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>> Greg Hansen columns at Arizona Daily Star
>> Steve Rivera blogs at Fox Sports Arizona
SEPTEMBER 25, 1931
Fred Enke Sr. (his Pima County Sports Hall of Fame plaque shown here) coached the UA football team for one season in 1931, which also happened to be the year that the Wildcats played their first night game at Arizona Stadium.
The first night game at Arizona Stadium was forgettable as far as the final score, as San Diego State defeated the Wildcats 8-0 in what was the season-opener on a Friday night. Arizona, coached by Fred Enke Sr. in his only year with the football program, did not advance the ball past San Diego State’s 38-yard line in the game. The Wildcats also mustered only six first downs.
Most of the talk before the game was not about the game being played under the lights. It centered around Enke, who coached the Wildcat basketball program for 37 years from 1925-1961, ordering secret practices so changes in the Wildcats’ offensive schemes from the previous season would not be revealed. As it turned out, that did not matter because the UA’s offense could not produce against the Aztecs.
The Associated Press reported that week that Arizona’s starting offensive unit had eight returners and the 11 players averaged 180 pounds, as if that was an incredible amount.
Other September 25 happenings of note:
— Former Arizona defensive lineman Earl Mitchell, now a nose tackle with the Houston Texans, turns 25 today.
Site publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner
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