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.)

It only looked like the Arizona defense was lying down.
Photo by Jason O. Watson/US Presswire

The thought was the Arizona/Stanford game would be a repeat of last year’s high-scoring affair.

It turns out that was only half right.

The Cardinal offense certainly got whatever it wanted. The fear going into the game was the Arizona secondary wouldn’t be good enough, and it wasn’t. The hope was that the pass rush could bail out the DBs, but it couldn’t. It quickly became apparent the UA would have to match the 43 points it scored last year to keep up.

Instead, Stanford’s well-timed blitzes made Nick Foles look like he was carrying two month’s worth of rust instead of two weeks. Matt Scott didn’t suit up due to injury and Nic Grigsby got one carry before hobbling off again.

It’s hard to win a shootout when you’re short on bullets.

The result was a blowout that took the Wildcats from controlling their own destiny in the Pac-10 race to needing help to finish third.

Arizona will not be going to the Nose Hole. There will not be an all-the-marbles rematch with Oregon the day after Thanksgiving. Jim Harbaugh’s crew put the Cats into their misery early.

It’s OK for Wildcat Universe to be disappointed. It was disappointing last year. It will continue to be disappointing until Arizona Football finally wins the game that clinches the conference championship.

The Arizona faithful were hoping for a peak year and the dream was the peak would reach all the way to football heaven. I still think this is a peak year in the sense that next season will probably be a step back. That feeling got stronger after getting a look at next year’s hideous schedule. But there will be plenty of time to sift through 2011 when this season ends.

What are Wildcats supposed to make of 2010 now?

A lot. If you can quickly get over the Stanford game.

As great as the Cardinal looked it’s hard to think of them as unfortunate, but Andrew will feel unLucky if Auburn runs the table (or Oregon loses exactly once). Last year an 8-1 record won the Pac-10 by two full games. This year it could mean a consolation trip to the Alamo Bowl.

Stanford’s BCS hopes got a boost when Alabama lost and TCU looked dominant in beating a future member of the Pac-12 South. It now appears the Cardinal just needs Auburn to lose at Alabama to put TCU in the national championship game opposite Oregon and allow the 11-1 team from the Pac-10 to head to Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

Why are we discussing this? Because Stanford’s goals are now Arizona’s goals. Life as the third-best team in the conference means you root for the top two teams to make BCS bowls so you can move up a slot. It’s time for Pac-10 pride, even if it means swallowing your personal pride.

It’s just like changing time zones with the end of daylight savings time. No one wants to make the move but the world has shifted around you.

The key for the Wildcats – and Wildcat fans – is to bounce back in time for a huge home game this Saturday. The Stanford game was the crossroads for turning the season from Good to Incredible. The USC game is the crossroads for keeping Good from decomposing into Decent.

Arizona only has had two 10-win seasons in school history. The Cats have only finished in the AP top 25 seven times. Mike Stoops hasn’t done either of those things, but they’re both within reach right now.

Win the two home games, lock up nine wins and then you essentially have two bowl games to try and hit double-digits.

The Arizona Stadium crowd is going to have a big part in this. The difference between the Iowa and Cal games showed how much the fans’ energy (or lack thereof) can affect the performance on the field.

It’s USC. It’s an immediate second chance during prime time on ABC. Show up ready for redemption and revenge.

That and you don’t want to be staring down the barrel of a three-game losing streak heading into ASU week.

A lot of work needs to be done in a short amount of time. Priority number one is getting Nick Foles back up to speed.

Foles has thrown an interception in each of his six full games this year and four of them have come in the red zone. To fix it Nick needs to be more patient and hurry up. The patience is not feeling he has to force the ball into the end zone just because the team is within scoring distance. The hurrying up is more quickly getting to the decision to throw the ball out of bounds.

There is plenty of reason to believe Foles and the offense will be much better by season’s end. The timing will come back as the practice and game reps build up. The receivers will remember what the ball feels like. Keola Antolin and Greg Nwoko look like they could be the answer to the red zone woes. Juron Criner will still be Juron Criner.

There’s still time to do great things. Just hurry up.

Juron Criner had half of a record-breaking game.
Photo by Kelvin Kuo/US Presswire

The list of Pac-10 contenders got significantly smaller. The bowl bubble shrank as well. Bowl travel budgets will have to get bigger. And Juron Criner’s L.A. day was both big and small.

