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CATCH UP ON THE COUNTDOWN BY VISITING: ARIZONA’S TOP 100 INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Only 39 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.
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:
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Nick Foles’ 11th entry in this countdown includes consecutive number of games throwing a touchdown pass — 17, which was stretched over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
ARIZONA MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES THROWING A TOUCHDOWN PASS
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No. 39
Consecutive Games Throwing Touchdown Pass, 17, Nick Foles (from Nov. 6, 2010, to Nov. 26, 2011)
NCAA record: 46, Rakeem Cato, Marshall (from Oct. 22, 2011, to Dec. 23, 2014)
Nick Foles went through the entire 2011 season (12 games) throwing at least one touchdown pass in each game
Nick Foles played in 36 games in his collegiate career (including one as a freshman at Michigan State), and threw touchdown passes in 32 of them, highlighted by his Arizona-record 17 consecutive scoring strikes between the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
His 12-game stretch in all of his senior season of 2011 alone was one better than the previous Arizona record of 11 straight games with a touchdown pass, held by Marc Reed between the 1966 and 1967 seasons. For 44 years, that record stood until Foles completed his first touchdown pass seven games into the 2011 season against UCLA.
Willie Tuitama is third on the Arizona list with 10 straight between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Anu Solomon started his freshman season two years ago with nine straight games completing a touchdown pass.
For the record, Solomon ended last season throwing a touchdown pass over his last three games, with seven overall against USC, Utah and New Mexico. That came after a stretch in which he failed to complete a touchdown pass in three of his previous four games.
For him to top Foles’ record of 17 straight games with a touchdown pass, he must go 15 consecutive games making that happen, which would be early in his senior season. Brandon Dawkins’ play in fall camp and upcoming season may have an impact on that.
The Pac-12 does not list this record in its record book.
NICK FOLES’ 17-GAME TOUCHDOWN-PASS STREAK:
[table “” not found /]Previous Nick Foles records at Arizona listed in this countdown:
44. Most Passing Yards, Career: 10,011, Nick Foles, 2009-2011 (933 of 1396, 33 INTs, 67 TDs)
48. Most Touchdown Passes, Season: 28, 2011, tied with Willie Tuitama, 2007, and Anu Solomon, 2014
51. Most Touchdown Passes, Career: 67, 2009-11 (35 games) tied with Willie Tuitama, 2005-08 (40 games)
56. Highest Completion Percentage, Career (Min. 500 att): 66.8, 2009-11 (933 of 1396)
71. Highest Completion Percentage Season, More than 200 attempts: 69.1, 2011 (387 of 560)
77. Most Passes Completed, Season: 387, 2011 (12 games, 560 attempts)
81. Highest Completion Percentage, Game: 78.4, 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)
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.
