The last time Matt Scott faced Toledo he led the Cats to -2 points.
Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Merry Football Christmas!

You can watch football games today! Pac-12 games, even! Lots of them!

Yes, it’s a heavy exclamation point day. The 100-degree weather feels a little cooler as college football returns. Read on for the Pac-12 TV schedule, a weekend preview and thoughts on Rich Rodriguez’s first game as the Arizona Wildcats’ head coach.

This Week in the Pac-12 (TWit-Pac) is happy to be back. All times Arizona/Pacific:

P12N = Pac-12 Network
CBSSN = CBS Sports Network

Note that it’s FOX and not Fox Sports Net. Will the first game televised as part of the Pac-12’s new deal with the home of the Simpsons feature the football robot?

And, yes, you’re reading that right: four games on Thursday. So it’s like Football Christmas combined with Football Thanksgiving! To the games…

Northern Colorado at Utah
Utah may be trying to intensify its new rivalry with Colorado by stealing a cupcake from CU’s backyard.

UCLA at Rice
In his first ever game as a college coach Jim Mora will be starting freshman Brett Hundley in his first ever game as a college quarterback.

WSU at BYU
This one will get the most eyeballs of today’s games. It’s on regular ol’ ESPN and, now that Hawaiʻi no longer uses the Run and Shoot, pass-happy fans will be relying on Mike Leach and Wazzu for their late-night aerial-attack snacks. Plus, who can say no to Cougar-on-Cougar action?

Northern Arizona at ASU
Arizona State College-Flagstaff renews its longstanding series with Arizona State College-Tempe. New Sun Devil coach Todd Graham isn’t starting a freshman quarterback but sophomore Taylor Kelly only threw four passes last year.

San Jose State at Stanford
The loss of Jim Harbaugh did not instantly kill the Cardinal program. Will the departure of Andrew Luck do the trick? Junior QB Josh Nunes only has half as many career passes as ASU’s Kelly.

Nevada at Cal
We spent a lot of time last year talking about Pac-12 coaches on the hot seat. Cal’s Jeff Tedford put up a winning season and survived but it’s not surprising to see his name on unpleasant lists again. Tedford and the Bears really need this game with trips to Ohio State and USC coming up in weeks three and four.

Colorado vs. Colorado State
This is the annual rivalry game known as the Rocky Mountain Showdown. Colorado has won seven of the 11 games in the series played in the Denver Broncos’ home stadium.

Hawaiʻi at USC
Norm Chow facing USC in his first game as head coach is an interesting story line but unless Chow gets to bring Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush with him this game won’t be much more than the first entry on Matt Barkley’s Heisman resume.

Toledo at ARIZONA
Do you remember the 41-2 game at Toledo two years ago? Juron Criner certainly looked like an NFL receiver that night (warning: loud music ahead).

Arkansas State at Oregon
The Ducks are taking a break from tough non-conference games this year with Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech, all at home. Bad news if you were hoping Oregon would get knocked around a bit before the Pac-12 opener with the Cats.

San Diego State at Washington
Washington has the Pac-12’s second-best returning quarterback in Keith Price. The last time the junior took the field he was producing 477 total yards and seven TDs in that ludicrous Alamo Bowl game.

Nicholls State at OSU – postponed
The Colonels of Thibodaux, Louisiana aren’t able to travel due to Hurricane Isaac. It’s said the makeup date could be Dec. 1 if Oregon State isn’t in the Pac-12 Championship Game. I think it’s safe to go ahead and book the game, Beavers.

* * *

36, 54, 28, 49, 60, 66, 44, 45, 42.

No, it’s not LOST II, those are the points Toledo put up in winning eight of its final nine games last year, including the Military Bowl. Not what you want to see if you’re an Arizona team with a lot of question marks on defense.

Add in that Rich Rodriguez is 0-4 in his coaching debuts at a new school and there’s a bit of intrigue to Saturday’s game. It certainly won’t be a repeat of the Idaho game from a few years back.

UA quarterback Matt Scott does not want a repeat of the last time he faced Toledo. Two years ago he game into the game backed up on his own 4-yard line and the series ended up with a holding penalty in the end zone for a safety.

Scott has come a long way since then and I expect the combination of Scott and running back Ka’Deem Carey to put on a show at Arizona Stadium this weekend. The trick will be out-showing the Rockets’ potent offense.

There are no head-turning games to open the season in the Pac-12 like last year’s Oregon/LSU tilt. The goal is for the conference to go 12-0 (well, 11-0 now) with much bigger games looming next week.

