Garic Wharton and the receivers made all the right moves on Saturday.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

If you’re a fan of passing offenses, the Arizona spring football game was the place to be.

If you’re a fan of the 2011 Wildcats, passing is exactly what you want to see if you want the team to have a chance at success in the fall.

Ideally you want your offense to be balanced. In 2008 under Sonny Dykes, Arizona had a record-breaking passer, a 1,000-yard rusher, 33 rushing touchdowns and 24 passing touchdowns.

But life’s a lot easier when you have a future NFL starter at left tackle in Eben Britton and a future NFL starter at tight end in GRONK! Throw in NFL fullback Chris Gronk and you’ve got yourself a running game.

Last year’s offensive line had five seniors but no blue-chippers. Only Colin Baxter and Adam Grant are draft prospects and neither is projected to be drafted until the final round.

The run game suffered as a result. The Cats finished 8th in the Pac-10 in both rushing yards per game and yards per carry last year. And yet, Mike Stoops and his staff never seemed to let go of the dream of churning out first downs on the ground.

Keola Antolin carried the ball 25 times and the Wildcats attempted 43 total rushes in the frustrating-on-so-many-levels loss to Arizona State. It didn’t make sense.

There’s no reason to try and establish the run when you’ve established you can’t run.

Arizona is breaking in five new offensive linemen. The long-term potential is high for this next generation of hogs but they aren’t going to steamroll people out of the gate.

It also doesn’t help that, with Greg Nwoko’s injury, there isn’t a big bruising back on the two-deep. If the size requirements were 5-10 or 200 pounds, neither of the Cats’ top two running backs could go on the ride.

It adds up to three things: Throw, throw and throw.

And on Saturday, throw they did. The team ran 60 plays from scrimmage. Forty-two were passing plays, 13 were running plays, and the remaining five were passing plays that turned into quarterback runs. So 78% of the time the play-caller said, “Let’s put this thing in the air.”

It’s the right thing to do, and this time around Stoops knows it. He admits this year’s team is going to have to pass to set up the run. He’s more comfortable with the fact that the strength of his squad is its quarterback and wide receivers.

Texas transfer Dan Bucker was the guy most Cat fans wanted to see but the pass-catching star in the scrimmage was Richard Morrison. The former quarterback was last seen grabbing six passes in the Alamo Bowl and it looks like he’s ready to be the little speedy guy the UA has been looking for since Mike Thomas left.

What the Wildcats may be looking for next is anybody who can play defense. With linebacker Jake Fischer going down at the very end of the scrimmage the Cats appear to have lost a second starter on a unit that was already trying to plug some holes. Yet another reason to get used to having to throw the ball a bunch of times.

Nobody is calling for a return to the days of 46 pass attempts and only one touchdown like during the Mackovic era. But if you don’t have stars at every position you have to put the stars you have in the best position to succeed.

For the 2011 Arizona Wildcats that means Nick Foles going up-tempo out of the shotgun, Juron Criner on one side, Bucker on the other, and a combination of Morrison, David Roberts, Terrence Miller, David Douglas and Garic Wharton on the inside.

Huck it.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell loves running backs but you gotta do what you gotta do. Go deep on Twitter and Facebook.

The Pac-10’s bowl hopes lie with Brehaut. Richard Brehaut.
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/US Presswire

What’s worse than losing to Stanford, USC and (maybe) Oregon?

Losing to Washington State and then losing to Stanford, USC and Oregon.

As bad as the Arizona Wildcats feel the Oregon State Beavers feel worse. The UA will still be playing in a bowl game while OSU’s postseason chances are on life support following losses to lowly Washington and UCLA even before the debacle against Wazzu.

See? There are still positives to be found in the Wildcat Universe. You just have to look really hard.

- – -

Did Oregon State destroy the Pac-10 bowl bubble? Not yet. The Pac can still get five teams into bowls. Here’s how:

ALREADY IN:
Oregon (10-0)
Stanford (9-1)
Arizona (7-3)

BUBBLE IN:
Cal (5-5)

BUBBLE OUT:
UCLA (4-5)
OSU (4-5)
Washington (3-6)

NOT ELIGIBLE:
ASU (3-6*)
WSU (2-9)
USC (banished)

(*ASU’s second FCS win not included.)

The new best-case scenario is…

Cal – loses to Stanford, beats Washington = 6-6
UCLA – beats Washington and ASU, loses to USC = 6-6
OSU – loses to USC, Stanford and Oregon, doesn’t get anybody seriously injured = 4-8
Washington – loses to UCLA and Cal, beats WSU = 4-8
ASU – loses to UCLA and Arizona = 4-8

Unfortunately, I think Arizona State is going to beat UCLA in Tempe the day after Thanksgiving which would have the Sun Devils coming to Tucson with an FCS-aided 5-6 record. ASU would still have the hope that there won’t be enough eligible teams to fill the 35 bowls so they can get a pity invite.

