[tps_title]Arizona’s top five most difficult openers[/tps_title]
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Rodriguez’s season openers to this point were against Toledo, NAU and UNLV. Texas-San Antonio figures to be more fodder for Rodriguez at Arizona Stadium with most of Larry Coker’s veterans gone from last season.
Arizona coaches from the past (Miles Casteel, Bob Weber, Dick Tomey and Larry Smith) did not always have it that easy. Here’s a brief look as the top five most challenging openers:
5. UCLA in 1981 at Arizona Stadium, the Bruins winning 35-18. Poor Smitty, who lost to Colorado State at Arizona Stadium in his first opener a year previously, had to face the 12th-ranked Bruins. Conference openers as season openers are not good, especially against a highly-ranked conference opponent.
4. Michigan in 1970 at Ann Arbor, Mich., the Wolverines winning 20-9. Weber’s team put a scare into Bo Schembechler’s eighth-ranked Wolverines, trailing only 10-9 in the fourth quarter before Michigan pulled away. “I don’t know if Arizona is that good or whether we were that bad,” Schembechler was quoted as saying by the Tucson Citizen.
3. Ohio State in 1991 at Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeyes winning 38-14. The second-ranked Buckeyes ran all over Arizona the year before the Desert Swarm defense was born. Butler By’not’e rushed for 189 of Ohio State’s 325 yards on the ground. John Cooper did something he couldn’t do at ASU — beat Tomey and Arizona.
2. Notre Dame in 1941 at South Bend, Ind., the Fighting Irish winning 38-7. Casteel’s Cats trailed only 12-7 at halftime but their resiliency wore off against Frank Leahy’s Fighting Irish in the second half. Notre Dame finished with 461 total yards compared to Arizona’s 196.
1. Penn State in 1999 at State College, Pa., the Nittany Lions winning 41-7. This rout at the hands of the third-ranked Nittany Lions started Tomey’s downward spiral after reaching the peak of a 12-1 season the year before.
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