It was Reality Saturday for the last couple pretenders in the Pac-10 race. The Survivor Rankings assess the damage:

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

Two teams have been voted out as both Cal and Washington suffered embarrassing defeats. When you fall three games behind the conference leader and your senior quarterback gets injured, chances are it’s not your year.

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The bowl bubble watch also took a hit:

ALREADY IN:
Oregon (8-0)
Stanford (7-1)
Arizona (7-1)

BUBBLE IN:
OSU (4-3)
Cal (4-4)

BUBBLE OUT:
ASU (3-4*)
Washington (3-5)
UCLA (3-5)

(*ASU’s second FCS win not included.)

I am officially predicting the Pac-10 fails to fill all six of its bowl slots. I have OSU beating UCLA and WSU to finish with seven wins, Cal beating the Washington schools to get to six wins, Washington beating UCLA and WSU to finish with five wins, ASU beating UCLA to end up at four eligible wins, and UCLA beating nobody to stay at three wins.

The good news for the fans of the top three teams is they can already contemplate bowl travel plans.

Coaches and players set themselves up for failure if they don’t completely focus on their one-game season each Saturday but fans have no choice but to look ahead when it comes to bowl season. There are important questions to be answered: Can I get off work? Do we really need that new washing machine? My kids can just reopen last year’s presents, right?

Here is the 2010-’11 Pac-10 bowl schedule:

Bowl	Location	Pick	Date	Time (Local)	Vs.
Las Vegas	Las Vegas	5th	Wed. Dec. 22	6 p.m.	MWC
Alamo	San Antonio	2nd	Wed. Dec. 29	7:15 p.m.	Big 12
Holiday	San Diego	3rd	Thu. Dec. 30	7 p.m.	Big 12
Sun	El Paso	4th	Fri. Dec. 31	12 p.m.	ACC
Kraft Fight Hunger	San Francisco	6th	Sun. Jan. 9	6 p.m.	WAC

There’s also a game on New Year’s Day but I figure you can find that one on your own if need be.

As tough as it’s going to be for the Pac-10 to find six bowl eligible teams you would think Arizona wouldn’t slide past the Vegas Bowl, but the only way to ensure that is to win more games.

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Did someone say win? It’s time for your UCLA bonus thoughts!

The list of Arizona’s top 10 single-game receiving performances is a flat one. In 1996 Jeremy McDaniel caught 14 passes in the 56-55 overtime game at Cal. Behind him are seven different guys who each made 12 receptions in a game 10 different times including David Roberts once and Juron Criner twice.

Criner caught 8 passes in the first half against UCLA and was well on his way to the greatest receiving day in school history…except he didn’t have a single reception in the 2nd half. I guess that makes his game half perfect.

- – -

The red pants are now 4-0 when worn with the white helmets.

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The story of this game was 3rd down. Arizona built its lead in large part because it converted eight of its first 11 3rd-down opportunities. The Wildcats struggled to hold onto their lead because they failed on their final five attempts on 3rd down.

UCLA’s second touchdown came after the Bruins converted a 3rd-and-13. The flea-flicker TD was a couple plays after Richard Brehaut scrambled for 10 yards on 3rd-and-7. When you get stopped on 3rd down and you can’t get stops on 3rd down your chances of winning start to go down.

Fourth down was kinder to the Cats thanks to Jake Fischer’s fake punt but the play was almost a disaster. D’Aundre Reed missed his block giving a UCLA defender a clear path into the backfield but the Bruin didn’t see where the snap went so he ran right past Fischer. That’s where the element of surprise is your best friend.

- – -

Keola Antolin was already the official starting running back but he carried an extra-heavy workload when Nic Grigsby went out early with an ankle injury. Antolin is now the team leader in rushing and he has scored seven touchdowns in the last four games.

Greg Nwoko certainly isn’t the home run threat that Grigsby is but he reminded people he can move the pile between the tackles and he’s a nice receiver out of the backfield. Add Nwoko to the list of guys who have immediately contributed when one of the front line players went down.

