We are now only 54 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 54th day until kickoff, the best player to wear No. 54 for Arizona? That would be linebacker Donnie Salum, whose career flourished in 1988 and 1989 after he was a walk-on.
A look ahead
Wearing No. 54 now is redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Bryson Cain, who redshirted in 2016 and did not get snaps last season.
Bryson Cain
They tweeted it
Linebacker Tony Fields II is one of three returning tacklers in the Pac-12 South who tallied at least 100 tackles last season. His 104 tackles are slightly ahead of Arizona’s career leader in tackles, Ricky Hunley. Hunley had 566 tackles from 1980-83. He had 96 as a freshman. He then had 121 as a sophomore, 173 as a junior and 176 as a senior.
Pac-12 Football – Top Returning Tackler for each South Team by 2017 Tackles
119 Drew Lewis, Colorado
112 Cameron Smith, USC
104 Tony Fields II, Arizona
85 Adarius Pickett, UCLA
59 Chase Lucas, ASU
51 Chase Hansen, Utah pic.twitter.com/j657OQ4XJz— SportsPac12 (@SportsPac12) July 8, 2018
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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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