If the Devils do get to 6-6 it would mean the Alamo Bowl might be stuck with a 7-5 Arizona team on a four-game losing streak. I don’t think that’s what the folks in San Antonio had in mind when they signed on to take the #2 pick from the Pac-10.

- – -

Are you already lamenting the Cats’ bye week? TWIT-Pac Lite is here to help!

Thu. Nov. 18 – 6 p.m. Arizona/Mountain Time, ESPN/ESPN3.com

UCLA (4-5 / 2-4) at Washington (3-6 / 2-4)
This is actually the most intriguing Pac-10 game of the week. The winner will have honest-to-goodness bowl aspirations for another week. What more can you ask for when two 7th-place teams square off on national TV?

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
UCLA. The Bruins winning twice is more likely than the Huskies winning thrice. Plus Cat fans want the Bruins to get good at winning November road games.

- – -

Unless something crazy happens this will be the last installment of the Survivor Rankings:

1. Oregon
2. Stanford
X. ARIZONA
X. Oregon State
X. Cal
X. Washington
X. Arizona State
X. UCLA
X. Washington State
X. USC

It’s very simple: If Stanford wins their final two games and Oregon loses their final two games the Cardinal win the championship. Any other result and the Ducks clinch their second straight Pac-10 title.

Borrrring. But that’s what happens when the two great teams play early in the year and the rest of the teams are far from great. At least we still have BCS drama, and who doesn’t love BCS drama?

- – - – -

On to the additional thoughts from the USC game.

(Don’t stop reading now! There’s basketball talk below!)

We’re going to borrow a rule from my 3rd grade teacher and declare that every time you say something negative you have to follow it up with something positive. Challenge accepted.

- – -

Negative:
USC converted its first four red zone opportunities into 24 points. The Wildcats’ first four red zone trips included a missed field goal and a fumble. What was Arizona’s best option for scoring inside the 20 this year? He caught three touchdown passes from Tom Brady Sunday night. UA fans will always cheer for GRONK! in the NFL but every time he crosses the goal line a Wildcat will think, “Why couldn’t he have played with Nick Foles? Not even one time?!?”

Positive:
Terrence Miller locked up the team’s 2010 Most Improved award in just one week. After looking like his hands were allergic to leather against Stanford he doubled his season totals with seven catches for 116 yards against USC. Can the 6-4 sophomore be the down-the-middle threat the Cats have so desperately needed? A bye week is a great opportunity to get a young guy ready to take on an increased role and find out.

- – -

Negative:
It’s true the offense was down three starters due to injury (four if you count guard Vaughn Dotsy who hasn’t played all year). But the second-line receivers did just fine, and injuries don’t make you fumble in the red zone, or fail to read a corner blitz, or miss a short field goal.

Positive:
The Arizona offense converted an impressive 11-of-16 third downs (69%) but it was even more incredible than that. The Cats attempted to pass 15 times on third down and Nick Foles completed 14 of them. Foles was 14-of-15 for 166 yards, 10 first downs and two touchdowns on third down alone.

Usually you try to avoid third down. The Wildcats should have just taken a knee on first and second down.

- – -

Negative:
It was the first loss for the white helmets/red pants combo after a 4-0 start.

Positive:
The White-Red-White and White-Red-Blue combos are still unblemished and available for the ASU game.

- – -

Negative:
Arizona’s first punt was with three minutes left in the 3rd quarter yet the team only had 14 points. How do you pull that off? 1) Fail in the red zone. 2) Give up drives lasting 8:57 and 6:48. 3) Only have one full possession in the 2nd quarter.

Positive:
Arizona’s first punt was with three minutes left in the 3rd quarter!

- – -

Negative:
Those long USC drives were a new way for the Wildcat defense to get beat. The Trojans were the first team to dominate the UA on the ground from the opening kickoff. Even Stanford’s first two touchdown drives were the result of 148 passing yards compared to just 19 via the rush.

Positive:
The secondary didn’t get beat deep!

- – -

Negative:
Things Nobody Else Does

Offsides on offense. Not a false start, offsides. Wide receiver David Douglas didn’t move before the snap, he just stood in the wrong place. Strangest loss of five yards I’ve seen in a while.

Positive:
Douglas’ two touchdowns increased his career total by 50%. Thanks, roomie!

- – -

Negative:
Alex Zendejas attempted five kicks including one that got called back due to a penalty. Three of the five were deflected.

Positive:
Zendejas’ first punt of the year was nicely angled out of bounds at the 6.

- – -

Negative:
Zendejas’ second punt of the year only went 30 yards.

Positive:
It wasn’t blocked!

