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CATCH UP ON THE COUNTDOWN BY VISITING: ARIZONA’S TOP 100 INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Only 71 days separate us from the start of Rich Rodriguez’s fifth season, when the Arizona Wildcats football team plays Brigham Young on Sept. 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
As is customary on this Web site, we will count down the days with an interesting element associated with each day. This year the topic is the top 100 individual records in Arizona’s storied football past.
Compiling the list was no easy task, but it was feasible to do with the information provided in the record books by the Arizona media relations department, and we appreciate that.
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Nick Foles completed 69.1 percent of his passes as a senior in 2011, an Arizona record for a quarterback with 200 or more attempts in a season.
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In past years, we have counted down the top games and highlighted players and some of the top plays in Arizona Wildcats football history. A couple of years ago in our top 100 countdown, we showcased the 1914 team that was responsible for Arizona becoming the “Wildcats”.
Back to this year’s countdown of the top 100 individual records in the 117 years of Arizona football:
No. 71
Highest Completion Percentage Season, More than 200 attempts: 69.1, Nick Foles, 2011 (560 attempts, 387 completions, 14 interceptions, 4,334 yards, 28 touchdowns)
Yet another Arizona record for Nick Foles with more to come.
This is now Nick Foles’ sixth entry in the Arizona Wildcats individual records ranking and he will have some more.
The others to date in our Arizona Wildcats football ranking:
77. Most Passes Completed, Season: 387, Nick Foles, 2011 (12 games, 560 attempts)
81. Highest Completion Percentage, Game: 78.4, Nick Foles, vs. Stanford, Oct. 17, 2009 (40 of 51)
82. Fewest Passes Had Intercepted (Pct. of Attempts), Career (500 att): 2.36 percent, 2009-11 (33 in 1,396 attempts)
91. Most Pass Completions, career: 933, 2009-11
97. Total Offense in Career — 9,712 yards, 2009-11 (10,111 passing/-290 rushing/-9 receiving)
At No. 75 in this countdown, Keith Smith’s pass completion record with attempts between 100 and 199 was listed. Smith completed 68.5 percent of his 165 passes in 1998.
Foles, executing Arizona’s pass-oriented offense efficiently, had a better percentage of 69.1 attempting 560 passes in 2011. Completing almost seven out of 10 passes is phenomenal especially because Foles was not very mobile and he often felt the heat from opposing defensive linemen.
His toughness and determination complemented his passing ability.
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
