7 Days Till Arizona Football: Looking Back at Legendary UA Quarterback

Arizona is now seven days away from kicking off the 2025 season with the Wildcats having a showdown against Hawaii.

Arizona QB Willie Tuitama versus Washington State in a 59-28 win on the road in Pullman. Tuitama threw for 214 yards while going 11-of-14 with one passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. | Arizona Athletics

The countdown continues as we are now officially in the single digits range till the start of the season. Arizona is just seven days away from the season opener against Hawaii.

Over the next 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 quarterback Willie Tuitama who played with the Wildcats from 2005-08.

Tuitama appeared in just five games as a freshman after he had planned to redshirt, starting four of them where he threw for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Despite only appearing in five games, he earned honorable mention Freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News.

#7 UCLA vs Arizona (2005) pic.twitter.com/tdA05GJBJN

— College Football Classics (@ClassicsCFB) July 30, 2024

Tuitama led the Wildcats to a win with a 335 yard effort in his first road start against Oregon State before also leading Arizona to a win 52-14 over No. 7 UCLA.

He appeared in 10 games as a sophomore, throwing for 1,335 yards and seven touchdowns with six interceptions.

It was his junior year when Tuitama took over as the full-time starter, completing 62 percent of his passes for 3,683 yards with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He followed that season up with his final year as a senior where he threw for 3,088 yards and 23 touchdowns to eight interceptions across 13 games while completing 65 percent of his passes. 

12/20/08 – UA scored 21 straight in the second half to defeat #17 Brigham Young, 31-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl, the school's first bowl game in 10yrs and Mike Stoops' only bowl victory in 8yrs as HC (2004-11). MVP Willie Tuitama: 24-35-325yds and 2TDs, plus 1 rushing). #BearDown pic.twitter.com/M22cGhQmwi

— Arizona Sports History (@AZSportsHistory) December 20, 2023

In his final game with Arizona, Tuitama led the Wildcats to a 31-21 win over 10-2 BYU in the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl. He was named MVP of the game, completing 24-of-35 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns. He also added another score on the ground as a runner on a six-yard run, which put Arizona ahead 31-14 with just over six minutes left in the game. 

Despite the strong end to his collegiate career, Tuitama went undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft. 

He began his professional career in the Indoor Football League with the Nebraska Danger. He later also played for the Allen Wranglers in the IFL for part of the 2012 season before spending another stint with Nebraska, though he did not report to training camp during the 2013 campaign. 

What do you remember from the career of Tuitama at Arizona? Let us know and be sure to follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.