- – -

Negative:
Seeing Steve McLaughlin getting his jersey retired at halftime reminded Wildcat fans how rare it is to witness such poor punting and kicking at Arizona.

Positive:
The Cactus Comet was there! Anybody who can run for 3,000 yards without a facemask is a hero in my book.

- – -

Negative:
After 27 sacks in their first eight games the UA defense was shut out for the second straight week.

Positive:
You got me on this one. The other team’s quarterback had a very pleasant evening?

- – -

Negative:
Losing two straight games drops Arizona to a mediocre 4-3 in conference play.

Positive:
There are still three more opportunities to watch the Cats play in 2010 and momentum can shift in a hurry in college football.

- – -

Negative:
The first of those three games is at #1 Oregon.

Positive:
It’s time for that basketball talk!

You read the in-game commentary. You saw the highlights. It’s hard to think of a better start to a season than scoring 90 points and holding a team scoreless for an 11-minute stretch.

My main question going into the year was: Where are the Cats going to go for scoring when Derrick Williams is off the court (or just off)?

One game is one game but it was still encouraging to see the all-around play of Solomon Hill (10 points and 8 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end), and the outside shooting of Brendon Lavender and freshman Jordin Mayes (combined 6-of-9 on threes) off the bench.

I fully expect the team defense to be better this year. The players have a full year of experience with Sean Miller’s system and expectations, and the team has enough athletes to keep guys fresh. But even if you have a 17-man rotation it doesn’t do you any good if you can’t put the ball in the bucket.

The season opener was certainly a positive.

- – - – -

(Negative: This post is done. Positive: Learn about the next one on Facebook and Twitter!)

The UA extra point team better be working on blocking.
Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/ US Presswire

The weather has finally cooled off in Southern Arizona which means the college football regular season is winding down.

The pecking order among the top three teams in the Pac-10 is pretty clear with Oregon #1 in the land and Stanford a serious contender for a BCS bid. In the middle of the league you have five teams staggering along the 5-7 / 6-6 border.

So where does that leave Arizona?

The Wildcats have already secured a winning season so the bowl bubble isn’t a concern. The UA isn’t going to move up in the standings without a miracle. It appears the Cats are locked into the third spot in the Pac-10.

In situations like this you’re competing against yourself. Is your team going to improve and finish the year strong or are you going to limp to the finish? Are you going to fight for things like a 10-win season and a final top-25 ranking or are you satisfied with any old bowl bid?

USC is always tough but after the deflating Stanford loss Arizona’s biggest opponent will be wearing red and blue.

Here’s the Pac-10 football TV schedule:

Sat. Nov. 13 (all times Arizona/Mountain)

Road Team	Home Team	Time	TV
WSU	OSU	2 p.m.	FSNW
Oregon	Cal	5:30 p.m.	Versus
Stanford	ASU	5:30 p.m.	FSAZ
USC	ARIZONA	6 p.m.	ABC/ESPN3.com

WSU (1-9 / 0-7) at OSU (4-4 / 3-2)
The Cougars still host Washington but you have to wonder if Wazzu missed its best chance at a conference win when it held Cal to 20 points last week and still couldn’t get the victory.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
OSU. Root for the Pac-10 to fill its bowl slots. If OSU goes on to beat USC, Stanford and Oregon to pass Arizona in the standings, you’ll just have to bow before the Beavers.

Oregon (9-0 / 6-0) at Cal (5-4 / 3-3)
The Bears finish the season with three straight games at home where they’re 4-0 with an average score of 47-9. The only problem is Oregon has scored more than 47 in seven of their nine games.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Oregon. The Ducks in the national championship game (or having their dreams crushed by Arizona) is now the goal.

Stanford (8-1 / 5-1) at ASU (4-5 / 2-4)
The Sun Devils got closer to Oregon than anyone. Can they rise up and challenge the red-hot Cardinal?

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Stanford. Come bowl season the Arizona faithful want the Cardinal in the BCS and the Devils in the N/A.

USC (6-3 / 3-3) at ARIZONA (7-2 / 4-2)
In case you can’t wait until Saturday night for the game you can watch it right now. Apparently the Cats will be breaking out black jerseys and Nick Foles turns into GRONK!

UCLA (4-5 / 2-4) – bye
Now that the Bruins have broken their three-game losing streak can they finish off a three-game winning streak to go bowling? Next Thursday is a key game against…

Washington (3-6 / 2-4) – bye
After playing six ranked teams in seven games the Huskies will be very glad to finish the season with three games against their lower-division peers. The bad news is they have to win all of them if they want to make the postseason.

- – -

Sadly, this week we have the opposite of a staggered schedule. Three of the four games start within a half hour of each other and if you’re going to be in Arizona Stadium on Saturday you’re going to miss two of them.