For Rich Rodriguez and the rest of the new coaches, it’s finally time to make that first impression.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is ready to make an impression on the tailgate spread. Join in all season long on Twitter and Facebook.

Cajun. It’s not just a hot wing sauce.
Photo by Tyler Kaufman-US PRESSWIRE

The final regular season weekend is here in the Pac-12 and neither division race has been decided. Last week’s upset has Oregon needing a win to clinch the North and the South is a mess because every (eligible) team has been upsettingly bad.

Two schools are finishing with a non-conference game including the Arizona Wildcats who finally get a shot at their not-so-hated archrivals, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.

TWIT-Pac is thankful for the Pac-12 football TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

Colorado (2-10 / 1-7) at Utah (7-4 / 4-4)
Utah used to end the season with BYU every year. Colorado’s season finale was always against Nebraska. Both sides are probably viewing the other as a step down.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Utah. We’re #11! We’re #11!

Cal (6-5 / 3-5) at ASU (6-5 / 4-4)
One team is 1-4 on the road. The other is 0-3 in November.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
ASU. Yeah, I said it. As we hinted last time Dennis Erickson really needs a couple wins to save his job. If you like watching the Sun Devils underachieving and losing the Territorial Cup you want Erickson to keep his job. If you like watching the Sun Devils underachieving and/or getting busted for cheating in football, basketball and baseball you want “Vice President for University Athletics” Lisa Love to keep her job.

Now, there is certainly risk involved with rooting for ASU. One, you feel dirty. Two, a win most likely puts the Devils in the Pac-12 Championship Game where they’re one fluke victory from the Rose Bowl. If you can’t take that chance (or if your sports conscience won’t allow it) root for Cal. But if you’re confident that Oregon can take care of business at home, root for Erickson to lock up a winning season here.

OSU (3-8 / 3-5) at Oregon (9-2 / 7-1)
Oregon State shows the importance of scheduling winnable non-conference games (and then actually winning them). Cal and the Beavers are both 3-5 in Pac-12 play yet the Bears are already assured of making a bowl game while OSU is staring at a 3-9 season. Mike Stoops had been calling for a downgrade in Arizona’s OOC schedules so it’ll be interesting to see what matchups are arranged for Rich Rodriguez.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Oregon. There will be no Pac-12 team in the BCS Championship Game this year. The conference can still get two teams into the BCS but only if Oregon secures the Rose Bowl leaving Stanford for the Fiesta.

Louisiana-Lafayette (8-3) at ARIZONA (3-8 / 2-7)
ASU, ShmayEssYoo; this is the real rivalry game. The Wildcats have had some monumental battles with Sun Belt teams over the years such as Arizona 14, North Texas 9 and Arizona 36, Idaho 29.

WSU (4-7 / 2-6) at Washington (6-5 / 4-4)
Husky fans probably felt a lot better about this game three weeks ago when they were 6-2. Now Washington needs a win just to ensure they don’t back into a losing season.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
WSU. The Wulff has come too far not to finish the hunt!

Notre Dame (8-3) at Stanford (10-1 / 8-1)
If you’re wondering why Arizona is playing a non-league game Thanksgiving weekend I blame Stanford. They’re playing Notre Dame which means they couldn’t play Cal who then had to play ASU who couldn’t play Arizona who got stuck peddling tickets on Facebook.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Stanford. The extra BCS money would help fill in the UA’s budgetary hole.

UCLA (6-5 / 5-3) at USC (9-2 / 6-2)
The Trojans are suddenly a top-10 team with a Heisman candidate. By the way, what’s stopping USC from declaring itself the 2011 Pac-12 champions? They have the best record in the South and they beat the presumed North champion. I’d print up t-shirts and send the bill to Reggie Bush.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
UCLA. Could you really fire Rick Neuheisel if he posted a 6-3 Pac-12 record with a win against USC? I say no. Move along, Mike Leach. No job openings to see here.

* * *

Any threat of the young Arizona players coasting after the Territorial Cup victory went away with the hiring of Rich Rodriguez this week. The new Wildcat coach will get his first look at his new players in action and you know what they say about first impressions.

For the fans it’s one last chance to see the seniors take the field. This year hasn’t been what anybody wanted but this class has had a good run. They went to three bowl games after the program had nine years with nothing. They won at ASU and at USC to finish tied for 2nd in the Pac-10 in 2009. They won at ASU again this year to finish 3-1 for their careers against their rivals. These Cats were part of what will hopefully be the foundation that Rodriguez builds on to finally – finally! – get Arizona to that next level.

This class has also left its mark on the UA record book. Nick Foles led the way by becoming the Wildcats’ all-time and single-season leader in completions and yards.

