Despite finishing the season with a 5–6 record, the Wildcats defeated UCLA (who was ranked second at the time), which would become the first of several signature moments during Smith's tenure with the program.
During the offseason, head coach Tony Mason was discovered as being allegedly involved in a cash payment scandal by giving boosters money to players, which was illegal under NCAA rules.
Both Arizona and Iowa's offenses struggled throughout the game, but the Wildcats’ defense dominated and scored a safety early by blocking a punt.
However, the Wildcats put those hopes to rest by upsetting the Bruins and finally giving Smith his first home win as coach.
[30] The win by Arizona, combined with Alabama's loss, stunned the college football world as the top two ranked teams lost that day.
The more experienced Sun Devils dominated the mistake-prone Wildcats in a blowout, as most of the Arizona Stadium crowd had already headed for the exits by the time the fourth quarter began.
[32][33][34][35] Days after the game (and season) ended, Smith said in an interview that he claimed that ASU's dominance over Arizona in the rivalry at the time was a result of Arizona State being located in the larger Phoenix area (ASU's campus is in the suburb Tempe), as UA is located in Tucson, with its metro area being smaller than Phoenix's, and referred to ASU as the state's “de facto NFL team” as a result (the state of Arizona did not get an NFL team until 1988 when the Cardinals relocated from St. Louis), and that it led to the Wildcats being consistently played in the Sun Devils’ shadow due to Arizona State's performance under the coaching prestige of former coach Frank Kush, who was fired midway through the previous season.
[36] Smith later said that as the new coach, he vowed to rebuild the program to build a bright future and to lead the Wildcats to a winning tradition.