Please read our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.net

The greatest comeback loss in Arizona's football history occurred in 1972, when Utah scored 28 unanswered points after trailing 27-0 with 14:42 left in the fourth quarter (Tucson Daily Citizen, Nov. 6, 1972)

Those old enough to remember the “Snafu of ’72″ know how much of an impact the 28-27 loss at Utah on Nov. 4, 1972, had on the Arizona football program historically.

The Wildcats led 27-0 after the start of the fourth quarter and they appeared headed to a 4-0 record in the Western Athletic Conference and likely appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Embattled coach Bob Weber looked as though he could breath easier after suffering through three consecutive losing seasons to start his UA career. The Cats were turning the corner … or so it seemed before they hit a dead end.

The Utes made an improbable comeback, scoring the go-ahead touchdown and extra point with 10 seconds remaining to defeat the shell-shocked Cats.

It stands as the greatest comeback by a UA opponent in the football program’s history.

“It’s something you can’t just forget for the rest of your life,” Weber told the Tucson Daily Citizen after the game.

Arizona got its revenge, winning the next five games against Utah by an average score of nearly 41-19. But after the 1977 game, the UA’s allegiance with Utah in the WAC was no longer. The Cats moved to the more lucrative Pac-8 with larger markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Thirty-three years later, Utah is performing the same maneuver as its former WAC rivals as the Utes left the Mountain West Conference and joined Arizona and ASU as part of the Pac-10. Utah and Colorado helped form the Pac-12 this season.

Since the UA left the WAC 33 years ago, the Cats have played Utah only six times, splitting the games, including a humbling loss in the 1994 Freedom Bowl. No other defeat in Arizona’s history, however, is as humbling as the demoralizing setback to Utah in 1972. The important developments:

• UA president John Schaefer and athletic director Dave Strack were reportedly “giving out the ‘all right’ and ‘way to go’ with all the fervor of freshmen,” the Tucson Daily Citizen reported when the UA took a 27-0 lead into the fourth quarter. When the gun sounded and what was left of the 19,236 in attendance celebrated on the Utah side, Schaefer and Strack were immersed in a coaching-change controversy.
• Had Arizona held on to beat the Utes — the Cats still led 27-14 with 4:30 remaining with possession at the Utah 36 — Weber would have likely kept his job because the Wildcats would have remained unbeaten in the WAC with three straight home games against BYU, Wyoming and ASU to end the regular season.
  

  Utah quarterback Dan Van Galder (19) -- who played through an illness that kept him out of practice most of that week -- would score on a keeper with 10 seconds left to tie the 1972 game at 27. The extra point gave Utah the improbable victory (Deseret News photo reprint)

• Although the Utes had no timeouts left and the Cats faced a second-and-14, UA senior quarterback Bill Demory committed the snafu, by calling an audible for a pass instead of sticking to a fullback plunge to eat more clock. Demory’s pass was intercepted by a Utah defender, who returned it 68 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-21 with 4:19 to play.
• After forcing the UA to punt with 2:20 left, the Utes drove 72 yards for the game-winning touchdown and extra point with 10 seconds left. Weber’s team was whistled for 16 penalties compared to four against the hometown Utes, but that was no excuse. Making matters worse for Schaefer and Strack: Former UA coach Jim LaRue, who was fired in 1966 after consecutive three-win seasons, was Utah’s defensive coordinator. After the collapse, Arizona lost two of its last three games to finish 4-7 and Weber was let go.
• Jim Young, a promising Bo Schembechler assistant at Michigan, was hired and he immediately coached Arizona (with many Weber holdovers) to three consecutive records of 8-3, 9-2 and 9-2 from 1973-75. Because of this run, the Cats believed they could competitively make the jump to the Pac-8. The Young era, which probably would not have happened if Arizona saved Weber’s job with a win at Utah in 1972, was crucial to Arizona advancing its athletic program beyond the WAC at that time. Young left to Purdue after the 1976 season. The following year, Arizona accepted a move to the Pac-8 and the Wildcats competed in the Pac-10 starting in 1978.

In hindsight, was the record comeback by Utah in 1972 beneficial or detrimental to the development of the Wildcat program? Weber, bless his soul, tried all he could to get Arizona to the 1972 Fiesta Bowl. At least he realized that many of his players helped Young be successful and direct the UA toward the Pac-10.

The turn of events in that landmark 1972 game ironically gave the Cats the momentum they may have needed for greener pastures. Weber knew all about the ramifications of momentum.

“I don’t want to bore you guys with the word, but ‘Momentum’ is a word that I’ve learned to really spell,” Weber told reporters a day after the collapse against Utah.

The Salt Lake Tribune proclaims simply yet boldly, “Touchdown!” concerning Utah’s likely acceptance to join the Pac-10 (which will become the Pac-12 in 2012).

