Reggie Dupard, when the Wildcats pulled off the upset. But we later discovered that some of that talent, including allegedly Dupard, was paid under the table as part of a slush fund and SMU was sentenced to the “Death Penalty” by the NCAA in 1987 and 1988, unable to field a football team those seasons.

Nevertheless, Arizona’s rout of SMU is certainly one for the history books for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, ranked No. 3 in the AP poll entering the game, remain the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to lose to the Wildcats. The 22-point differential is the most for the Wildcats against a ranked non-conference foe in the program’s history.

Arizona quarterback Alfred Jenkins uncorked what was a dormant offense with three touchdown passes in the upset victory. The Wildcats scored three touchdowns during an 11-minute span in the second quarter to go ahead 21-6. The Mustangs, who entered the game with the nation’s longest win streak of eight games, could never get off the canvas.

Arizona had scored only five touchdowns in its four previous games. SMU had averaged 45.5 points in its first two games in victories over UTEP and TCU. The Wildcat defense clamped down on SMU’s heralded offense, which came into the game as the nation’s total offense leader, second in rushing and third in scoring.

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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. 42 as the kickoff to the Wildcats’ season — and the start of the Rich Rodriguez era — is only 42 days away.

SCORE: Arizona Wildcats 27, UCLA Bruins 24

DATE: Nov. 12, 1983

SITE: Arizona Stadium, 42,640 in attendance

WHY IT MADE THE LIST: Arizona’s dream start of 1983 — 4-0 and ranked No. 3 in the nation — turned into a nightmare by the time red-hot UCLA came to Tucson for the 10th game of that season. The Wildcats, derailed in Week Five by a 33-33 tie at Cal, in which the Golden Bears rallied from a 26-3 deficit in the second half, lost three consecutive games before they played the Bruins in this classic. Arizona fans became restless with head coach Larry Smith, although the Wildcats lost those three consecutive games by a total of only 19 points to Oregon, Stanford and No. 20 Washington. A crowd of only 42,640 showed up for the 10:30 a.m. kickoff, scheduled that early to accomodate the national television broadcast on CBS.

Those who attended were thankful they did not stay home because the finish was as good and improbable as any that has occurred at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats survived against a UCLA team quarterbacked by Rick Neuheisel that had won five straight games (after starting the season 0-3-1) and needed only a tie to punch its ticket to the Rose Bowl. Arizona wide receiver Jay Dobyns caught an 8-yard pass from Tom Tunnicliffe for the decisive touchdown with 61 seconds left, and UCLA All-American place-kicker John Lee — impeccable from within 40 yards — missed wide right on a 37-yard field goal attempt and a chance to tie the score on the final play of the game. Lee continues to hold the NCAA record for made field goals within 40 yards — 54 out of 56 (96.4 percent).

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This is the first of a three-part recap of Arizona’s nine victories against AP Top 10 teams who have traveled to Tucson. The 24th-ranked Wildcats host No. 9 Iowa on Saturday, marking the first non-conference top 10 team to play in Tucson since No. 2 Miami, Fla., beat the Cats 36-9 on Oct. 26, 1991.

Arizona 23, No. 2 UCLA 17 (Nov. 1, 1980 — 42,876 attendance)

To see a YouTube video of this game, visit our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.com

Arizona’s first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll in Tucson was against No. 2 UCLA — or better yet, No. 1 1/2 UCLA — on Nov. 1, 1980.

Top-ranked Alabama lost earlier that day to Mississippi State, paving the way for the Bruins (6-0 at the time) to be the No. 1 team in the nation if they beat the down-but-not-out Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. UCLA heard about Alabama’s loss during halftime of its game in Tucson.

Arizona entered the game 2-4 and losers of three straight, two of which were against two other No. 2 teams — USC and Notre Dame — when they rolled through Tucson.

Instead of being another round of fodder against the Bruins, the Cats achieved perhaps their most significant win in school history at Arizona Stadium, especially considering the circumstances.

When the Cats upset No. 1-ranked Washington in 1992 — arguably the top victory in Tucson — they were in the midst of a five-game winning streak. In addition to the three-game losing streak in 1980, the Cats, trying to rectify a sputtering offense, started freshman quarterback Tom Tunnicliffe against UCLA.

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