The most overwhelming game-day rainstorm I remember at Arizona Stadium was the 1982 season opener against Oregon State. I clearly recall there being a moat surrounding Arizona Stadium. You couldn’t get into the stadium without walking through water that reached your ankles. Squish, squish.
Weather forecasters predicted a 10% chance of rain that day, but from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., as much as 3.3 inches fell at Craycroft and Grant roads. The official rainfall total was 1.01 inches.
How did it affect the game? Attendance for the 6:30 p.m. home opener was 35,599, which was the smallest Arizona Stadium crowd from 1974 to 2021, when just 33,481 attended the Arizona-NAU game. The ’82 rain game was a success. Vance Johnson returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and Arizona won 38-12.
