But it’s still November, and there’s a “high ceiling’’ for the Wildcats. But he’s already called this season and what’s ahead “a great challenge,’’ because there have been some obstacles and few answers, in part because it’s just a month into the season.

The questions are plentiful as Miller looks to mix it up with a new starting lineup and what could be a fresh start.

• When will junior forward Kevin Parrom return to form after being shot in the knee and hand just a couple months ago in a trip to his native New York? No question, Parrom’s progress will be a gradual thing. “He’s a mirror image of himself,” Miller said. “If Kevin isn’t injured, he’s one of our top three or four players.”

• Will junior Kyryl Natyazhko turn into a player who can provide more consistent numbers than he has? So far, he “hasn’t gotten the job done,” Miller said.

Read the rest of this story at FoxSportsArizona.com…

It could be all three in the biggest day of racing as the Breeders’ Cup begins on Friday at Churchill Downs.

And former Arizona alum Bob Baffert will be coming along for the ride. Actually, he’ll be the guy in charge of the trio of horses and a few others. It’s Baffert, the Hall of Fame horse trainer, who could be the big winner. He has horses in eight of the 15 races that cover two days.

Some are favorites and some tepid longshots, but Weitman & Watson have credible contenders in Drill (Juvenile, $2 million, 1 1/16 mile distance), Candrea (Juvenile Fillies, $2 million, 1 1/16 distance) and Secret Circle (Juvenile Sprint, $500,000, 6 furlongs).

If Drill can handle the distance, he’s likely the winner or at least in the money (best guess). At least he’s one of the early favorites for Saturday afternoon’s race.

Candrea, named after Arizona’s softball coach Mike Candrea, will have it tougher. She’s a speedy type but she’ll be in with other speed so the question is can she, too, maintain a quick pace. And Secret Circle? Another speed demon. If he gets out, watch out. He’s on the first race of the Cup on Friday.

It’s a huge day for the locals.

TUCSON – Humbled State?

Maybe a little. What’s clear is that it isn’t exactly utopia for Sean Miller and his Arizona Wildcats.
Tuesday night’s 60-51 was hardly a highlight tape of excitement or awe.

One of Arizona’s fans sitting up close and personal may have said it best: “you could grow old watching this team.”

Indeed. Why not add frustrated and confused?

“Our new guys have no idea of hard it is to win,” said Miller, when asked if after last week’s exhibition loss to Seattle Pacific helped get his team’s attention. “We all recognized that ‘oh, oh, we have to get better.’ It wasn’t the coach trying to convince the team. I really think our team knew and still does that we have to get a lot better.”

It looks like that’ll be a continuing theme.

For the second consecutive game, a Division II team came into McKale Center and gave Arizona fits. Humboldt State, a team picked to defend its California College Athletic Association regular season title, played even with Arizona throughout, eventually falling in the final 12 minutes. Miller said he’s thankful for Humboldt State and Seattle Pacific (a 69-68 winner against UA last week) in part because the games will make his team better.

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Just introduced into McKale Center were Jason Terry (Dallas Mavericks), Channing Frye (Phoenix Suns), Chase Budinger (Houston Rockets), Michael Dickerson (retired), Jordan Hill (Houston Rockets), Jerryd Bayless (Toronto), Andre Iguadala (Philadelphia 76ers), Richard Jefferson (San Antonio Spurs) and Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves, second round). And don’t forget former coach Lute Olson. Big day. Expectations high.

The one thing – among many – head coach Sean Miller has done is embrace the past. He’s well aware it means everything for the future.

***

Looks like freshman Nick Johnson dunked his way to a dunk title with a between the legs move on a left-handed dunk to easily win the contest. Not a surprise, though, in that Johnson can jump like no one since Richard Jefferson or Hassan Adams.

It comes when you’re a coach – head guy or otherwise. And the criticism has come in bunches lately, particularly last week, when it seemed Hammerschmidt’s special-teams unit, well, didn’t have anything special about it.

A missed field goal, a missed extra point, a blocked kick and a perfectly executed fake punt constituted Arizona’s laundry list of demise against Oregon State last week and the beginning of the end for then-head coach Mike Stoops, who was fired two days after losing 37-27 to the Beavers.

Arizona is 1-5. Players will not be made available to the media until after Thursday’s game with UCLA, which will kick off at 6 p.m. at Arizona Stadium.

“If the guys don’t play great, you get a lot of criticism,” Hammerschmidt said. “We’ve had games before when we did well on special teams and we got a lot of credit. It’s one of those things, if we don’t make field goals and do some right things and get punts blocked … you get criticism.”

Read the rest of this story at FoxSportsArizona.com …

That’s the question the University of Arizona football team – coaches, included – should be asking themselves.

It’s a question that could have been asked in any of the past couple of weeks as Arizona continued to reel from defeat after defeat after defeat after defeat.

Get the picture? It isn’t pretty.

That’s the case more so now after – yes, another defeat – as winless Oregon State defeated Arizona 37-27 on Saturday afternoon at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. Figure that OSU snapped a six-game losing streak in winning for the first time this season. (1-4)

In short, Arizona coach Mike Stoops called it “a tough day.”

Arizona is now 1-5 overall (0-4 in the Pac-12 Conference) and on a 10-game losing streak to FBS schools. Just this week, Stoops called it a “big game in a lot of ways” and a “desperate situation” to win.