- – -

UCLA found some success late in the game by blitzing Matt Scott and forcing him to make quick decisions and accurate throws from the pocket. The general strategy against Nick Foles is just the opposite: drop extra defenders into coverage since he’s not a threat to run. If Foles does come back against Stanford how will he adjust when the short throws are taken away?

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Why is Stanford favored by nine points against Arizona instead of the typical three or four? When Jim Harbaugh’s boys get on a roll they destroy people. Arizona had a strong 30-point win against Washington and a decent 8-point victory vs. UCLA, but the Cardinal beat those two teams by a combined score of 76-0.

You can score points against Stanford (USC put up 35 and even WSU scored 28) but no one has been able to stop Andrew Luck and the Cardinal offense. Can Arizona’s strong run defense make Stanford one-dimensional? Can the UA secondary play that one dimension better than it did against Iowa, Oregon State and UCLA?

I know your travel plans for Saturday include tuning in to find out.

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(Would you follow me if I asked nicely? Facebook and Twitter)

Lolomana Mikaele was robbed of his chance to live the dream.
Photo by Chris Morrison/US Presswire

The Arizona Wildcats are riding high after their dominant victory over Washington. Does it make them the team to beat among those trying to beat Oregon?

Sorting through the Duck-chasers, here are this week’s Survivor Rankings:

1. Oregon
2. Oregon State
3. ARIZONA
4. Cal
5. Washington
6. Stanford
X. Arizona State
X. UCLA
X. Washington State
X. USC

Not a whole lot of movement. Last week’s #2 drops to 5th and everyone else moves up. Cal and Washington are hanging on by a thread but they do both get a crack at Oregon so they’re technically still alive.

It’s worth noting that five of the six remaining contenders will reside in the Pac-12 North next year.

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The bowl bubble watch is crystal clear at the top as a couple more teams punched their postseason tickets:

ALREADY IN:
Oregon (7-0)
Stanford (6-1)
Arizona (6-1)

BUBBLE IN:
Cal (4-3)
OSU (3-3)
Washington (3-3)

BUBBLE OUT:
UCLA (3-4)
ASU (2-4*)

(*ASU’s second FCS win not included.)

Cal looks to be in pretty good shape after walloping Groupon U. The Bears still get WSU and they finish with three games at home. Yes, two of them are against Oregon and Stanford but there is the season finale against Washington in case a last-minute sixth win is needed.

Don’t dismiss the significance of the Wildcats getting eligible for a third straight bowl game. When you’ve only done something once before in your program’s history, it’s a big deal.

As for the rest of the team’s goals? We’ll see how things look after the UCLA game.

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More from the joy that was the Washington game:

The game started with a UA fumble and the secondary getting beat deep. Can’t start much worse, right? The Cats were so devastated at that point they went on to outscore the Huskies 44-7.

Matt Scott was a huge reason why. He made all the throws that were asked of him and even a couple that you won’t find in the training manual. There was the Tebowesque jump-pass to get the ball over the oncoming defender and into his running back’s hands. But nothing could top Scott’s final snap of the night when he dropped the ball, distracted the defense, picked it up and found Juron Criner in the end zone. It was the passing version of the fumblerooski.

- – -

Nick Foles’ passing efficiency rating is 156.37 for the year. Matt Scott’s is 156.28. Foles has completed 75.3% of his passes. Scott is up to 72.7%. Does this mean Arizona is now producing system quarterbacks?

- – -

The White/Red/Red uniform combination is now 3-0.

- – -

Nic Grigsby is deservedly getting recognition for moving into 2nd place on the UA’s career rushing touchdowns list but it should be noted that Keola Antolin has joined him in the top 10. With his two scores against Washington Antolin now has 19 career TDs on the ground, tying him with Chuck Levy and Clarence Farmer for the 8th most in school history.

The best part of Antolin’s career-long run wasn’t the move he put on the safety to turn a double into a home run, it’s Grigsby leading the way as a blocking back and Scott sprinting downfield to run interference. The formation with those three lined up next to each other is the speediest UA backfield since Trung Canidate lined up behind Keith Smith.

- – -

One Wildcat who did not have a good night was Trevin Wade. He absolutely whiffed on multiple one-on-one tackles and Washington’s second touchdown drive was the result of Wade grabbing air on a short third-down pass.