TWIT-Pac finally got some requested help last week. UCLA over OSU, and USC playing poorly yet winning (with ASU blowing it at the end). It was a perfect Saturday…except for the Arizona-getting-manhandled-in-front-of-Brent-Kirk-Erin-and-85%-of-the-nation part.

In the old days a loss like that would cause UA fans to mutter, “When does basketball season start?” Well, as a matter of fact, it starts right now!

Here is your first week’s Pac-10 basketball schedule:

Fri. Nov. 12
CS Northridge at UCLA
N. Dakota St. at Oregon

Sat. Nov. 13
NcNeese St. at Washington
UC Irvine at USC
Southern at WSU
Denver at Oregon

Sun. Nov. 14
UT Arlington at OSU
Idaho St. at ARIZONA
UC Santa Barbara at Oregon

Mon. Nov. 15
San Diego at Stanford
Santa Clara at USC
Pepperdine at UCLA

Tue. Nov. 16
E. Wash. at Washington
CS Northridge at Cal
ASU at New Mexico
Idaho at WSU

Wed. Nov. 17
OSU at Seattle
Rider at USC

Thu. Nov. 18
New Mexico St. at ARIZONA
Virginia at Stanford

Enjoy your Double-Wildcat Weekend!

- – - – -

(Does your network like to be social? Join the fun on Facebook and Twitter!)

Can Juron Criner do a lot of this in 2010?
Photo by Brad Allis/WildcatSportsReport.com

We are just one work week away from the return of Arizona Wildcat football.

The goal is at least nine wins in 2010. Here are the questions that need to be answered in order to get there:

Can Mike Stoops find happiness in a stranger’s house?

Toledo isn’t expected to do much this year but a victory over the Rockets would be Mike Stoops’ best non-conference road win since, well…ever.

It’s true. Stoops and the Cats have gone oh-for-the-road in non-league match-ups. 2005 Utah, 2006 LSU, 2007 BYU, 2008 New Mexico and 2009 Iowa. Three of those teams went on to win 11 games. Four of them won bowl games. I’ll bet you can guess which one of these things is not like the others.

Toledo will be a lot closer to New Mexico than LSU so if Stoops is going to break through on the road, the time is now. (That’s a definite theme this year.)

Are four heads better than two?

It has been well-documented that the UA will be breaking in two sets of co-coordinators. On defense any changes may be hard to spot (especially with Mike Stoops still calling the shots) but the play-calling on offense will be out there for everyone to see. Will Seth Littrell (also the running backs coach) and Bill Bedenbaugh (O-line coach) emphasize the run game more than Sonny Dykes?

In the first couple games what gets called might not be as important as how quickly it gets called. Wildcat fans will painfully recall the rough start to the Mike Canales era at the beginning of Stoops’ tenure. Arizona seemed to spend more time calling timeouts and accepting delay of game penalties than running actual plays. How long will it take Littrell to adjust to the speed of the game as a rookie play-caller?

Can the offense beat a full-court press?

In Nick Foles’ first three starts last year he completed 75% of his passes with averages of 35 completions and 351 yards a game. Over his final seven starts those numbers dropped to a 57% completion rate with 21 completions and 190 yards per game. What happened? Starting with UCLA the opposing defenses said, “You know what, Mr. Accurate Long-Haired Guy? We’re not going to let you pick us apart with short passes.” Defensive backs played press coverage and Foles and the Arizona receivers never could completely adjust.

The big need for 2010 is the emergence of a legitimate deep threat. What made Mike Thomas so dangerous was he could beat you on a quick throw but we would blow by you on the outside if you played him too close. The Cats need to find a receiver with a little Money in him.

Juron Criner beat USC with a long-ball. Can he do it on a consistent basis? Is either Bug Wright or Travis Cobb ready to do something with their speed other than terrorize the WSU special teams? The difference between a good offense and an elite one could depend on it.

Will Arizona see red in the zone?

If you aren’t going to be able to hit a home run on every possession you have to be able to convert in the red zone. In 2008 the Wildcats had GRONK! through the air (10 touchdowns) and the Grigsby/Antolin combo on the ground (23 rushing TDs). All three of those guys were injured in ’09 and the offense took a step backwards.

What will be this year’s strategy inside the opponent’s 20? Pound it behind the big offensive line to see if Grigs and Ant can recapture their paydirt-finding glory (with some Nwoko mixed in)? Throw the fade in the corner to Criner? Establish a new threat over the middle? Taimi Tutogi as a one-man wrecking crew was an option but he’s been out all of camp with an injury. Whatever the plan, the goal is to put Alex Zendejas to work on extra points instead of field goals.

Are the new linebackers just inexperienced or are they really bad?

Shifting to the defensive side of the ball all eyes will be on JC transfers Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo, and true sophomore (and local kid) Jake Fischer. Can the brand new linebacking corp cut it?

