3 Days Till Wildcats Kickoff: Most Notable No. 3
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The countdown continues as we are getting closer to the start of the season. Arizona is just three days away from the season opener against Hawaii.
Throughout this week, we will continue to take a look back at some of the top players in Arizona football history by jersey number as we inch closer towards the start of the season for the Wildcats.
We continue with former Arizona free safety Tony Bouie, who played with the Wildcats from 1990-94.
It only took three games into his redshirt freshman season for Bouie to earn the starting free safety role at Arizona.
His huge senior campaign in Tucson led him to be named the ninth consensus All-America selection in Arizona program history in 1994. Bouie was also a first-team selection by Walter Camp and the American Football Coaches Association. His 54 tackles, five pass deflections and interception that year resulted in him being named a finalist for the Football News Defensive Player of the Year that season.
Bouie played a pivotal role in Arizona’s "Desert Swarm" defense during these years, including coming away with six interceptions as a junior in 1993. This era remains one of the top and most memorable defensive teams in Arizona football history, as well as nationwide at the time and in the history of college football.
His 1993 season helped Arizona finish with a 10-2 record and eventually win the Fiesta Bowl, where the Wildcats defeated the Miami Hurricanes 29-0. It was the only shutout in the bowl games' history.
In his final two seasons with Arizona, Bouie was a first-team All-Pac-10 player. He totaled 13 interceptions across his four years with the Wildcats.
Bouie also played for Arizona’s baseball team and was on the Wildcats' Pac-10 championship baseball teams in 1992-93.
He was inducted into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and is also a member of the Arizona Ring of Honor.
He later played in the 1995 East-West Shrine game. He was not selected in the NFL Draft that year, but signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.
He spent four seasons with the Buccaneers, where he made four starts across 57 total career appearances. He totaled 46 combined tackles with one interception, four pass deflections, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery during his time in the NFL.
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Ari Koslow is a sports writer covering the University of Arizona athletics at On SI. Koslow has been covering Arizona sports for several years. Born and raised in Seattle, he is a diehard Seahawks fan and a longtime sufferer of the Mariners. He is a huge fantasy football fanatic. Koslow is a graduate of Arizona’s School of Journalism.