Juron Criner is currently tied with Theopolis Bell for the all-time touchdown receptions record and Criner joins two other seniors among the career reception leaders. Criner is 4th with 200 catches, David Douglas sits tied for 6th with 142 receptions, and David Roberts is 11th at 126 grabs, five behind Syndric Steptoe for 10th. Criner owns the 4th and 7th best single-season reception totals for his last two years and Gino Crump came out of nowhere this year to tie Bobby Wade with 62 receptions in a season, the 9th most in school history.

Trevin Wade is tied for 10th with 12 career interceptions. And let’s not forget Keola Antolin. He’s no one’s idea of a superstar back but he is about to become the 6th UA player to lead the team in rushing three times and he has had a knack for the most important task in football: scoring touchdowns. Remember all the times you watched Trung Canidate race into the end zone? Antolin has done it the exact same 25 times, the 4th highest total in Arizona history. Add in Antolin’s three receiving touchdowns and he’s 6th in all-purpose touchdowns, two behind Criner’s 30.

So go ahead and get on out to Arizona Stadium one last time. Tickets start at the price of a value meal and you’ll be able to sit pretty much wherever you want. Say good-bye to the seniors, say hello to Rich Rod, and enjoy the last day of UA tailgating and football for 10 long months.

* * *

The BasketCats are finding life a little difficult in Year 1 A.D. (After Derrick). With the 6-7 Jesse Perry as the only hint of a post presence Arizona is a one-trick pony at this point. If the 3s go down the Cats look good (like against St. John’s) but if they don’t it can get ugly (as in both games since).

Here is Arizona’s after-Thanksgiving hoops schedule:

May all your holiday weekend shot attempts find the bottom of the net.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell will be stuffing himself into a new seat on Saturday. Gobble gobble Twitter and Facebook.

“Can I see some ID?”
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

For one night everything came together for the Arizona Wildcats football team.

Tim Kish’s debut as the interim head coach was a rousing success and the blowout of UCLA should be enjoyed as long as possible.

Just don’t try to read anything into it.

This win should stand alone. A one-game perfect storm of emotion and execution. Don’t try to make it a predictor of things to come. I know Arizona’s remaining Pac-12 opponents each lost their last game and the combined score was 185-60, but the Cats don’t need any expectations.

As if they weren’t already going to be big underdogs playing a 5-2 team on the road, half the two-deep will be missing from the secondary for at least a half against Washington.

Enjoy the UCLA game, let the Wildcats go out and play ball, and enjoy the UCLA game some more.

On we go…

On progress
The Arizona offensive line had a tremendous showing on Thursday. In addition to the 254 rushing yards the Cats only allowed one sack, had just one holding penalty and committed no false starts. There were no illegal snaps either.

On aggression
Early in the 2nd quarter Arizona was at the UCLA 34 and Kish faced the first 4th down of his head coaching career. First of all, you know things are going well when you have 21 points before you see 4th down. But even with a 14-point lead Kish went for it on 4th-and-4. Nick Foles converted with a pass to Gino Crump, the Cats scored three plays later and the rout was on. There is no reason for the KishCats not to keep gambling as the year goes on.

On the attendance
It was the smallest crowd at Arizona Stadium since Mike Stoops’ first Pac-10 game, and it was very disappointing. I probably shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up for a big turnout but I did.

Playing on a Thursday isn’t an excuse because there were over 50,000 at the Dennis Dixon/Oregon game four years ago. I get that some people couldn’t get off work early but showing up late is better than not showing up at all.

I’ll never understand the strategy of only going to games (or even scrimmages) when the team wins. It’s like planting a field, complaining about how long it’s taking to grow and then saying you’re not going to water it again until you see some crops.

Those who were at the UCLA game were treated to a great show and I look forward to sitting among you the rest of the year.

On the uniforms
Forget the double-eagle flex, Kish’s biggest adjustment was obviously doing his uniform combination research. He found the only home combo with a perfect record and added to its perfection.

Contrast that to Stoops who sent his team out for the Oregon State game in the same combination that had lost to USC the previous week. It was the first time Arizona had worn the same combo following a loss since the Cal/USC games in 2005. Both then and now the fashion faux pas contributed to five-game losing streaks. When you don’t dress for success you undress for failure. Speaking of which…

On the streaker
I’m not going to be pretend to be morally superior. I laughed. I thought it was an impressive prank. But if the guy was hoping for leniency from a judge and/or university officials he shouldn’t be doing interviews where he says his only regret is not doing a sack dance.

