Arizona Football Talk: Looking Back to the 80s

Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years with his coverage spanning all-across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.

Throughout its history, Arizona football has seen many ups and downs with the program making 22 bowl games and recording four 10-win seasons. In 1998, the Wildcats finished with a school-record 12 wins capped off with a 23-20 win over Nebraska.

Friday night in Tucson was a Wildcats brawl as Arizona (3-0, 1-0) faced off against Kansas State in the final non-conference game of the regular season. UA started off hot jumping out to an impressive 17-3 lead over KSU but a few missed field goals and holding calls caused the team some points right before half.

Despite the great first half, Arizona saw its lead vanish fast with KSU (1-3, 0-2) breaking off a 75-yard touchdown run and then scoring another touchdown after a blocked punt. From that point on, it was a defensive grinder with UA prevailing 23-17 over Kansas State.

One of the most important drives of the game came in the fourth quarter with just over 12 minutes when UA marched 58 yards down field eating up 7:30 of the clock on 14 plays but had to settle for a 41-yard made field goal by Michael Salgado-Medina to put the team up by six points.

Although it wasn’t pretty, Arizona controlled the line of scrimmage by racking up 235 yards rushing on 43 carries. Leading the charge for the Wildcats was running back Ismail Mahdi, who totaled 189 yards while averaging 8.6 yards per rushing attempt.

Not only was it a successful night for the Wildcats, but the team sported the classic red block “A” helmets for the first time since the 1980s.

In honor of the throwback uniforms, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have put together our top five players of the 80s that wore the classic logo.

Top Five Player of the 1980s

5. Max Zendejas (1982-85)

The golden standard of Arizona kickers is “Mad” Max Zendejas, who in his first season became an Arizona legend during a road game at No. 9 Notre Dame with things knotted up at 13 apiece. Zendejas hit a game-winning 52-yard field goal as time expired to upset the Irish.

Overall, Zendejas hit 77 career field goals and ended his time at UA hitting 74% of his field goal attempts.

Not only was Zendejas a pest to Notre Dame, he was an ASU killer. Against the in-state rival Arizona State, he hit game-winning kicks during the 1983 season and then again in 1985, cementing himself as a hero and legend among Arizona faithful.

4. David Adams (1983-86)

Arizona has had many great running backs throughout the years but in the 1980s there was no one better than David Adams, who totaled 2,436 yards in his career where he started in 3-straight seasons.

However, Adams’ best season came in his senior year where he became the first WIldcat to lead the Pac-10 in rushing where he racked up 1,175 yards on 238 rushes averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Overall, Adams stacked up 15 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown while totaling 2,697 yards of total offense.

3. Byron Evans (1983-86)

When talking about Arizona football in the 80s one of the first names that comes to mind was linebacker Byron Evans, who was a recruit out of South Mountain High School in Phoenix and wasn’t even recruited by ASU.

Evans is second all-time in career tackles with 552 recorded for an average of 138 tackles per season. The most in a single season came in 1986 where he racked up 196 tackles.

During his career, Evans was a four-year letterman that was named first team All-Pac-10 in 1985 and 1986. In his senior season, he was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

2.  Chuck Cecil (1984-87)

When talking about the greatest Arizona players of all-time and not just at a single position, the name Chuck Cecil is always brought up and must come about, or it's just not an accurate conversation.

The College Football Hall of Fame player was the face of the program known for his gritty play and hardnose hitting. Cecil was a two-time Jim Thorpe Award finalist,a two-time All-Pac-10 First Team player,  the 1987 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year winner, an All-American the same year. 

The list goes on and on with his honors, awards and accomplishments. 

Cecil managed to record a program-record 21 career interceptions to go along with 38 pass breakups and 392 total tackles. His legacy moment came against in-state rival ASU where he picked off Jeff Van Raaphorst for a 106-yard touchdown return, which still stands as a school record.

1.  Ricky Hunley (1980-83)

If Evans was a name that people needed to know in the 80s in Tucson, linebacker Ricky Hunley was the face of Arizona football and you could argue as the greatest player in the history of the program.

The four-year letterman Hunley recorded a program-record 566 tackles averaging 141 ½ tackles each year. His best season came in 1983 where he collected 176 tackles.

In his career, Hunley snagged 12 interceptions. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, two-time All-American and was Co-Defensive Player of the Year during the 1983 season with Cal linebacker Ron Rivera.