Maybe Wade could get some pointers from Nick Folk’s brother, the kicker who brought down Travis Cobb to save a touchdown. Why are your genes so strong, Nick Folk?

Speaking of strong-gened kickers, Alex Zendejas has now missed five extra points in the past two years. Why do you have no more eligibility, Nick Folk?

- – -

Hidden big play: Trailing by 16 at the end of the first half, UW completes a 43-yard pass. The Huskies rush to the line and snap the ball but Sione Tuihalamaka breaks through and sacks Jake Locker to set up a 2nd-and-20 and effectively kill the drive. Tuihalamaka didn’t have time to get into his three-point stance so he just juked the guard and made the hit before Locker could think.

In other sack news, the defensive ends did a great job of finding the football when they got near Locker. Ricky Elmore swatted the ball loose to record his sack and later D’Aundre Reed ripped it out on the play that was (incorrectly) blown dead.

With the trio of B.Reed, D.Reed and Elmore continuing to wreak havoc the only thing missing is a nickname. Just in time for Halloween I give you Breed, Dread, and Hell More.

Back to the fumble that wasn’t, they should have let Lolomana Mikaele’s recovery and rumbling return stand on principle alone. Let the big man tote the coconut!

- – -

Washington’s most embarrassing moment wasn’t the final score. It wasn’t Jesse Callier woofing with the Red Zone before the game and then dropping two passes including one off his facemask. The biggest Husky fail belonged to the UW cheerleaders. Late in the game, with the stands emptying, the Dawg cheer squad decided to try some new stunts. They attempted to do this but it ended up like this. There were no injuries except for bruised egos.

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Seeing the Boise State game Tuesday (?!) night got me thinking: What if Oregon loses to USC, Auburn loses to Alabama, Michigan State loses to Iowa, and Missouri loses to Nebraska? Do Boise State and TCU play for the national championship?

If the establishment were to allow it, it would be the third straight year the Broncos and Horned Frogs met in a bowl game. But since it would mean they went from the Poinsettia Bowl to the Fiesta Bowl to the BCS championship game, I don’t think you’d hear any complaints.

Cheers!

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(Rah rah, sis-boom-bah! Goooo Facebook and Twitter!)!

Unleash the Ant!
Photo by Deirdre Hamill/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats ended their seven-day run as an undefeated top-10 team. Who replaces them as Oregon’s top challenger? And what did ASU’s win at Washington do for their bowl chances?

Here’s how the Pac-10 contenders stack up in this week’s Survivor Rankings:

1. Oregon
2. Oregon State
3. Cal
4. ARIZONA
5. Washington
6. Stanford
X. Arizona State
X. UCLA
X. Washington State
X. USC

I thought about eliminating Washington for losing at home to ASU but the Huskies will have plenty of opportunities to eliminate themselves with OSU, Arizona, Stanford and Oregon in succession.

Cal gets slotted above the Wildcats for finally putting it together against UCLA, and for getting both Stanford and Oregon at home late in the year.

It’s no surprise that the #2 ranking goes to the only team besides Oregon without a conference loss. The Beavers have the Cardinal and Ducks as their final two games so it’s conceivable OSU could push its winning streak to seven games. That is, of course, if they can overcome the loss of their best receiver and kick returner.

I agree with Mike Riley and Adam Hall that the play that injured James Rodgers wasn’t dirty. It was a bad play by an inexperienced player that summed up the night for the UA secondary: out of position and two steps too slow. The result is very unfortunate and the Beavers will have a lot to overcome if they want to make a run at the conference championship for the third straight season.

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With half of the Pac-10 teams halfway through their seasons it’s time to start the football version of bubble watch. Which schools have the best shot at the league’s six bowl bids?

(Team record in parentheses.)

ALREADY IN
Oregon (6-0)

THE KEY IS IN THE LOCK
Stanford (5-1)
Arizona (4-1)

BUBBLE IN
OSU (3-2)
Cal (3-2)
UCLA (3-3)

BUBBLE OUT
ASU (2-3*)
Washington (2-3)

(*ASU’s second FCS win isn’t included.)