On the brawl
Again, I’m not going to feign righteous indignation. It was exciting. It was great to see the Wildcats fighting for each other after a week (and season) of turmoil. No, you shouldn’t throw punches at anyone and those who were suspended got what they deserved. No, I don’t want to see Arizona starting any more fights this season. But showing some fire in a game between two desperate teams the week after your coach got fired? Seeing a bunch of Wildcats leaving the sideline a couple days after reading this? Didn’t ruin my night at all.

On the record book
Eight different players share the UA record for most touchdown receptions in a game with three, but Juron Criner became the first Cat pass-catcher to do it twice. Criner’s triple against UCLA matched his output against Oregon in the what-might-have-been game in 2009.

On good company
The most thrilling finish in college football this weekend was Michigan State’s Hail Mary. The Spartans just happen to be coached by Mark Dantonio, the best friend of Tim Kish. The most thrilling finish in the NFL this weekend was the Denver Broncos’ 15-point rally. Tim Tebow just happened to be praying with Spencer Larsen during the game-winning kick.

Coincidence? You decide.

Either way it was a great week to be associated with the Arizona Wildcats.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is always trying to catch the ricochet. Knock it down on Twitter and Facebook.

We can’t hear you.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

The halftime score was 14-10.

That certainly was not expected but how the Arizona Wildcats got there was no surprise based on the question marks going into the 2011 football season.

As soon as one season ends speculation begins about the next season. How many players will be coming back and what did they do the previous year? Then it’s a matter of waiting until the season starts to see if the sum of the new parts matches the projections.

Arizona had a lot of question marks coming into the season and those question marks were all on display against Northern Arizona. The season opener emphasized what we already knew about the 2011 Wildcats:

The offensive line is inexperienced.
The five new starters became six with an unannounced pregame injury. There were two false starts and an illegal snap. Nick Foles was only sacked once but he was flushed from the pocket a handful of times. However, if you block well enough for your quarterback to complete 80% of his passes for 400 yards and five scores, you get a passing grade.

The QB situation is strange.
By the end of the game every starter was on the sideline…except the franchise quarterback. Not exactly textbook. Unless Bryson Beirne is going to be able to go this week (and every week after that) Stoops is going to have to decide if he’d rather redshirt senior Matt Scott or freshman Daxx Garman. Trying to save both by having Foles take every snap is just asking for trouble.

The secondary is missing two starters.
Adam Hall and Jonathan McKnight are out. If you factor in that Robert Golden was playing corner until Hall’s injury, only Marquis Flowers is playing his originally projected position within the secondary. McKnight’s replacement, Shaquille Richardson, quickly became NAU’s best friend.

The D-line can be controlled.
The defensive backs take the initial blame when the opposing quarterback completes 16 straight passes but the back side of that is the line failing to tip any passes or hurry the QB into bad throws. On NAU’s 7 ½ minute scoring drive the Lumberjacks converted three 3rd downs. There were no impose-your-will moments for the defensive front in the second quarter.

The running game is made up of short passes.
Keola Antolin had 41 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving. His touchdown flight (the most athletic play of his career) was on a swing pass. It’s the correct strategy. No sense in trying to establish the run when you’ve established you can’t run.

The receivers are plentiful.
The names we were supposed to hear behind Juron Criner were David Douglas and Dan Buckner. Instead fans were introduced to names like Gino Crump and Austin Hill. Foles did a great job of spreading it around.

The superstars are Criner and Foles.
An even distribution of wealth is all well and good but Criner quickly confirmed that his go-to status is firmly intact. There may be times this year when the Cats have to dust off the Mackovic playbook from when Jason Johnson threw to Bobby Wade on every down.

The kickers are not superstars.
It was a bad sign when Alex Zendejas couldn’t keep his job even though Jaime Salazar wasn’t able to make a field goal beyond 37 yards in scrimmages. They say if you have two quarterbacks you don’t have any. Well, if you have two kickers your fans don’t have any hair, fingernails or sanity left.

The kicking problems aren’t going away. It’s easy to say, “They need to get better!” but it’s not going to happen so the team just needs adjust. No complaining. PATs cannot be assumed. If the game comes down to a field goal attempt you didn’t do enough in the previous 59 minutes to win.

Mike Stoops appears to have accepted the fact he’s not going to have a running game this year. He needs to accept the fact he’s not going to have a kicking game either. (And he needs to correct it in the offseason.)

The scoreboard is big but quiet.
The debut of the monstrous video board mirrored the team’s debut: The highlights were exceptional but an incomplete performance took away from the “wow” factor. The audio was bad and nothing was shown on the board except replays and the occasional fan cam. Hopefully the scoreboard was using its vanilla playbook for the opener as well.

