2014 Arizona Wildcats football team


The 2014 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season was the Wildcats's 115th overall, 37th as a member of the Pac-12 Conference and its fourth within the Pac-12 South Division. The team was led by head coach Rich Rodriguez, in his third year, and played its home games at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona for the 86th straight year.
They ultimately finished 10–4, achieving the second 10-win regular season in program history. The Wildcats won the Pac-12 South Division for the first time, advancing to the Pac-12 Football Championship Game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where they faced the Oregon Ducks. The Wildcats played in the first year of the New Year's Six bowls, netting a berth in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, the school's third major-bowl appearance, where they faced the Boise State Broncos. Arizona lost the game to Boise State, 38–30.

Previous season

The Arizona Wildcats finished the 2013 regular season with an record. They were invited to the 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl, where they faced the Boston College Eagles. The Wildcats defeated Boston College, 42-19.

Departures

Before the season

Top returning players

Offense
PlayerClassPosition
Anu SolomonRS FreshmanQuarterback
Jesse ScrogginsRS SeniorQuarterback
Terris Jones-GrigsbyRS SeniorRunning Back
Nate PhillipsSophomoreReceiver
Samajie GrantSophomoreReceiver
Johnny JacksonJuniorReceiver
David RichardsJuniorReceiver
Austin HillSeniorReceiver
Steven GurrolaSeniorCenter
Fabbians EbbeleSeniorOffensive Line
Mickey BaucusSeniorOffensive Line
Cayman BundageJuniorOffensive Line

Defense
PlayerClassPosition
Jonathan McKnightSeniorCornerback
Devin HolidaySophomoreCornerback
Jourdon GrandonSeniorSafety
Jared TevisSeniorSafety
Tra'Mayne BondurantSeniorSafety
William ParksJuniorSafety
Scooby WrightSophomoreLinebacker
Sir Thomas JacksonJuniorLinebacker
Hank HobsonSeniorLinebacker
Reggie GilbertSeniorDefensive Lineman
Dan PettinatoSeniorDefensive Lineman
Dwight MelvinSophomoreDefensive Lineman

Special teams
PlayerClassPosition
Drew RigglemanJuniorPunter
Casey SkowronJuniorKicker

Arrivals

Spring football

On April 12, 2014, Arizona capped off its spring football camp with a scrimmage at Arizona Stadium which was open to the public.

Recruiting class

Preseason awards watchlists

Overall awards

Offensive
Maxwell Award – College Football Player of the Year *Austin Hill
Walter Camp Award – Player of the Year *Austin Hill
Biletnikoff Award – College Football Player of the Year *Austin Hill

Defensive awards

Defensive
Bronko Nagurski Trophy – Most Outstanding Defensive Player *Jared Tevis

Regular season

Schedule

Personnel

Roster

Depth chart

Source:
On April 12, 2014, the Wildcats will play the White and Navy Blue game, the program's annual spring game. Arizona plays seven of twelve regular season games at home: two of three non-conference games and five of nine in Pac-12 play. For the second-straight year the Cats face neither Stanford nor Oregon State.

Game summaries

UNLV Rebels

at UTSA Roadrunners

Nevada Wolfpack

California

In their first home conference game of the regular season the Wildcats faced off against Cal. The game became known for the "Hill Mary" play that ended and won the game for Arizona.

at #2 Oregon Ducks

USC Trojans (Family Weekend)

at Washington State Cougars

at #25 UCLA Bruins

Colorado Buffaloes ([Homecoming game])

Washington Huskies

at #20 Utah Utes

#13 Arizona State Sun Devils ([Territorial Cup])/(Senior night">Senior day">Senior night)

#3 Oregon Ducks (Pac-12 Championship Game)

#21 Boise State Broncos (2014 Fiesta Bowl">2014 Fiesta Bowl (December)">2014 Fiesta Bowl)

Statistics

Team

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Scores by quarter (all opponents)

Scores by quarter (Pac-12 opponents)

Rankings

Postseason

Awards

Pac-12 Conference Awards

Reference:

Team Awards

Reference:

All-American Teams

All-Americans

Scooby Wright III
The Wildcats saw 10 of its players honored as members of the 2014 Pac-12 All-Conference team. The first team had one such honoree, while the second team had two. Seven other Cats would land Honorable Mention status.

NCAA Academic All-Americans

Pac-12 Conference All-Academic Players

The Wildcats had six players selected to the Pac-12 Conference All-Academic Team. One player garnered first team honors, while two players landed on the second team, the Wildcats had 3 players granted honorable mention. In order to be eligible for the academic team a player must maintain a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and play in at least 50 percent of their team's games.
Reference:

Records Broken

Player of the Week

Anu Solomon
Cayleb Jones
Terris Jones-Grigsby
Austin Hill
Samajie Grant
Nate Phillips
Nick Wilson
Steven Gurrola
Parker Zellers
Dan Pettinato
Jared Tevis
Scooby Wright III
Davonte' Neal
Tyrell Johnson
Jourdon Grandon
Drew Riggleman
Casey Skowron

Radio