2001 Arizona Wildcats football team

In Mackovic's debut as Arizona coach, the Wildcats opened the season with a matchup against San Diego State. It was Arizona's first visit to San Diego since they won the Holiday Bowl in 1998. Arizona's offense started slow, but would pick up momentum to get points and the defense shut down the Aztecs to give Mackovic his first win and end the Wildcats’ five-game losing streak (that dated back to the previous year that led to Tomey stepping down).[7]

In their home opener, Arizona hosted Idaho. The Wildcats’ offense would dominate, though they would miss a pair of extra points after touchdowns. Mac Duff's defense was “Desert Swarm”-like early, by shutting out the Vandals in the first three quarters. In the fourth, Idaho would mount a furious rally, as Arizona's defense was playing garbage time, but would fall short as the Wildcats held on and Mackovic won his first home game.[8]

The Wildcats hosted UNLV in their next game. It was the first meeting between the two schools. The game was originally going to be played on September 15, but was postponed a week later along with all other college football games in the wake of the September 11 tragedy.[9]

On the day of the game, Arizona Stadium had heavy security measures due to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, as fans entered the stadium. During the pregame, fans held American flags and the stadium observed a moment of silence for the 9/11 victims and the Arizona marching band played the national anthem before kickoff. At halftime, the band, along with UNLV's, performed “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” as a symbol of pride.[10]

In the game itself, the Wildcats would outplay the Rebels and Arizona's passing offense dominated on its way to a win and went to 3–0 under Mackovic before entering Pac-10 play.[11][12]

After losing to Washington State to begin conference play, Arizona hosted Oregon (who was ranked seventh). The Wildcats would be no match for the Ducks, as Oregon's offense put up 63 points on the scoreboard. At one point earlier in the game, the score was tied at 14 before the Ducks broke it open, and gave the Wildcats an ugly loss.[13]

Arizona traveled to Seattle to take on Washington, who was also ranked (15th). The Wildcats would battle the Huskies in a back and forth affair, and took the lead in the fourth quarter. However, Washington was able to drive into Arizona territory and scored in the final minute to give Arizona a painful loss for the second year in a row.[14]

The Wildcats returned home after their heartbreaking loss at Washington and faced USC (who, like Arizona, had a first-year head coach). The Trojans would dominate early, and led 31–13 at halftime before the Wildcats stormed back in the second half to tie the game at 34 in the fourth quarter. Late in the quarter, Arizona had an opportunity to take the lead. However, they would throw an interception that USC returned for a touchdown that gave the Trojans the lead back. The Wildcats would have one last chance in the closing seconds, but ended up being stopped and Arizona fell short again for their fifth straight loss, which tied the same streak that ended the previous season. It was also their tenth consecutive Pac-10 loss that also dated back to 2000.[15]

A memorable moment occurred early in the fourth quarter, as the Arizona Stadium PA announced gave an update on the World Series score between the Diamondbacks and Yankees (the first game of the series was played on the same day of the Arizona-USC game). When it was announced that the Diamondbacks led 5-1 after three innings, the stadium crowd let out a loud cheer and the Arizona student section chanted “Let’s go, D’Backs”, as the Diamondbacks representative all of Arizona, including Tucson (the Diamondbacks would ultimately win the game and the series in seven games, much to the delight of the Arizona fans).[16]

Attempted to look for Mackovic's first conference win, the Wildcats traveled to Berkeley to face winless California. Arizona started off slow early but would take control later on with a solid offense and blitzing defense. The Golden Bears would make things interesting late and pulled within two scores, but would not come closer as the Wildcats finally ended their Pac-10 slump and Mackovic earned his first conference victory. The win also kept Arizona's chances alive for a bowl.[17]

After their loss to Stanford that ended their bowl hopes, the Wildcats went to Tempe for the annual rivalry matchup with Arizona State and treated it as their own bowl game. As the Sun Devils had a new coach, the “Duel in the Desert” had a meeting between first-year coaches for both teams.[18]

This was the first year in modern history that the Territorial Cup, the rivalry trophy, would be awarded to the winner. The cup, which was originally awarded in 1899 in the first game between the teams and claimed to be college football's oldest rivalry trophy, went lost for decades before being discovered in 1980. Both Arizona and ASU agreed to have the cup be used for the football rivalry and that the winning team would possess it until the next season.[19][20]

In the game, the Wildcats scored first and led 20–0 at one point before ASU climbed back in it to cut the lead to 20–14. However, Arizona answered to increase their lead and seemed to break it open with a defensive touchdown. By the fourth quarter, Arizona State tried to come back, but the Wildcats’ defense would come up big to seal the game and Arizona earned their first win in the rivalry since 1998 and also captured the Territorial Cup.[21][22]

After the game, a fight ensued when Arizona celebrated at midfield and ASU players ran out to start a melee with them, which added more fuel to the rivalry.[23]

With the win, Arizona finished the season with a 5–6 record, matching the previous season's record (also 5–6).