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.

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