Considering the sixth bowl team has to come from among UCLA, ASU and Washington it’s very possible the Pac-10 only ends up with five bowl-eligible teams. If USC wins some games and there are no huge upsets you could easily see UCLA and Washington ending up with no more than five wins and ASU really wishing they hadn’t played two FCS teams.

If Oregon gets into the BCS championship game there’s no way the Pac-10 fills its bowl slots. Blame Reggie Bush’s fat wallet.

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Sadly, it’s time to update this already:

Arizona’s history in the AP Top 10

- – - – -

The biggest upset in the Cats’ game against OSU had nothing to do with the point spread. In a shocking turn of events the blue jerseys saw their nine-game winning streak snapped. The last time Arizona lost wearing blue shirts? 2006 against…Oregon State.

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Consistency is what separates good teams from great ones. If the Cats could combine the special teams from the Iowa game, the defense from the Cal game and the (passing) offense from the Oregon State game the result would be a beat-down so severe even Nic Wise‘s dad would call it excessive.

- – -

In the first four games Nic Grigsby had been the primary ball carrier and Keola Antolin had been relegated to catching swing passes. Based on the results against the Beavers maybe the roles should be reversed.

Antolin’s downhill running style and instant acceleration could be what’s needed to squeeze through the small (and rapidly closing) holes produced by the UA O-line. Grigsby proved that his lateral quickness and cut-back-ability are lethal against linebackers and DBs on the perimeter.

Arizona needs to continue mixing in runs between the tackles and Antolin may be the answer to making the most of them.

- – -

Watching the replay confirmed what we saw with our naked eyes: OSU quarterback Ryan Katz was incredible. He made every single throw in the book and some from the CliffsNotes. Rolling right, rolling left, short, deep, stepping up in the pocket, getting drilled in the back. The ball came out clean every time and hit his target in the numbers. If he’s going to play like that the Beavers could win with Fred Rogers at receiver.

- – -

I realize if it comes down to trying to pull off an 80-yard multi-lateral play you have no business winning the game, but if you find yourself in that situation you should at least run the play right.

It’s simple: Don’t ever get tackled with the ball. Make the defense intercept a lateral or fall on a fumble. When Travis Cobb got tackled to end the game he actually had Juron Criner available to his right to keep the play alive.

The other rule? If the band runs on the field, barrel into the trombone player.

Nick Foles, you're no Steve Young.
Photo by Chris Morrison/US Presswire

You know what’s exciting? Conference rankings that shuffle every week. Some teams making huge jumps while others plummet to the depths.

We don’t have any of that here.

All three of the favorites are 1-0. Each of the 0-1 teams was projected for the middle of the Pac or worse. Here are your boring rankings of the league contenders:

1. Oregon
2. Stanford
3. ARIZONA
4. Oregon State
5. Arizona State
6. Washington
7. Cal
X. UCLA
X. Washington State
X. USC

Let me save you the trouble:

How can UCLA still be eliminated?! Didn’t you see them manhandle THE University of Texas, in Tejas???!?!?

The Bruins certainly didn’t take too kindly to getting crossed off the list. They did the conference proud by rising from the dead to beat a ranked team in consecutive weeks. The rest of the league will have to take them seriously and they’re very much in the running for their second straight bowl game.

But the Survivor Rankings are a different beast. Once your torch is snuffed you have to leave the island and you can’t come back. Besides, I’m going to go out on a limb and say 27 passing yards won’t get it done against the rest of the Pac-10.

So, yeah, the only change in the rankings is flip-flopping Washington and Cal. I would pick the Bears in a head-to-head matchup but UW gets the slight bump since they haven’t had the opportunity to lose a conference game yet.

Fear not, the heart of the Pac-10 season is upon us and we’ll start to see some real movement in the rankings as teams outwit their competition, outplay the preseason predictions and outlast the pretenders.

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Last Saturday was a very interesting night for the fans in the “Red Zone” section of Arizona Stadium. All week the talk had been of YouTube videos and ESPN screenshots contributing to the UA’s growing reputation as an overly-hostile fan base.

During the pregame warm-ups a tall man in an Arizona polo shirt came up into the bleachers. The whispers quickly spread identifying him as UA athletic director Greg Byrne. It was as if the principal had walked into the classroom.