The good news is the new LBs don’t have to be stars. The three seniors on the D-line need to be stars. Trevin Wade needs to be a star. The linebackers don’t have to Ricky Hunley, Byron Evans and Lance Briggs. They just need to know their assignments, be in position, and make tackles.

If they can’t? It might be the “Kish of Death” for this year’s team.

Will the secondary produce Golden Flowers?

If you get past the veteran line and the rookie ‘backers you end up with Wade and the Question Marks. Robert Golden is playing a new position. Seniors Anthony Wilcox and Joe Perkins are listed as the safety starters but they have nary a start between them. Their backups are true freshman Marquis Flowers and true sophomore Adam Hall.

It’s understandable if Wildcat fans are having nightmares of receivers running free downfield while the guys in red and blue point fingers at each other. And that brings us too…

Are we in for shootouts at the UA Corral?

The Stanford and Oregon games last year were the best of times and the worst of times for the Arizona faithful. The offense looked like an unstoppable force. The defense looked unable to a force a stop.

In 2007 the Cats broke the 45-point barrier in three different games for the first time since 1983. Dykes did it again in 2008. The last time Arizona scored 45+ four times in the same season? 1954, when Art Luppino was running wild for Coach Warren Woodson.

If that record falls in 2010 Wildcat fans are in for a wild ride. If that record needs to fall in order to keep the games close Wildcat fans will be sick.

The answers are coming and you only have to survive one more week of work before we get there.

No question about it.

Something’s not quite right in Cleveland right now.

Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

After the LeBron James spectacle Thursday night The Decision is easy:

College sports are better than pro sports.

It has nothing to do with the level of talent, the size of the egos or the accusations of hypocrisy. The quality of life for a college fan is significantly better due to one thing.

Loyalty.

From a talent standpoint pro players are obviously better than their college counterparts. Pro teams are all better. The NCAA champion Duke Blue Devils wouldn’t be able to beat the 12-70 New Jersey Nets because every pro team is a college (and international) all-star team. Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide would get rolled by the Detroit Lions. No one is debating that.

This also has nothing to do with ego. James’ TV special was an overblown version of the same “Look at me!” stunt that high school seniors pull when they step in front of cameras to announce which college’s athletic scholarship they’re going to accept. Take away an arrogant jerk’s paycheck and you get an amateur arrogant jerk.

The length-of-service argument also doesn’t apply. College players only stay for four years (or two years, or eight months) while the pros perform as long as their bodies hold up. But I’d rather have exclusive fan rights to a guy for a couple years than invest a decade of rooting only to have my favorite player leave and stay that “real friends” and “true fans” will understand.

In a three-year span pro sports fans in Cleveland have lost two Cy Young Award winners and the best basketball player on the planet. Give me four fleeting college years any day.

The departure of LeBron James isn’t just devastating to Cavalier fans for the present and future. It’s a hard drive defrag that forever alters how their past is perceived. It is now impossible for Cleveland fans to get any enjoyment from memories of the past seven years. The highlight-reel plays, the 60-win seasons, the trip to the NBA Finals? Tainted, stained, devastated.

The LeBron Era in Cleveland instantly changed from “The Resurrection of our Franchise” to “This Is Why They Tell You Not To Get Your Hopes Up.”

There is no worse feeling than being betrayed. It has nothing to do with whether or not the other person is justified in moving on. All that matters is I poured everything into my relationship with you, and you left for someone else.

The simplicity of college eligibility protects us from betrayal. If Mike Bibby leaves Arizona early it’s to go to the NBA, not play for Arizona State. Wildcat fans wanted Rob Gronkowski to come back to school but nobody’s burning his jersey.

USC fans didn’t torch Reggie Bush or even O.J. Simpson jerseys. The numbers of both tarnished Trojans are still retired and on display in the L.A. Coliseum. Can you imagine a plausible scenario where you would want to burn Sean Elliot’s jersey, Tedy Bruschi’s hair, or Jennie Finch’s gold bikini?

Lance Briggs can say “I’ll always be a U of A Wildcat” because it’s true. He could play for 11 NFL teams but there will never be a second college team on his resume. Yes, players can transfer in college but stars don’t transfer. LeBron won two MVP awards. The Pac-10 Player of the Year never transfers.

College coaches, on the other hand, do have the freedom to challenge fan loyalty. The perfect example is right here in the Pac-10 where Mike Montgomery coached at Stanford 18 years before ending up at the Cardinal’s biggest rival, with a short NBA stay in between.

Stanford fans can be angry at Montgomery but still keep the memories of his tenure happy by associating them with players. Mark Madsen’s dunk (and dance) to beat Rhode Island. Nick Robinson’s buzzer-beater (and Tiger Woods’ jeans) against Arizona. None of that loses any value because Mike Montgomery is at Cal. A Stanford fan still wears his 1998 Final Four t-shirt with pride. A Cleveland Cavalier fan will never enjoy doing anything with a 2007 NBA Finals t-shirt except putting a match to it.