So the Jacks kept things close for a half and shone a light on the Wildcats’ deficiencies. Now that light is going to get really bright.

At Oklahoma State then Stanford and Oregon at home. All three teams with top-10 aspirations. All three games on ESPN. Then the schedule “eases up” with a trip to play USC.

There are two ways to look at the upcoming death march. You can either wallow in woe or get excited about the opportunity. The UA’s bowl road map says 2-4 at the bye week. It’s pretty safe to say the Oregon State game is now the most winnable in the bunch.

The next four weeks are freebies. Nothing to lose (assuming all anterior ligaments stay cruciated) and a ton to gain.

Throw the ball to Criner. Throw the ball to everyone else. Force the issue on defense to get off the field. And if you find yourself down three late in the game?

Throw it to Criner again.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is an it-is-what-it-is type of fan. Adjust and adapt on Twitter and Facebook.

Pac-12 fans are going to want to hug Commissioner Larry Scott.
Photo by Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

No new Sean Miller rumors this week?

Good. Now we can go back to talking about the games. Specifically, what does the new Pac-12 media rights deal mean to those of us who watch the games?

Yes, the money is the key thing. The dollar amounts are staggering (going from $54 million a year to a quarter of a billion dollars a year?!) and the huge revenue bump will help the conference and its schools better compete on a national level.

But Joe Q. Fan doesn’t see any of that money. The price of his season tickets are going to continue to go up. How does he benefit from this?

He gets to see his favorite team play. A lot.

That’s all we want as fans. We want to see the games. We want to go to as many games in person as we can and we want to watch the rest of the games on TV.

Thanks to Larry Scott’s historic deal, Pac-12 fans are about to have their dream come true.

Let’s break down the most important issues for We The People:

What channels will show the games?

Pac-12 football games will be carried by over-the-air networks ABC and Fox, cable networks ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and FX, and the soon-to-be created Pac-12 network. There will also be live online broadcasts on the Pac-12’s version of ESPN3.com.

Men’s basketball games will be on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Fox Sports Net, the Pac-12 network and online.

It means even if you only have rabbit ears for your TV you’ll get to see some football games. If you have basic cable you’ll get a lot of football and basketball. If you have the Pac-12 network, you’ll get everything.

When Mr. Scott says all the games will be on TV does he really mean all the games?

Yes. Every single football and men’s basketball game will be broadcast somewhere.

All hail Women’s Tennis Guy!

Indeed.

But we already see all the Arizona Wildcats basketball games every year.

If you’re a basketball-only fan this isn’t going to mean much to you, but if you live and die (and die…and die) with UA football this is monumental. There was an entire generation of Wildcat fans who had no idea what Oregon State’s home uniforms looked like.

Gone are the days of hunting for a sports bar that can pick up an obscure satellite feed from the Pacific Northwest. No more sitting through the tape-delayed broadcast of a game that you already know who won. No more radio-only games.

It’s also a chance for fans of the non-revenue sports to see some games on TV. For a baseball guy like me it’s like a sub-1 WHIP (which, trust me, is really good).

What cable/satellite/internet provider do I need to get?

That’s the missing piece right now. The Pac-12 network first has to start existing, then it needs distribution partners. The Big Ten had to fight to get cable companies to carry its network. ESPN3.com is only available on select internet service providers.

It’s still possible there will be grumbling if it turns out Pac-12 fans won’t be able to get the new network from their existing satellite/cable provider but Larry Scott is confident his channel will be widely distributed. If we’ve learned anything in the past two years it’s that one messes with a confident Larry Scott at one’s own risk.

Aren’t the new guys getting really lucky in all this?

Tell me about it. Colorado would’ve been stuck shoveling cow pies behind Bevo. Utah would have giddily agreed to join the Pac-10 even if the new TV contract was for 27 bucks. Now, not only does Utah get access to the BCS – and BCS money, and the best of the BCS bowls – but the Utes fall into the richest media rights deal in the nation. Nice work if you can get it.

Forget the Utes. This is the greatest news ever! I’m going to get to see every game of Nick Foles and Juron Criner’s senior season!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, cowboy. The Pac-12 starts this fall but the new Pac-12 TV deal doesn’t begin until the fall of 2012.

2011 games will still fall under the old deal which means hoping your games get picked up by ABC, ESPN, Versus, Fox Sports Arizona (and other regional FSN channels), or FX.

The Wildcats already have a third of their ’11 football schedule selected by ESPN but the road games at OSU and Washington might not be as attractive. If you can’t make it to Arizona Stadium you probably aren’t going to see the epic clash with Louisiana-Lafayette over Thanksgiving weekend.