But Byrne didn’t come to scold people or give a lecture. He casually made his way through the section, introducing himself, shaking hands and talking Wildcat sports. He thanked the individual fans for their support then politely asked that people keep things under control. It was a very personal gesture that is going to be far more effective than adding a few more P.A. announcements.

The night ended with the thrilling comeback and the Red Zone being a part of the spontaneous victory lap around the stadium by some of the players. Paul Vassallo capped it off with the Arizona version of the Lambeau Leap (the Bear Down Bound?).

Not a bad evening for the folks in the cheap seats.

- – -

Did someone say “thrilling comeback”? Time to update the list:

Nick Foles’ Potential Game-Winning Drives

Success rate up to 57% with a 5-2 team record. Uh huh.

- – -

I do have to admit I’m not a fan of Foles’ left-handed throws and blind flings toward the sideline to try and avoid sacks. If the pressure gets there and you can’t make a standard throw the primary objective is to secure the ball.

Is righthandedfoles4heisman.com available?

- – -

Five out of six for the red jerseys! A winning 4-3 record for red-on-red! Fear the striped white helmets with the white facemasks!!

Oh, and Cal wore a uniform combination in which they were 0-2. Now they’re 0-3.

- – -

There was a distinct lack of rhythm from the Arizona offense for 57.5 minutes Saturday night. The strange hockey-style changes to the lineup couldn’t have helped. On one play you would have the starting skill position guys in and then the next there would be a whole set of guys that had fans reaching for their program. Richard Morrison (#14), Gino Crump (#21) and Terrence Miller (#87) were all on the field at the same time.

I understand the need to get reps for inexperienced guys but you’re supposed to be creating confusion among the defense, not your own players. The personnel changes were often late in the play clock, some players didn’t know where to line up, and then you had the “illegal substitution infraction” (the offense breaking the huddle with 12 men on the field). I think the wholesale receiver swapping needs to be sent to the sideline.

- – -

Cal’s Oski, my favorite of the visiting Pac-10 mascots, was conspicuously absent against the Cats. His appearance and behavior are like that of the inappropriate old uncle who makes Thanksgiving so entertaining.

- – -

Lost in the madness of the comeback was Mike Stoops’ curious decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 44 with 1:49 left in the 2nd quarter and Cal up 6-0. Nic Grigsby eluded two defenders in the backfield, picked up the first down and the UA was able to hold the ball the rest of the half (with Foles throwing the deflected interception in the end zone). Fail on that 4th down gamble, fall behind 13-0 and it could have been a whole different ballgame.

On the flip side Stoops gets full credit for taking his timeouts to preserve time before the (second) missed field goal. He was either telling his players, “Don’t worry, they’re going to miss this!” or “We’ve got the best onside kick play in all the land!”

- – -

That’s two straight games where a missed kick at the end swayed things in Arizona’s favor. But before you write off the wins as sheer luck think back to the 2008 Oregon State game where the Beaver kicker missed the game-tying extra point only to end up kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired.

You know what they say: When you get the gift shank, you still have to take it to the bank.

Corn on the...
Photo by Matthew Holst/Press-Citizen

A number of Pac-10 teams were challenged for the first time this past weekend. Did anyone show enough to move up in the Survivor Rankings? Did someone not show enough to avoid getting the boot?

1. Oregon
2. Stanford
3. ARIZONA
4. Oregon State
5. Arizona State
6. Cal
7. Washington
X. UCLA
X. Washington State
X. USC

The Wildcats definitely have the best win to date but it’s not like Oregon (63 points per game) and Stanford (68 points against a BCS conference team) have been struggling.

The team you have to move up is Arizona State. They still have a solid defense and they appear to have found a quarterback who can complete a forward pass. ASU, Cal and Washington all lost on Saturday but the Devils looked the best of the three.

Washington was really close to dropping from 6th place to elimination but we’ll let Jake Locker complete 20% of his passes in a conference game before crossing them off.

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If you are a player, coach or staff member associated with the University of Arizona football program please click the X in the top right corner of your screen now. Thank you.

(Are we in the clear? Good. I’m going to talk some more about the Iowa game.)

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It’s usually a good sign if you get to kick off three times in the first five minutes.

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Watching the replay I loved the virtual tour of the visitors’ locker room at Arizona Stadium, including a walk down the single-file staircase. I don’t care how many millions of dollars go into improving the 80-year-old building, don’t touch that stairway.