Most sports fans root for both college and pro teams but you only get one true love. If your NFL team has a game on at the same time as your college football team, which do you watch? If you could request free tickets to any sporting event, what would it be? That’s how you know if you’re primarily a college fan or a pro fan.

If you’re a college fan, consider yourself lucky. If you’re a pro fan, the NBA events of this past week might leave you feeling like you should make a Decision.

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team wasn’t able to build on the momentum from the win at ASU as UCLA took two of three games over the weekend.

When the week began Arizona fans would have been satisfied with a 2-2 split against #1 ASU and top-10 UCLA. But after the surprising win in Tempe it looked like the Cats could take a huge step by beating the Bruins at Kindall/Sancet.

Arizona’s defense fell down against UCLA.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

And that was true. The Wildcats could have beaten UCLA, but they didn’t.

The Bruins coasted in the second game and Arizona held on in the third game, which made Friday night’s series opener the difference. Kurt Heyer did his normal thing, allowing just one run in six innings. He left the game on the hook for his first loss, however, as the UA was having no luck scoring against UCLA ace Gerrit Cole.

You may remember Cole as the guy who turned down 4 million Yankee dollars to go to college. Was he worth the money? “He threw one pitch at 99 miles an hour,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. “Threw a sequence of 97, 98, 98 and 99 to (Rafael) Valenzuela.” In other words, maybe the Yankees shouldn’t have been so cheap.

But the Cats managed to scrape together a couple runs in the 7th inning thanks to three singles and a sacrifice fly. The lead held up until two outs in the 9th with freshman third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean booted a grounder to allow the tying run to score. Another error in the 10th inning led to four unearned runs to give UCLA the game and, ultimately, the series.

Saturday’s contest was lacking in dramatics as UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer went the distance, striking out 13 and allowing just two runs. “A dominant pitching performance,” Lopez said.

(Here’s the type of thing you learn as you scan the crowd and read t-shirts and jackets while the home team is getting is shut down: Did you know the University of Arizona has a ballroom dance team?)

The BatCats do deserve credit for bouncing back with a win on Sunday. “There’s no reason to panic,” Lopez said. “We just faced two pretty good arms.”

The lone victory put the Cats back over .500 in Pac-10 play as the second-to-last road series awaits. The UCLA result does add clarity to the rest of season as it allows you to cross contending for the league title off the list, just in case you got your hopes up a little after the UA crept within two games of first-place ASU last weekend.

The NCAA tournament goal remains very much in play. The young Wildcats just need to catch it.

- – - – -

The early part of the NFL draft brought good news for the Arizona football program, while the end of the draft brought disappointment and a surprise visit from an old friend.

GRONK! went in the 2nd round which makes it very hard to argue he made a bad decision in leaving school early. If he goes on to a long career it means he was ready when he went pro. If his back goes out it means he probably would have gotten hurt here so it was good he got the bonus money when he did.

The true highlight for the UA was Earl Mitchell being selected in the 3rd round. I will always remember Big Earl running people over until the final gun in the blowout loss at LSU as a freshman fullback. We didn’t know he would turn into an NFL defensive tackle, but there was never any question about his heart and determination.

The only other Wildcat to get drafted never played a down at Arizona. Former UA basketball player Fendi Onobun is going to get a chance to show what his raw athleticism can do on the football field.

So that’s what was wrong during the end of Lute Olson’s tenure. He was recruiting NFL players instead of NBA players.

What does it mean that Arizona State got four players drafted (including UA hero Kyle Williams) while only one player from the 2009 Wildcats got selected?

If you wear maroon and gold it says Dennis Erickson is better at developing pro talent and it’s only a matter of time before the Devils are back on top.

If you prefer red and blue it means that Mike Stoops does more with less, and how is Erickson supposed to rebuild ASU when he can’t get more than four wins out of a team with four NFL players?

Maybe Erickson should start trying out some of Herb Sendek’s players.

The good news is we lost a guy we didn’t have yet so we technically didn’t lose him.

Matt Brown, the only quarterback in Arizona’s 2010 recruiting class, recently announced that because Sonny Dykes left he will no longer be attending Arizona but will instead go to TCU. It’s all part of the fun in the circus that is college football recruiting.

If you don’t follow recruiting you might just be better off for it. It’s a world of deception and betrayal. It’s a system that leads to players who think they have scholarships being left out, and players who don’t have scholarships pretending they do.