OSU played like its life depended on the win; Arizona didn’t.

Maybe Arizona’s last-ditch second half attempt at a comeback – 21 unanswered points to make it 30-27 midway through the fourth quarter – was just a tease, or a noble effort to save face and ease some pressure on all parties.  Figure this, however, Arizona has now been down at least 22 or more points in each of the last five games.

“It’s a 60-minute game and not a 30-minute game (and) the sooner we realize that the better off we will be,” Stoops said, responding to Arizona’s late comeback.

One thing is certain: Arizona can no longer make the excuse of the toughest part of the schedule being gone after losing the first four games against three top 10 teams (Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon) and a blue-blood program in Southern California. On Saturday, Arizona went into the game facing a Beavers team that started the season losing to Sacramento State. Arizona went into the game a two-point favorite.

To read more visit FoxSportsArizona.com.

Nick Foles made his first start against Oregon State in Corvallis in 2009. Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

It seems so long ago, and yet not so long ago for Nick Foles when it comes to Oregon State.

Back in 2009, then wet-behind-the-ears Foles was given the chance to start against the Beavers at Reser Stadium and, well, he made the most of it.

He led UA to a 37-32 upset win over OSU and, for all intents and purposes, has been Arizona’s starting quarterback ever since, save for an injury or two that has prevented him from starting or playing.

“Your first college start, that’s something that will always stick with you,” Foles said, recalling that mid-September game. “I had a lot of fun.”

He was nervous, but that diminished as the game continued. He was good enough and poised enough to go 24-for-34 for 254 yards and three touchdown passes. He also scored on a 1-yard run.

Oh, the memories and the magic. And the all-important victory.

Read the rest of the story at FoxSportsArizona.com …

Pre-Internet. You waited to get the news to be sure.

I couldn’t confirm it. And Tofflemire knew nothing of it. So I told him that I was expecting a call from a friend at 6 a.m. local time to get the news to see if he was in or not. I needed a quote from him at that time.

Sure enough, he called. Was he in? And, sure enough, he was. He was understandably excited in a way an offensive lineman can be excited. Teddy Bear-like.

I, too, was excited in that I was able to make deadline for the same day’s paper. On a team full of pretty good guys in Dick Tomey’s second season, Tofflemire was one of the better ones — if not the best.

I can’t remember him ever being upset or unavailable to the media. Always willing to talk, and in this line of work — wins AND losses — it’s a Godsend.

Sadly, Tofflemire died Tuesday in Post Falls, Idaho. He was 46.

He was found unconscious in his home and died in a hospital, according to a story in the Coeur d’Alene Press. News trickled in to former teammates on Wednesday.

“I truly loved Joe Tofflemire,” said former teammate Donnie Salum. “I’m very upset, shocked and in disbelief of his passing. … God must have needed a center. Joe was such a dear friend — like a brother. He was a great person with a heart of gold. He was a role model and inspiration to me and many others.”

Salum said he met Tofflemire in 1987. Their lockers were next to one another.

“He was No. 52 and I was 54. We became immediate friends. And I’m blessed to say lifelong friends. I always hung on every word he told me.”

Tofflemire was a three-time first-team All-Pac-10 player, in 1986, 1987 and 1988. And a first-team All-American that year in 1988. I still remember getting his call to letting him know.

What? Did Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea all of a sudden become a runner?

Well, not exactly. Candrea is one of the world’s best and fastest 2-year-old horses and named after, of course, Arizona’s world class softball coach. Local horse owners Paul Weitman and Karl Watson are back at it with one of the best 2-year-olds in the game with Candrea, winner last week of the $50,000 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.

The win now puts Candrea into the prestigious Oak Leaf Stakes to be run in two weeks at Santa Anita in Los Angeles.

Weitman, Watson and Mike Pegram (another owner) have teamed up with former Arizona alum Bob Baffert, a Hall of Fame horse trainer, to have great success with horses named after Arizona coaches. Da Stoops (Mike Stoops) was a multi-stakes winner and Midnight Lute (Lute Olson) was a two-time Breeder’s Cup winner and one of the fastest horses a couple of years ago.

Now, Candrea.

The catch? Well, the horse is a fillie. Then again, Candrea does coach the women’s softball team.

It’s been a great summer for Weitman, Watson, Pegram and Baffert. Star horse Coil won the Haskell Invitational in grand fashion in late July, rallying from the back of the pack in defeating some of the best horses in the world. And to end the Del Mar meet almost two weeks ago, Drill, another 2-year-old, won the Del Mar Futurity, the same race won by Lookin’ at Lucky in 2009, the trio’s horse that won the Preakness in 2010 and was the Kentucky Derby favorite.

Lute Olson throws out the first pitch. Photo courtesy of the Tucson Padres

They stood up and cheered and then lined up for autographs.

One fan, after waiting in line to have Lute Olson sign a book, asked jokingly when he was going to make his comeback.

On Thursday night at Kino Stadium, more than 100 fans lined up to meet and greet the former Arizona basketball coach. Olson threw out the ceremonial first pitch in the first game of a double header. Tucson faced Reno.

He bounced in a strike. He laughed and then gave the safe signal.

Olson turns 77 years old next month. He announced his retirement from UA in 2008. This weekend will be a celebration, of sorts. A number of ex-players are gathering for another Lute Olson reunion.