"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Utah’s record comeback set in motion historic change for Cats

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

By Javier Morales

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 are expected to leave the Mountain West Conference on Thursday and officially join Arizona and ASU as part of the Pac-10. Utah will likely start competing, along with recently added Colorado, in the Pac-12 starting in 2012.

Please read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com to learn more about why Utah’s historic comeback impacted the future of UA football

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Corso “coming to your cit-ay” once again

By Javier Morales

When Lee Corso presumably puts on the Wilbur the Wildcat mascot head — can you imagine the uproar otherwise? — Saturday morning by Old Main he might finally feel what it’s like to be appreciated in Tucson.

Lee Corso strapped on this helmet with Florida State back in his playing days as a teammate of Burt Reynolds. Will he strap on Wilbur the Wildcat’s head on the GameDay set Saturday morning?

If you think Corso is entirely fond of Tucson, I must tell you: Not so fast, my friend.

Thirty-six years ago, Corso brought his Indiana team to town and was beaten soundly by quarterback Bruce Hill and the Cats 26-10. A year later, the UA traveled to Bloomington, Ind., and won easily 35-20 en route to a 5-0 start and 9-2 record overall.

“They beat the crap out of me,” Corso told Ryan Finley of The Arizona Daily Star in Friday’s edition. “They outran me, they had speed, they had everything. They tore us every way but loose. I don’t remember what the score was, but it was embarrassing.”

Corso, 72, was the hotshot young coach who elevated Louisville’s football program to prominence from 1969-72 when he took over the Hoosier program. Arizona coach Jim Young and his team helped Corso start his career 2-9 and 1-10 at Indiana in 1973 and 1974, respectively.

Ironically, Corso was a possibility to coach Arizona in 1973 after the Wildcats let go of Bob Weber after four losing seasons. Instead of going after Corso, Arizona hired Young, the defensive coordinator at Michigan, in 1973. Young coached only four years at Arizona, compiling a 31-13 record, before he returned to the Big Ten to Purdue, where he would coach against Corso annually for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Young went 3-2 against Corso before resigning as Purdue coach to become the associate athletic director of the school.

One more tidbit about Corso and Arizona — a significant one in the realm of the recent development of the Wildcats: Who can forget the time former coach John Mackovic was interviewed on College Gameday after a player revolt near the end of his turbulent time at Arizona?

Corso, college football’s answer to Dick Vitale, told Mackovic to tell everyone at the UA to shove it if they didn’t like the way he coaches. Mackovic resigned shortly thereafter, midseason 2003, and Mike Stoops was hired after that season. Essentially, the UA unfortunately had to tell Mackovic to shove it, and the Cats are better off today because of that.

Now on to some facts you may not know about the Oregon-Arizona game Saturday (none that include mindless Duck facts, such as a duck’s quack does not echo — or does it? Anybody care to put our mind to ease about that?):
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