As with anything involving sports they came up with a way to keep score so fans can brag when they win and sulk when they lose. There are more recruiting websites than you can shake a stopwatch at and they all come up with rankings based on a star system. If you’re a five-star player you’re supposed to be the next Tim Tebow. If you’re a one-star player you’d better get used to filling water bottles.

But how do you rank high school kids from around the country who attend schools of all sizes and play against varying competition? That’s the magic of recruiting rankings. Or, if you prefer, that’s the steaming pile of worthlessness of recruiting rankings.

Logic says the best indicator of a player’s potential is the level of programs recruiting him. If USC, Texas and Florida all want a guy he has to be really good, right? But it becomes a chicken-and-egg thing. Is the player rated highly because of the scholarship offers he’s getting, or is he getting scholarship offers because he’s rated highly?

Even after all that you’re still curious about college football recruiting. You’re interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. Besides, September is a long time from now.

So come on in. Fire up your search engine and see what’s going on with your favorite team. To assist you I proudly present the following Guide to College Football Recruiting, for the novice, by a novice.

1. “Commitment” doesn’t mean anything.
The way the system works is players can be recruited at a young age (nowadays I think it’s once they start crawling) but they can’t formally accept a scholarship offer until their senior year of high school, on National Signing Day which is the first Wednesday of every February. Any time up until Signing Day a player may “commit” to a school. In theory said student-athlete is announcing he has made his college decision and the recruiting process is over. In reality it means the coaching staffs at other schools begin recruiting even harder often leading the player to “de-commit” and say he’s going somewhere else.

In the modern world of college football a “commitment” simply means “the school I currently think I might attend…maybe.”

2. Everyone always likes their class.
No matter how fierce the recruiting battles, no matter how many recruits are gained or lost during the year, by the time Signing Day rolls around every team will claim victory. Official recruiting parties will be held across the country and all coaches will say they got the guys they wanted and there are future stars in the class. Hands will be shaken and backs will be patted and everyone goes home happy. Optimism is undefeated on Signing Day.

3. Highly rated players aren’t always great…unless they are.
If you’re going to follow recruiting you have to learn one thing: If your team’s class isn’t ranked very high you immediately shout, “Recruiting rankings don’t mean anything!” Then you list all the examples of highly rated players who failed and lowly rated guys who succeeded.

For example, in Arizona’s 2008 recruiting class Robert Golden was a five-star recruit and Juron Criner was a two-star recruit. Both are starters but who has had the better career thus far, and whose stock would you rather own? Doesn’t this make the star system meaningless?

But if you look at the Wildcats’ 2007 class you see The Man Who Would Become GRONK! listed as a four-star recruit. He certainly lived up to the hype even in two short seasons. In the same class you have QB Bryson Beirne as a two-star recruit. Not much was expected of him and, sure enough, he’s third string on the depth chart with little chance of moving up.

People who want to mock Arizona fans who follow recruiting will always point to the class of 2006. Perhaps the most exciting moment in the history of UA football recruiting was the day Louis Holmes announced he was coming the Tucson. The story was that even as Holmes was walking toward his press conference Pete Carroll was on his cell phone trying to get Holmes to come to USC. The all-world defensive end chose Arizona and we all thought we had the next Tedy Bruschi. After two full seasons Holmes barely had more sacks (six) than recruiting stars (5).

On the other hand Cat fans who live for recruiting can point to 2005 as a year it was all worth it. Willie Tuitama and Eben Britton were four-star recruits, Mike Thomas had three stars, Spencer Larsen had two stars, and all of them became stars. Sometimes you win all the way around.

There’s nothing wrong with keeping up with recruiting. It’s a great way to pass the time as you wait for spring practice. Just watch out for the roller coaster highs and lows and be sure to celebrate the student-athletes who ultimately decide to attend your favorite university.

Happy Signing Day!

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Basketball Note – In the last ten Pac-10 games the home team is 8-2. Guess who has the two? I’ll give you a hint: It rhymes with Barizona Date Fun Levels.

The Cats are alone in second place and the game on Sunday is a chance to move into first. If Sean Miller was a football recruit he would get eleven stars.

(If I have to write another one of these next week I’m going to be really upset.)

Wow. That came out of nowhere. I guess Sonny Dykes really got the head coaching bug when he expressed interest in the Texas Tech job. I worried when Jim Livengood went to UNLV and started looking for a football coach. I was concerned until Tuberville was hired at Tech and he had his offensive coordinator in place. Then I thought we were in the clear.

Louisiana Tech?

The Bulldogs have only had three winning seasons in the past decade. The last LA Tech coach to stay longer than four years and post a winning record retired in 1978. Yes, you can get to BCS bowl games from the WAC. But the league features a bully on blue turf that doesn’t look to be giving up its spot at the top of the heap any time soon.