Hang tight, Pac-12 fans. Let 2011 serve as one final reminder of the way things were so we can all fully appreciate everything we see in 2012.

Everything.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell loves to tote the remote. Change your channel to Twitter and Facebook.

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.

It's clear ASU has trouble scoring.
Photo by Deirdre Hamill/The Arizona Republic

First, keeping things in perspective, McKale Center will be hosting an event far more important than basketball.

Now for the athletic distractions in the Pac-10 this week.

Wed. Jan. 12
(all times Arizona/Mountain)

Thu. Jan. 13

Sat. Jan. 15

Sun. Jan. 16

The breakdowns:

Thu. Jan. 13

UCLA (9-6 / 1-2) at OSU (7-8 / 2-2)
After a surprising sweep to start the Pac-10 the season the Beavers lost the second weekend’s games by a combined 45 points.

Washington (12-3 / 4-0) at Stanford (9-5 / 2-1)
The Huskies might be a just a little distracted this weekend which could slow down their runaway favorite status.

USC (10-6 / 2-1) at Oregon (7-9 / 0-4)
Did the Ducks blow their chance at a conference win when they only scored 55 against ASU?

WSU (12-4 / 2-2) at Cal (8-7 / 1-2)
Washington State got a much-needed home sweep last weekend. Can they recapture their early-season magic on the road?

Sat. Jan. 15

ASU (8-7 / 1-3) at ARIZONA (14-3 / 3-1)
In their last five games the Sun Devils have a high of 61 points. We’re going to find out how many points rivalry emotion is worth.

UCLA at Oregon
UCLA has now lost four straight games to USC. What in Wooden’s name has happened to Ben Howland?

WSU at Stanford
I hope Stanford goes on to have a great season after the Cardinal’s graciousness in Tucson last weekend.

USC at OSU
KO & Co. are an overtime loss to Washington away from running this place.

Sun. Jan. 16

Washington at Cal
Cal won the battle for 8th place against ASU. UCLA better not get comfortable in that 7 slot.

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Arizona football fans got some great news when Mike Stoops announced Juron Criner will return for his senior season. I expected Nick Foles to come back but Criner’s “50/50” talk after the Alamo Bowl made me think he was gone.

We can now officially get really fired up about the Wildcat passing game in 2011. All that’s needed now is, oh, a whole new offensive line. But what happens if Dr. Robert Anae can work some magic with the new guys? It’s the offseason now so unbridled optimism is allowed.

Speaking of the offseason, Monday’s game made it two consecutive years where the Oregon offense piled up mountains of stats in the regular season but flamed out in the BCS bowl game. Does this mean Oregeddon is the new Run-n-Shoot?

I hope we all appreciated watching a Pac-10 team playing for the crystal football because it may be a while before we see another one. It was amazing enough that Oregon was able to run the table this year, but the task gets even tougher next season. A Pac-12 national championship contender would have to win ten conference games. That’s a rugged 10-pack for the 12-Pac.

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Scott Terrell does not mind that UCLA and ASU hoops are struggling. For more lack of concern see Facebook and Twitter!

What are Cat fans hoping to find under the tree?

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the child-mat…

Yeah, that’s not going to work.

When attempts at rhyming fail it’s time to go back to something we can all count on: the list. Which items would give fans of the Arizona Wildcats the merriest of Christmases and happiest of New Years?

- Win the Alamo Bowl
Who cares what the point spread is! This is college football bowl season! Anything can happen! Except this year, when the favorite has won – and covered – in all six bowl games thus far. So just in case…

- Score a point in the Alamo Bowl
Progress!

- Juron Criner comes back
If you want to see #82 breaking records at Arizona Stadium next year you want every other stud junior wide receiver to go pro.

- Jeff Hammerschmidt becomes the new secondary coach and Joe Robinson returns to coach special teams
Why would a guy leave his alma mater to take his old job? Some people need a challenge. Arizona’s special teams are definitely…challenged.

- Bill Bedenbaugh stays and develops the world’s nastiest offensive line
The Wildcats’ co-offensive coordinator is expected to be in demand at multiple places this offseason. Replacing five starters would be hard enough without having to replace the guy who coached them.

- The basketball team contends in the Pac-10
If Washington underachieves a bit and the Cats reach their full potential, late February could be very interesting in Sean Miller’s second season.

- Earn an NCAA tournament bid
Enough is enough. The time is now. This one-year March Madness drought has been more than any Wildcat fan can bear!

- Derrick Williams comes back
Root for an NBA lockout.

