2024 Arizona football season countdown: 64 days until kickoff

To help you prepare for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson is offering a countdown, history notes, and a preview of the season — a great way to keep Arizona football top of mind during the summer months leading up to Arizona’s fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on August 31 in early Brent Brennan era.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS COUNTDOWN

A LOOK BACK – NO. 64 WARNER SMITH

With just 64 days until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 64 for Arizona is offensive lineman Warner Smit, who played with the program from 1991-94. Smith, a native of San Manuel, passed away in 2018 after battling Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) for four years. He is survived by his wife Brook and daughter Carlee. Smith was a four-year starter and senior team captain for the Wildcats during the Desert Swarm era. After beginning his career on the defensive side of the ball, Smith went on to earn two-time All-Pac-10 honors as an offensive guard. During his career, Arizona compiled a 28-18-1 overall record, appeared in three bowl games and produced the 1994 Fiesta Bowl shutout over 10th-ranked Miami to cap off the program’s first 10-win season. Another No. 64 seed worth noting – Jim Donarskia three-time All-Border Conference guard from 1950 to 1952. He was also a second-team All-American in 1952.

NO. 64 BY 2024

There are no players on the current roster with number 64.

REMARK

Top Rated Returning Big 12 Safetiespic.twitter.com/qBamO23RfI

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 25, 2024

Arizona’s top safeties are among the top players at that position in the Big 12, as rated by Pro Football Focus, and are transfers from Colgate Owen Goss And Shooter Maldonado. Goss was an All-Patriot League First Team defensive back last season. He had 115 tackles, 88 solo, two tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, three interceptions totaling 63 yards and one touchdown, two forced fumbles and three blocked kicks in his three-year career at Colgate. Maldonado set a career-high with 81 tackles (57 solo, 24 assists) last year and finished 16th in the Pac-12 in tackles. He returned a fumble 87 yards for a touchdown to earn Defensive MVP in the 2023 Alamo Bowl after defeating No. 12 Oklahoma 38-24.

They said it

Hear the stories behind some of @TMAC96795‘s favorite plays from last fall! pic.twitter.com/waDKtfaNWg

— Arizona football (@ArizonaFBall) June 23, 2024

“People don’t believe me, but I try not to go one-handed (with his catches). I only do it when I have to.” — Arizona junior WR Tetairoa McMillan of his spectacular ability to catch with one hand.

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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 is also the author of the book, The Highest Form of Living, which is available on Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is currently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.