Inside The Wildcats

Arizona All-Quarter-Century Team: Cornerbacks

Arizona football has entered its bye-week, which means we will be putting together our Arizona Wildcats On SI All-Quarter Century Team.
Troy Hutchison|
Oct 13, 2007; Los Angeles, CA; USA; Antoine Cason of Arizona (5) is tackled by Terrell Thomas of Southern California (28) on a punt return at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images
Oct 13, 2007; Los Angeles, CA; USA; Antoine Cason of Arizona (5) is tackled by Terrell Thomas of Southern California (28) on a punt return at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Arizona Wildcats

So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and have fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.

Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.

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Oct 18, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) looks to pass the ball during the third quarter against the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.

Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two-straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.

Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.

Today we are taking a look at what the four top cornerbacks would be over the last 25 years with one player at each position.

Top Cornerbacks

4. Wilrey Fontenot (2004-07)

  • As the Wildcats were trying to get back to respectably after the black hole of the John Mackovic, head coach Mike Stoops slowly built the program back up and had high-level defensive units throughout his time in Tucson.
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Nov 25, 2005; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Terry Richardson (#17) returns the kick-off across mid field as Arizona Wildcats Wilrey Fontenot (#3) makes the tackle at Sun Devil Stadium, Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Copyright Rick Scuteri | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
  • One of the better cornerbacks of that era was Wilrey Fontenot, who played in 46 games totaling 128 tackles, 96 solo tackles, three tackles for loss, five interceptions and a fumble recovered for a touchdown.

3. Devin Ross (2006-09)

  • During the Stoops’ era, Arizona was loaded on the defensive side of the ball and especially in the secondary. One of those studs was cornerback Devin Ross, who was the No. 2 CB on a loaded roster.
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Dec 20, 2008; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats cornerback Devin Ross (6), running back Nic Grigsby (50) and safety Nate Ness (32) celebrate after the Wildcats' 31-21 victory over the Brigham Young Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

During Ross’ time with the Wildcats, he played in 49 games where he recorded 154 tackles, 112 solo tackles, four tackles for loss, five interceptions, one sack and a touchdown.

2. Trevin Wade (2008-11)

The top cornerback when Arizona went to three-straight bowl games was Trevin Wade, who locked up his side of the field night in and night out for the Wildcats. During his freshman season, Wade played in 13 games and racked up four interceptions.

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Nov 28, 2009; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade (24) in coverage against the Arizona Wildcats in the first quarter at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US Presswire | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
  • During his time with the Wildcats, Wade played in 50 games, totaling 182 tackles, 138 solo tackles, 3 ½ tackles for loss and collected 12 picks with two touchdowns. He received all-conference honors twice in his career.

1.  Antoine Cason (2004-07)

During the Stoops era there were a lot of great defensive players that made it to the next leave and helped rebuild the program from the ground up. But, the one that stands out from the rest was cornerback Antoine Cason, who made an impact right from the start.

During his freshman season, Cason racked up four interceptions despite the team going 3-8 on the year.

Cason is a highly awarded player that was named a All-Pac-10 three times and a consensus All-American during the 2007 season. That year, he won the Thorpe award, which was the last time an UA player received the honor.

  • By the end of his Arizona career, Cason picked off the ball 15 times and ran three of those interceptions back to the house for touchdowns.

Please be sure to share your thoughts on our All-Quarter-Century Team top four cornerbacks ranking. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.

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Troy Hutchison
TROY HUTCHISON

Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.

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