SAN DIEGO — Arizona has played football games in San Diego as early as 1921, when the Wildcats fell to the Centre Flying Colonels (Kentucky) in the San Diego East-West Christmas Classic at Balboa Stadium.
Since Arizona's first game in San Diego over 100 years ago, the Wildcats have played in the Holiday Bowl twice and battled San Diego State six times on the road from 1932 to 2022; the UA is 3-3 in those games, 1-1 in the Holiday Bowl.
Arizona's last trip to San Diego was a season-opening win over the Aztecs in 2022, which was the debut of Snapdragon Stadium, the current venue of the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl, where the 17th-ranked Wildcats will face SMU on Friday.
The first time the Wildcats played in the Holiday Bowl (then sponsored by Culligan), Arizona beat the defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers to cap the 12-1 season in 1998, which is considered the best season in program history.
Brad Brennan, the younger brother of Arizona second-year head coach Brent Brennan, caught a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 16-13 lead over the Cornhuskers in 1998. Arizona won, 23-20. Arizona quarterback Keith Smith was named Offensive MVP of the 1998 Holiday Bowl.
Arizona coach Dick Tomey, right, and players lift the Holiday Bowl trophy after Arizona defeated Nebraska 23-20 on Dec. 30, 1998 in San Diego.
Arizona went on a 10-year bowl drought after the 1998 season and won the Las Vegas Bowl in 2008, before returning to the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl in 2009 for a rematch with Nebraska, which had Heisman Trophy finalist and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
The Cornhuskers clobbered the Wildcats, 33-0, which remains the only shutout win in the bowl game's 45-year history. The 2009 Holiday Bowl is the third shutout loss in the postseason for Arizona.
Arizona has many San Diego connections on its coaching staff. Arizona football legend and defensive assistant Chuck Cecil and UA alumni and high school relations coordinator Brandon Sanders both starred at Helix High School before their standout careers with the Wildcats.
Even though Arizona head coach Brent Brennan grew up in Northern California, the Brennan family often had family retreats every summer and routinely spent the Fourth of July in San Diego.
Arizona linebackers coach Josh Bringuel played for UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales at San Diego State, but injuries shortened Bringuel's career. Gonzales was a safeties coach under former SDSU head coach Rocky Long, who is the winningest coach at SDSU since Don Coryell, from 2011-16 and became the Aztecs' defensive coordinator in 2017. San Diego State was 17th in college football in total defense.
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales hands out fives to his unit after a stand against Weber State, Sept. 6, 2025, at Arizona Stadium.
"My time there was fantastic," Gonzales said. "We love the city of San Diego. Living there is awesome. It's expensive as hell. It's hard to afford it, but you can go to the beach all day long and it doesn't cost you a penny other than parking, which is what we were doing as a family."
Added Gonzales: "Living in San Diego, you pay for the weather. That's part of the benefit of your salary, the weather."
Then, San Diego State played at Qualcomm Stadium, the former home of the Los Angeles Chargers, which was a venue in dire need of renovations, which is a root cause of the Chargers bolting from San Diego to L.A. in 2017.
Just over three years after SDSU hired John David Wicker as the school's athletic director, the Aztecs received a $15 million donation from Dianne L. Bashor to help build a new stadium. The playing surface at Snapdragon Stadium is called Bashor Field. Six months later, in 2020, the City of San Diego approved the sale of the stadium site.
Gonzales said "Rocky Long deserves credit for that thing being built," but added, "JD has done a fantastic job as an athletic director to build a freaking unbelievable stadium" and "ripping down Qualcomm and building a new stadium."
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales watches as players execute drills during a morning practice session on Dec. 16, 2025, before the team heads to the Jan. 2 Holiday Bowl.
Gonzales was skeptical of San Diego State's new stadium at first.
"'That will never happen in my lifetime,'" he said. "I take another job (at Arizona State) a year later and they're like, 'We're building a new stadium,' and I was like, 'Yeah, whatever, I'll see it when it happens.' It freaking happened."
The construction cost for the two-year project was valued at $310 million. Snapdragon Stadium seats just over 35,000 spectators and Friday's game between Arizona and SMU is on pace for a sellout.
With more butts in seats this time around at Snapdragon Stadium, after nearly 27,000 attended the last game in 2022, the Wildcats hope to replicate a similar performance from the 38-10 beatdown it gave San Diego State.
"I'm excited to go play in it and see what this thing is," Gonzales said. "I can't wait. Guess what? The University of Arizona won the opening game of the stadium."
