Top College Memories

Arizona Stadium with 50,000+ in Red!  My favorite place to play football!

This week my alma mater, THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA WILDCATS, qualified for their first football bowl game in ten years.  The 7-5 Wildcats will travel north to play in the LAS VEGAS BOWL on December 20th against BYU.  

The last time we went to a bowl, I was a wet behind the ears college freshman  in 1998.  I was red-shirting, and we finished the season with a 11-1 record, #4 National Ranking, and a 23-20 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl.  It was one of the best memories of my college career - and at that moment, I thought it was going to be like that every year.  However, a coaching change and a couple narrow misses kept us from going back, despite having a quality team with an explosive offense.

With history at the front of my mind, I began thinking about some of my best college football memories, including my own bowl experience.  Here's the Top 6 listed below:  

JASON JOHNSON'S TOP COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEMORIES

Diving into the endzone for a rare TD RUN!  I gave the guy in the background a pump-fake - he jumped - and I slipped inside for the 10 yard scamper.  Historians are still debating whether it can be described as a 'scamper.'

1. 2001 DUEL IN THE DESERT: In my first start against rival Arizona State, we jumped out to a 21 point first quarter lead and cruised to a 31-24 victory.  It was personally sweet for me because I had lost some bitter rivalry games in high school against Puyallup High School, and this proved to myself that I could 'win the big one.'  After the game, our volatile running back Clarence Farmer danced on the Sparky logo, prompting a Braveheart-esque brawl.   

J. Twice = PEACEMAKER.  (What's up with my hair?)

2. SCHOOL RECORD.  Nov 16, 2002: ARIZONA AT CAL.  In the best personal game of my career, I broke the school record for passing yards and completions by going 31 of 45 for 492 yards and 4 TDs.  It was the second-highest total in the Pac-10 that year and the seventh-best single-game performance in conference history (at the time.)

 

All White Uniforms are SICK!  My second to last game in my career turned out to be my best at Cal.

 We barely survived the shootout, winning 51-42.  Coming into the game, I was unsure if I could even play after suffering a severely sprained ankle the week before against UCLA.  However, a hit to the head in the first quarter left me forgetting about the ankle - and forgetting that I could make a mistake!  The win also capped a crazy week where 40 players went to the School President with concerns over our head coach, John Mackovic.  We gave him the game ball, but it still didn't solve all the problems.

I was in the zone against the Huskies - proving to the hometown crowd that I made the right decision to head to Arizona.

3. HOMECOMINGS: Oct 20, 2001 - Arizona at Washington.  Due to the Pac-10 scheduling gods, I got to play both my junior and senior year in my own backyard against the University of Washington.  I had seen a bunch of games at Husky Stadium growing up, although my heart was always with my grandfather's PLU Lutes down the road.  It was still an amazing feeling walking out of the tunnel and seeing 80,000 fans dressed in purple, rooting against the guy who left.  My junior year, I played my best quarter of the year, throwing 3 TDs in the first quarter before suffering a concussion on a cheap hit.  We lost on the last play of the game. 

 

Celebrating with my top target and top friend Bobby Wade after a first quarter TD.  Bobby now plays for the Minnesota Vikings.

My senior year, I was out to prove what I could do in a whole game, and threw for 414 yards and 3 TDs... but again we lost on the last play, 31-28.  Either way, they were still great times!     

Running for my life in my first real college game!

4. FIRST START: 2001 at SAN DIEGO STATE.  I returned to the site of the 1998 Holiday Bowl, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, for my first start of my college career.  That day I threw my first TD pass, got my first college win, and GOT HIT HARDER THAN I EVER HAD BEFORE IN MY LIFE - getting pinned to the hard dirt of the baseball infield.  It was a message of things to come!

 

Gotta be intense!  On the road at Wisconsin - the craziest student section on the planet.

5. Wisconsin - JUMP AROUND!  Sept 21, 2002: Arizona at Wisconsin.  Our game against Wisconsin was not memorable - we lost 31-10.  What was memorable was the experience of playing on the road in the Big 10.  The crowd in Wisconsin was OUT OF CONTROL.  People were outside tailgating at 9 am.  The student section felt at least 50,000 strong, occupying the entire curve of the endzone.

Playing in front of a different sea of red.   

On the move away from those pesky Badgers.

There was a moment towards the end of the third quarter when they called time-out.  The ball was on our own 10 yard line, backed up right against their entire student section.  Suddenly the song "JUMP AROUND" came on, and the crowd just LOST THEIR MIND.  I found a video of it (from another game) on my friend's MySpace page (Thanks C-Bass!) -- check it out:

Jump Around!

6. THE 1998 HOLIDAY BOWL CHAMPIONS: Arizona beats Nebraska in a thriller.  The Holiday Bowl is notorious for always somehow having the best played game of the bowl season.  Our year was no exception.  We took an early lead, then Nebraska bounced back.  I could not believe the size and speed of Nebraska - this was back when they were corn (aka Steriod) fed.  Newberry Park's Finest - QB Keith Smith - hit Brad Brennan (still playing in Japan) on a post-route to give us a 16-13 lead in the 3rd quarter, but Eric Crouch led the Huskers back on an 80 yard drive and a 20-16 lead.  Keeping with Coach Tomey's "KEYS TO VICTORY" - we were determined to "win the fourth quarter." Kelvin Eafon's TD run with six minutes left gave us a 23-20 lead, and our All-American Defensive Back Chris McAllister sealed the victory with a last minute interception.  Because I have a lot of time on my hands now, I went and found the clip on the internet:

The game was also memorable for two other reasons: 1) I got to share the week with family and friends; 2) My good friend Keith Smith was named MVP, and henceforth dubbed CULLIGAN MAN; and 3) LIL' RED -- THE BEST MASCOT IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!  Because I was red-shirting, I spent a lot of that game watching Nebraska's famous mascot do crazy tricks and get the crowd excited.  Go Lil' Red!

Lil' Red kicks BIG BUTT!

SO TO THE CATS OF 2008 - CHERISH THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT WILL COME AGAIN!  AND EVEN IF IT DOESN'T, BE SURE TO MAKE YOUR OWN MEMORIES ALONG THE WAY!!!

~ J. Twice