- The softball team beats UCLA this time around
The Bruins now have 11 (legal) championships to Mike Candrea’s eight. The gap must be closed.

- Baseball hosts a regional
The Cats made the NCAA tournament last year, but with almost the entire team coming back the goal is to earn post-season games at home. Just borrow ASU’s application form. They won’t need it this year.

-Start a senior quarterback in 2011…and 2012
I’m in the camp that says you sit Matt Scott in the early part of the 2011 season to keep his redshirt available. If you upset some teams early and think you can have a big season, go ahead and play him. But having Scott as the undisputed senior starter in 2012 sounds really appealing.

- Beat Stanford
The 2010 season fell apart starting with the blowout in Palo Alto so revenge would be sweet. It’s too bad Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck of the Carolina Panthers won’t be here to see it.

- Go to a 4th straight bowl game
It has never been done at Arizona. If the senior class can pull it off they would have bragging rights forever.

- Beat ASU
Steven Threet and Brock Osweiler combine to throw five interceptions as the Wildcats win by a score of 24 (three TDs, three two-point conversions) to 6.

- Win the Pac-12 South and travel to Eugene to play for the Nose Hole
Hey, if you’re going to make a list you may as well ask for some really good stuff.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Wildcats (and even Sun Devils) everywhere!

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Scott Terrell believes in the spirit of giving. Your presents are on Facebook and Twitter.

Alex Zendejas was great in 2010. Wait… What?!
Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

The regular season is history for the Arizona Wildcats football team. That means it’s a great time to update the record books and see how the stars of 2010 compare with the greats of yesteryear.

Some of this year’s stats are very impressive. And some don’t make any sense at all.

Juron Criner is having one of the best seasons ever by an Arizona receiver. He needs just one touchdown reception in the Alamo Bowl to make 11 for the year which would tie the single-season record shared by Theopolis “T” Bell and Mike Thomas.

With two catches Criner would have 75, the 5th best season total in school history. Four receptions gets him 4th place and 11 grabs would vault him up to #3. The junior from Las Vegas needs 144 receiving yards to become the 6th UA receiver to hit 2,000 in a career.

It’s not a surprise the guy throwing to Criner is also making a dent in the record book. Nick Foles needs 28 passing yards to move his career total to 5,425 which would be good for 7th place all time among Arizona quarterbacks. If Foles can pass for 327 against Oklahoma State he would move into 6th place and 352 yards would get him the 5th spot on the all-time list.

Looking at this year alone Foles is 89 yards away from posting the UA’s 4th 3,000-yard season. Since he’s not playing Nebraska again his chances are pretty good.

The superlatives continue for the 6-5 gunslinger from Austin. One passing touchdown would give Foles a career-high 20 on the year. A second TD throw makes him the 7th Wildcat passer with 40 in a career.

Foles needs five completions to tie for the 3rd best single-season total in school history (259), and seven completions to pass his total from last year as the new 2nd-best mark. It’s worth noting the last four years rank as the four best seasons in terms of completed passes in Arizona history. Thank you, Sonny Dykes!

Just because: David Douglas, David Roberts and Terrence Miller all have a season-long reception of exactly 38 yards.

Moving to the ground game, senior running back Nic Grigsby needs 102 rushing yards to become the 6th Wildcat to hit 3,000 career yards. The problem is you have to add up the last six games to get him over 100 yards. Grigsby needs two rushing TDs for 10 on the season and 30 for his career.

With three sacks against ASU Ricky Elmore jumped all the way from 5th place to become the 2nd most prolific sacker in school history. To catch Tedy Bruschi he only needs, oh, 26.5 sacks in the bowl game.

Looking at the Pac-10 team stats Arizona led the conference in passing offense. That’s because Foles led the league in passing yards per game and Criner led the conference in both receptions and yards. Elmore was also the Pac-10 leader in sacks.

You may want to sit down for this next one…

Alex Zendejas was the 2nd best kicker in the Pac-10.

It’s true. Sparky’s new best friend made 81% of his field goal attempts which was #2 in the conference. Let the head-shaking begin.

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There needs to be an edit to last week’s list of Nick Foles’ game-winning drives. I had removed the ’09 Cal game because during the final UA drive the deficit was 8 points, making it a potential game-tying drive and not a game-winner.

But Foles still had a chance to be the hero on the previous possession when the Cats were only down two with less than five minutes to play. If you recall, that’s the drive that ended in the Faux Pass.

Nick Foles’ (Corrected) Potential Game-Winning Drives

It’s still a very, very impressive list.

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In basketball news, Arizona does battle with NAU on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona. The quest for the state championship begins!

