10 memorable wins for Arizona football under Rich Rodriguez

That face led the Wildcats for six seasons and took the program to five bowl games.

Rich Rodriguez, now in his second season at West Virginia, was the face of Arizona football from 2012-17 and brought his uptempo spread offense that he popularized at WVU to the desert. Nearly a decade after he was fired by Arizona, Rodriguez is facing the Wildcats for the first time for the (unofficial) RichRod Bowl.

It’s the first time Arizona has faced one of its previous head coaches since the Wildcats played against USC and Larry Smith in 1992.

“He’s a football guy and he’s obviously a great coach,” said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. “He’s won pretty much everywhere he’s been and he’s really creative offensively.”

In his first stint at WVU, Rodriguez went 60-26 in seven seasons from 2001-07 and led the Mountaineers to four Big East championships. Brennan lauded former West Virginia star quarterback Pat White “and how different it all looked and how fast they played.”

Before West Virginia’s win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to end the 2007 season, Rodriguez left for the same role at Michigan, where he was 15-22 in three seasons.

Rodriguez replaced Mike Stoops and was hired by Arizona in 2012, leading the Wildcats to five postseason appearances and three bowl victories — and a Pac-12 South championship in 2014.

Rodriguez was fired by Arizona following the 2017 season, but quickly returned to the sidelines as an offensive coordinator at Ole Miss and head coach at Louisiana Monroe and Jacksonville State in Alabama.

Following a 27-10 record at Jacksonville State, along with West Virginia firing Neal Brown, the stars aligned for Rodriguez’s return to WVU last season, his first Power 4 head coaching gig since Arizona.

Brennan’s first in-person impression of Rodriguez was at a Nike-sponsored coaches clinic in 2012, and Rodriguez was one of the top speakers.

“First of all, he’s incredibly entertaining, so he brought the house down,” Brennan said. “This is a heavily-attended clinic. … But he also had a great way of communication and he was funny, self-deprecating and captivated the room. The football part of his talk was really, really good. I was super impressed with him and I did not know him outside of what I’ve seen from other stops in his career. … He was really impressive.”

Brennan said Rodriguez, who’s chair on the Big 12 Coaches Committee, “has always been really good to me, really friendly. He loved his time in Tucson, because every time I’ve seen him, we talk about it. This was a great experience for him. I have a ton of respect for him.”

Leading up to the battle of “Redline” versus “Hard Edge,” here’s a look at 10 memorable wins for Arizona in the Rodriguez era, in chronological order.

USC, 2012

Score: 39-36

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: USC receiver Marqise Lee set a Pac-12 record with 345 receiving yards, but the Lane Kiffin-coached Trojans committed five turnovers. Arizona quarterback Matt Scott and wide receiver Austin Hill connected for 259 of the Wildcats' 369 passing yards in the upset win.  

Colorado, 2012

Score: 56-31

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: Tucson native and two-time All-American Ka’Deem Carey rushed for 366 yards, a UA and Pac-12 single-game record, and scored five touchdowns in a blowout win over Colorado. Carey finished the season with 1,929 rushing yards, the best season in program history. The following year, Carey fell 45 yards shy of breaking his own record.

Nevada, 2012 (New Mexico Bowl)

Score: 49-48

Location: University Stadium (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

What happened: Nevada had a 17-point advantage entering the fourth quarter, and late-game heroics by quarterback Matt Scott, wide receivers Austin Hill and Tyler Slavin and linebacker Marquis Flowers, who had an interception and recovered an onside kick, lifted the Wildcats to a one-point win.

Arizona didn't lead until the final 19 seconds of the game. The New Mexico Bowl was the first part of the UA’s memorable sports day on Dec. 15, 2012, which was capped by Mark Lyons’ game-winning shot that lifted the Arizona men’s basketball team to a thrilling win over fifth-ranked Florida.