Dykes will have to go great lengths to get his team a conference championship. Figuratively and literally. As the easternmost member of the Western Athletic Conference LA Tech has to travel 1,500 miles to Boise State, 1,700 miles to San Jose State, and 4,000 miles to Hawaii. Heck, they’re a full Texas away from their nearest conference foe (New Mexico State). At least Sonny will be killing it in the frequent flier miles department.

We did know this day was coming. Sonny has a head coach’s presence. If Mike Stoops took a job somewhere else Dykes was the guy I wanted to take over here. Whether in Tucson or elsewhere you knew Sonny Dykes was going to be following in his father’s footsteps. Eventually. We just didn’t want “eventually” to mean “right now.”

I thought Dykes would stick around at Arizona two or three more years, make a serious run at the Rose Bowl and then follow Mike Stoops’ example in taking over a rebuilding program in a BCS conference. He’s certainly shown he can rebuild an offense.

The Wildcat offense was dead when Sonny got here. Beyond dead. It had been buried, dug up, and killed again. In the first three years of Stoops’ tenure the Cats scored a measly 15, 23 and 17 points per game, ranking ninth in the Pac-10 each season. In Dykes’ three years the UA averaged 28, 37 and 27 points, and peaked as the third most potent Pac offense in 2008.

Sonny Dykes reintroduced the forward pass to Wildcat fans. Of the ten best games in terms of completions in Arizona history, eight of them happened under Dykes’ watch. Willie Tuitama owns every significant season and career passing record in the books, and he wasn’t even good enough to get an NFL tryout. Sonny knows offense.

And that’s what makes the timing of his departure so painful. Next year’s Wildcat offense is loaded, even without GRON… If we could get 2,400 yards from Nick Foles in Pac-10 play what could we get with a full season? If we scored enough to win eight games with a lot of new starters what could we do when the whole offense comes back?

Now we’re left with question marks. All the players are still here but their system might not be. Is there anyone on the staff capable to keeping everything in place? Is there anyone even left when Dykes finishes building his offensive staff at Louisiana Tech?

The good news is this is a fair more attractive job than when Sonny took over. Back to back bowl games and a head coach with four years left on his contract. A ton of experience on the offensive line and a quarterback in place. Whoever steps into the play-calling role will have every chance to succeed and build his own name.

Fare thee well, Sonny Dykes, and thanks for the memories. Three years weren’t enough but they sure were a great three years. Just leave our assistant coaches and recruits alone.

Goodbye, GRON…I mean, SONN…

Those four words may sum up Arizona Football better than any other. We got hit with another dose as superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski decided to enter the NFL draft with two years of college eligibility remaining.

The fact that he left early isn’t a surprise. From the first time you saw him drag a defensive back 12 yards you knew this press conference was coming. There was no way GRONK! was going to play four years of college bowl.

We just wish it was more than a year and a half.

Rob Gronkowski only caught passes in 20 games at Arizona. If you take his per-game averages and project them over a three year career (36 regular season games and two bowls) you get 142 catches, 2274 yards and 30 touchdowns. That receiving touchdown total would tie the UA school record and be more than Dennis Northcutt, Bobby Wade or Mike Thomas. All from a 265-pound tank in shoulder pads.

He caught 12 passes against Oregon in 2008. Would he have helped put the Ducks away in 2009?

He scored 12 touchdowns in 11 career home games. What would he have done in 2010 with a veteran offense and a favorable schedule?

Arizona went 10-2 when he caught at least three passes. What’s the record look like if he plays 13 straight?

We’ll never know. GRONK! has become GRON…

Incredible but incomplete.

It doesn’t do any good to be bitter at Big Rob. My gut says he’s going to be disappointed with his draft position but I hope he blows up the combine and storms into the first round. A great way to attract NFL talent is to put guys in the NFL and have them become stars.

So what do the Wildcats do now? The quick answer is the same as this year since #48 didn’t play a down, but if you look at the passing numbers over the second half of the season you know that isn’t good enough.

There are two options. You either try to develop tight end AJ Simmons as a legit threat or you go exclusively to four wide receiver sets.

If the Cats do go small we need somebody willing to run over the middle and catch tough passes in traffic. If the safeties and linebackers aren’t occupied in the center of the field we aren’t going to find any room on the perimeter.

Even with a down-the-middle threat the guys on the outside need to figure out how to beat press coverage. Sharper routes? Crossing patterns? Back-shoulder fades like they run in the NFL? Whatever it is it has to be priority #1 this offseason. Nick Foles and the Wildcats will not see another seven-yard cushion until they start torching bump-and-run coverage.

An all-world tight end could have been the final piece on a legendary offense. But at least now the injury issue is resolved and the team can go into spring practice knowing exactly what it needs to do.

Fare thee well, Robert Gronkowski, and thanks for the memories. Twenty games weren’t enough but they sure were a great twenty games.

Goodbye, GRONK!