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Scott Terrell is trying to crack the top ten among Arizona stat watchers who wear big red hats. Rank him on Facebook and Twitter.)

Who will be the Wildcats’ hero…like Kyle Williams last year?
Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

Arizona vs. Arizona State.

The Wildcats’ bowl options have become clear.

Arizona vs. Arizona State.

Juron Criner may be playing his final home game.

Did I mention it’s Arizona vs. Arizona State?

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Here’s my one note from the Oregon game: Juron Criner is really, really good.

Just in case Criner ends up in the NFL next year make sure you take the time to appreciate his greatness. It’s been overshadowed by the team’s recent struggles but Juron has dialed it up about 12 notches since the start of Pac-10 play to put together one of the best seasons ever by an Arizona receiver.

Criner’s 67 receptions this year are the 6th best single-season mark in UA history. His 1,091 receiving yards are the 4th most in school history. The eight touchdown catches are just three shy of Arizona’s all-time record for a season. All this while hobbling around most of the year with multiple leg and foot injuries.

Thursday may be Senior Night at Arizona Stadium but reserve an extra hand for the junior with the great hands.

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The Pac-10 bowl bubble has only two teams left:

ALREADY IN:
Oregon (11-0)
Stanford (11-1)
Arizona (7-4)

BUBBLE IN:
Washington (5-6)

BUBBLE OUT:
OSU (5-6)

NOT ELIGIBLE:
ASU (4-6*)
Cal (5-7)
UCLA (4-7)
WSU (2-9)
USC (Bushed)

(*ASU’s second FCS win not included.)

The last two bowl bids come down to two rivalry games. Washington is very glad their rival is the worst team in the league while Oregon State is lamenting the fact their rival is the best.

Even though Arizona State can no longer earn the six valid wins necessary to qualify for the postseason the Sun Devils refuse to give up their bowl dreams. They aren’t going to let silly things like “rules” and “math” get in the way.

Oregon will play in either the BCS championship game or the Rose Bowl. Stanford will finish in the BCS top four and get invited to either the Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl, which means the 2010 Cardinal will not suffer the same fate as the 1998 Wildcats. What Luck.

Arizona will play in either the Alamo Bowl on Wed. Dec. 29 or the Holiday Bowl on Thu. Dec. 30. If the Cats beat ASU it means a trip to San Antonio. The Alamo Bowl could still invite Arizona even after a loss since the UA would be the only seven-win Pac-10 team available, but I doubt it. If Washington beats WSU look for the Alamo to take a 6-6 Husky team on a three-game winning streak over a 7-5 Wildcat team on a four-game losing streak.

So the Wildcats could play in the Pac-10’s second-best bowl for the second straight year. Get your “I smell Davy Crockett!” signs ready.

All it takes is one win.

ASU won by three touchdowns last week while Arizona lost by 19. Advantage Sun Devils, right? Not so fast, Lee Corso‘s friends. Two games in the Mike Stoops era taught us to never trust momentum in this series: the 2004 UA win and the 2006 loss, both in Tucson.

Stoops’ first team was 2-8 after losing to USC by 40. The Cats had no chance to beat 8-2 ASU…except they beat 8-2 ASU.

Two years later Mo’s shoe was on the other foot as the Wildcats came into the Territorial Cup game riding a three-game winning streak to clinch bowl eligibility. There was no way they were going to lose at home to a mediocre ASU team…until Rudy Carpenter threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter.

You can throw the records out the window and that includes the November records. The team that hoists the Cup will be the team that plays the best for 3.5 hours on Thu. Dec. 2, 2010.

My one key to this game: Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore. OK, maybe that’s two keys, but you get the idea. Arizona’s senior defensive ends were having a dominant season with 13.5 combined sacks going into the Stanford game. Now the pair has…13.5 sacks. The Wildcats as a team haven’t sacked the opposing quarterback once during the three-game losing streak. If that stat doesn’t change the losing streak will reach four.

ASU QB Brock Osweiler played tremendously well off the bench versus UCLA, but the 27 passes he completed last week were pretty close to the 37 completions he tallied in his first 22 games as a Sun Devil. This is not an experienced quarterback.

Osweiler has thrown for 779 yards in his career. Nick Foles has thrown for 801 yards in his last two games.

If Reed and Elmore can get to the quarterback on a regular basis there will be turnovers which should give Foles and Criner enough opportunities to score the points necessary to keep the Territorial Cup in Tucson for a third straight year.

Get out your rivalry haikus and pizza delivery smack.

It’s Arizona vs. Arizona State.

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(Looking for some friendly rivals? Try Facebook and Twitter!)