Utah is expected to accept the invite at a Board of Trustees meeting at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. A press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m.

An editorial in the Salt Lake City newspaper states: “To join the Pac-10, the self-proclaimed and undisputed ‘Conference of Champions’ is to find the Holy Grail for Utah. The benefits are so numerous that a list is in order.”

The most impressive benefit is increased revenue. As a member of the Mountain West Conference, Utah received just $1.2 million last year in television revenue. Pac-10 teams earn $8 million-$10 million, and that figure will increase as the conference negotiates a new TV deal.

ESPN displayed Utah’s football record vs. Pac-10 opponents and Arizona stuck out like a sore thumb. The Utes are 19-15-2 against the Wildcats. Utah has won the last two meetings, most recently at home in 2005.

The UA men’s hoops team also has a losing record against Utah (20-28), including a 76-51 loss that Mike Bibby and Miles Simon would rather forget in the 1998 NCAA West Regional final that denied the Cats a chance to repeat as national champions.

UA coach Mike Stoops, who has a history of playing in frigid conditions while at Iowa, admired how his team handled freezing temperatures heading into the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl

If you want to watch an Arizona-Utah football game at Salt Lake City in mid-November starting in 2012, bring along your parka, scarf and gloves and plan on still shivering.

The Pac-10 will considerably be colder with the addition of Colorado and potentially Utah. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average temperature in Salt Lake City in November is 39 degrees with snowfall traditionally about 7 inches in that month as well.

The mean temperature in Boulder in November is 41.4 degrees with an average snowfall of 11.1 inches.

One benefit: UA fans who like to ski can now do that around Wildcat football games scheduled in Boulder and Salt Lake City. Snowfall has been recorded as early as September in both cities, especially in the mountain ranges nearby.

The weather in Pullman, Wash., for November games at Washington State is similar (with a mean temperate of 37), but the cold-weather months there are generally wet, not snowy. The same goes for games that month at Washington (45.7 degree mean temperature), Oregon (46.1) and Oregon State (45.8).

For the record, the average temperature in Tucson in November is 58.7 degrees. So when the Wildcats practice for games at Boulder and Salt Lake City in November, they must mentally prepare for temperatures that are generally 20 degrees colder than what they are accustomed to that month.

Just the idea of snowfall for an Arizona football game sounds foreign, but the Wildcats have a history of playing in snowy conditions at Utah in November during their WAC years from 1962-77. The Wildcats split two games when playing in Salt Lake City in November, winning 16-15 in a heavy snowfall in 1968 and losing 28-27 (after leading 27-0 in the fourth quarter) in 1972.

This is a Tucson Daily Citizen picture of Arizona's 16-15 win over Utah in Salt Lake City on Nov. 16, 1968. The caption refers to former UA reserve quarterback Bruce Lee, who engineered a fourth-quarter comeback in a heavy snowfall

The 1972 loss was staged in 40-degree temperatures, but the 1968 victory was played in a steady snowfall. The UA, 8-3 and Sun Bowl participants that season, trailed Utah 15-0 entering the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Bruce Lee (not the famed martial-arts actor) threw two touchdown passes and sophomore place-kicker Steve Hurley made a 27-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to give the UA the 16-15 win.

Citizen sports reporter Dave Spriggs wrote this account: “With approximately four minutes remaining, a group of children put the finishing touches on a ‘Go Utah’ message written in the snow at the south end of the stadium. At about the same time Arizona’s Frank Jenkins, suffering from numbness in his legs, brought on from standing in ankle deep slush on the sidelines, separated Utah’s Ray Groth from the football and Tom Cooley recovered for the Cats.”

Jenkins’ caused fumble led to one of Lee’s touchdown passes. If the 1968 Wildcats can win in the snow, so can the 2012 Wildcats and beyond, playing against Colorado or Utah.

When Arizona practiced for the Las Vegas Bowl in 2009 the Wildcats were greeted by frigid temperatures and snow. UA coach Mike Stoops was pleased with the way the UA mentally handled those preparations in weather conditions uncommon in Tucson.

“I like what our kids are doing,” Stoops told reporters before Arizona played BYU that week in the Las Vegas Bowl. “It was a little bad out there, but I thought we got a lot of good work in today. For us, it’s just different. For our kids it’s new to them to see this type of weather. I thought we handled it well and if that’s the way it is Saturday night, then we should be acclimated.”

Snow did not fall but conditions were frigid with temperatures in the 30s when Arizona beat No. 17 BYU 31-21. The Cougars were more acclimated to that type of game-day temperature but it did not show as Willie Tuitama passed for 325 yards.

Arizona has the history of performing well in cold weather, so maybe it’s more of an adjustment for its fans. How many times do you get to bundle up in Tucson anyway? Have some fun with this.