Oregon, 2013

Score: 42-16

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: On the first play from scrimmage, Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson leapt out of bounds and flipped the ball back into play, which was intercepted by freshman linebacker Scooby Wright — the first interception thrown by quarterback Marcus Mariota all season. Carey rushed for 208 yards and scored four touchdowns, passing Art Luppino for career rushing touchdowns at Arizona. The Wildcats led the fifth-ranked Ducks, 28-9, at halftime and never looked back.

Cal, 2014

Score: 49-45

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: Along with a crucial interception from cornerback Tra’Mayne Bondurant and kicker Casey Skowron’s onside kick that was recovered by the Wildcats, Arizona scored a whopping 36 points in the fourth quarter and won the game in walk-off fashion with a 47-yard Hail Mary pass from quarterback Anu Solomon to Hill, which was dubbed “Hill Mary.”

Solomon completed 47 of 73 passes (a school record) for 520 yards and five touchdowns. Arizona went on to win the Pac-12 South and lost to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship before falling to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Oregon, 2014

Score: 31-24

Location: Autzen Stadium (Eugene, Oregon)

What happened: Several weeks prior to Arizona losing to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship, the Wildcats stunned the second-ranked Ducks. Arizona was a 24-point underdog, and the Wildcats walked away from Eugene with a win — and the Oregon football Wright stripped from Mariota to seal the game.

The road triumph put Arizona at 5-0, the best start since the 12-1 season in 1998. It was Arizona’s first over a top-five opponent since it upset Oregon in 2007. The strip-sack by Wright was one of many moments in one of the best defensive seasons in program history.

Arizona State, 2014

Score: 42-35

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: Stanford beating UCLA propped up the '14 Territorial Cup game as the Pac-12 South championship, with the winner moving on to face Oregon — and go to the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Wright’s sack on the opening drive forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Anthony Lopez. UA running back Nick Wilson ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns, while Solomon had two passing touchdowns to Samajie Grant. The 11th-ranked Wildcats beat No. 13 ASU and finished the regular season 10-2 and advanced to the Pac-12 championship.  

Utah, 2015

Score: 37-30 (double overtime)

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: Solomon left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion, but backup Jerrard Randall threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nate Phillips to begin the second overtime period. The win made Arizona bowl-eligible. 

Territorial Cup, 2016

Score: 56-35

Location: Arizona Stadium

What happened: This was a double-whammy for ASU. Not only did the Sun Devils hand Arizona its only win of Pac-12 play that season, but the loss also prevented ASU from going to a bowl game. Despite a running back room depleted with injuries, Grant — receiver-converted-running back — and quarterback Brandon Dawkins, who accidentally ran over Miss Arizona on the sidelines after getting tackled out of bounds, helped the Wildcats set a school-record 511 rushing yards.

Dawkins completed just 3 of 8 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown, but had 12 rushes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Grant had 19 carries for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Arizona running back Zach Green had 126 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 rush attempts. The Wildcats scored seven touchdowns on the ground and wore down the Sun Devils in the second half.

More notably, Arizona won by three touchdowns and didn’t attempt a single pass in the second half.

Colorado, 2017

Score: 45-42

Location: Folsom Field (Boulder, Colorado)

What happened: Dual-threat quarterback Khalil Tate emerged as Arizona's starter in 2017, when he subbed in for the injured Dawkins against Colorado and rushed for 327 yards, a single-game record for an FBS player. Tate — also known as “Mr. October” — earned four straight Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in October 2017, becoming the first player in conference history to accomplish that feat. 

In three seasons, Tate completed 60 of 76 (78.9%) passes for 908 yards, rushed for 365 yards and scored 13 touchdowns against Colorado. 

After Rodriguez was fired following Tate's breakout year, the Arizona quarterback was never able to replicate similar success in offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone's system under head coach Kevin Sumlin. The Wildcats failed to make a bowl game in Tate's last two seasons under Sumlin.

Sumlin, Jedd Fisch and Brennan are Rodriguez’s successors since 2017. If Brennan coaches through the 2027 season, he’ll be the longest-tenured Arizona coach since Rodriguez.