We are now only 59 days until the Arizona Wildcats kick off their 2018 season under new coach Kevin Sumlin.

When Arizona hosts BYU on Sept. 1, it will mark the 40th anniversary since the Wildcats joined the Pac-12 (went from the Pac-8 to the Pac-10 then) and also the 20th anniversary of the 1998 team with the best record in school history, 12-1, and the 25th anniversary of the 1993 team that went 10-2 with a win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

To get ready for the upcoming season, All Sports Tucson offers another countdown, which will include memories from former Wildcats, history notes and a look ahead to the season. Think of it as a way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against the Cougars marking the start of the Sumlin Era.

To catch up on the countdown click on this: Arizona Wildcats 2018 countdown to kickoff.

A look back

— With it being the 59th day until kickoff, the best player to wear No. 59 for Arizona? That would be linebacker Ransom Terrell, an Amphi High School grad who twice earned All-WAC honors. Terrell was only 190 pounds when he first started as sophomore and he finished his career at only 215 pounds, yet he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1974.

Ransom Terrell started his career wearing No. 55 for Arizona but finished wearing No. 59.

Terrell relocated to Las Vegas in 1977 and was a long-time employee of the Clark County School District, working as the purchasing/warehousing coordinator. He passed away at age 60 in 2012.

A look ahead

Wearing No. 59 for Arizona this season is redshirt freshman My-King Johnson, who hails from Tempe High School. He had 22 sacks, 19 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles and 90 total tackles as a senior. Johnson made headlines last year when he became college football’s first openly gay scholarship athlete.

Arizona’s All-Name List

Ransom Terrell and My-King Johnson share No. 59 in the Arizona football program. They also have two of the more notable names in Wildcat history. Here’s a list of some others who belong on Arizona’s All-Name List:

Cleveland Crosby
Gerhard de Beer
“Button” Salmon
Marquis Flowers
Syndric Steptoe
Scooter Sprotte
Dolphin Tillman
Scooby Wright III
Sir Thomas Jackson

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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.

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