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CATCH UP ON THE COUNTDOWN BY VISITING: ARIZONA’S TOP 100 INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Only 78 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.
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Michael Jolivette’s 56 passes defended in his career (passes broken up and interceptions) ranks sixth in the NCAA record books.
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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.
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. 78
Passes broken up, career: 44, Michael Jolivette, cornerback, 2000-03
NCAA record: 61, Nathan Vasher, Texas, 2000-03
Michael Jolivette‘s 44 passes broken up in his career tops the Arizona list with Chuck Cecil next at 38.
Michael Jolivette is a forgotten name in Arizona football history but he has a place among the defensive back greats at the school such as Chuck Cecil, Chris McAlister, Darryll Lewis and Antoine Cason. Jolivette’s 44 passes broken up in his career tops all at Arizona with 34 of them coming in his first two seasons of 2000 and 2001. A knee injury sidelined him most of his junior season and opposing quarterbacks avoided throwing his way his senior season, although he still registered a team-high six that year.
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.