Speaking of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, you can’t discount the ESPN factor when you look at the rankings. Arizona does not enter the polls after beating Toledo if that game isn’t on the Worldwide Leader. You don’t jump ten spots in the AP poll if the Iowa game is on Fox Spots Arizona. Yet another reason Larry Scott is under a lot of pressure to get the Pac-10 more exposure with the new TV deal.

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It’s fitting that a team from Iowa was beaten with the help of a guy named Cobb.

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On the game-winning touchdown watch what happens when Nic Grigsby goes in motion out of the backfield before the snap. A linebacker from the middle of the field follows him, opening up the fraction of a hole that Nick Foles squeezes the ball through for the score. A nicely designed play and perfect execution from an experienced quarterback.

Here is Foles’ growing list of potential game-winning drives:

Vs.	Time Left	Deficit	Result	W/L
Washington	2:27	3	INT	L
Stanford	5:27	5	TD (Grigsby 57 yard run)	W
Cal	1:21	8	sack on 4th down	L
ASU	2:02	tied	3-and-out (followed by muffed punt)	W
USC	7:13	3	TD	W
Iowa	8:12	tied	TD	W

That’s a 50% success rate with a 4-2 team record. Not bad at all.

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The red jerseys have now won four of their last five games. Red-on-red is now an even 3-3 under Mike Stoops. The new striped white helmets remain undefeated and should be ridden until they collapse.

Anyone complaining about the UA switching helmets or jerseys should be glad the team isn’t using non-school-colors like this or this.

And, just to prove I’m not the only one who thinks about this stuff, I’d like to introduce the smartest person in Berkeley.

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Season tickets come with player pictures on them and the Arizona art designer is two for two in predicting the hero of the game. Grigsby was the star against The Citadel and Foles tossed the game-winner vs. Iowa. Who’s the favorite to shine against Cal according to the tickets? Trevin Wade, which is fitting with Kevin Riley coming to town.

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It’s easy to play as the underdogs. Lots of teams thrive carrying the “us against the world” banner. But a good chunk of the world is now in Arizona’s corner after the Iowa win. The tables have completely turned and it’s a very different challenge for the coaches and team leaders.

The first five minutes set the tone against the Hawkeyes. The same could very well be true against Cal. Is the defense going to come out stuffing the run and flying around Riley’s face? Will the offense start sharp with strong pass protection and accurate throws? Or will the Bears be allowed to believe they can be the ones pulling off the big upset?

The Cats had a horrible offensive showing against Cal last year. A regular-season-low 16 points. Only 274 yards of total offense. Converting just 3 of 13 third downs (and 0-2 on fourth down). The double-pass thing.

That’s the game the players need to focus on this week, not the one that was just played. There would be nothing wrong with bringing up the Holiday Bowl a few times as well.

The road to real redemption starts now.

Nick Foles and the Cats can now take aim at a bigger target.
Photo by Chris Morrison/US Presswire

The Arizona Wildcats treated their fans to an easy win in their 2010 home schedule. No drama, just big plays and a lot of playing time for the backups. But the celebration did not last long.

The big boys are coming.

Juron Criner only played a couple quarters but it was long enough to catch a thread-the-needle pass from Nick Foles between two defenders and rumble down to the 3 yard line. Nic Grigsby scored the first of his three touchdowns on the next play.

A healthy Grigsby makes for very happy Wildcat fans. When #5 crossed the goal line to finish his 62-yard scoring run it was his 5th rushing touchdown on the young season, matching his total from all of last year.

With Foles, Criner and Grigsby the UA offense has three players you can’t take your eyes off for fear you might miss something. Each of them is a price-of-admission guy. If you get to see one of them at his best you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

Grigsby’s heroics aside, after two games it’s clear Arizona is a pass-first team. There’s nothing wrong with that and it’s not much of a surprise. The question is if you can convert in short yardage and goal line situations. Right now the bread-and-butter play looks to be running behind the right side of the line with Taimi Tutogi leading the way. Can you get to your bread and butter with better teams guarding the kitchen?

The other concern is whether or not this offense can protect a slim lead by keeping the clock running and moving the chains. The Cats would love to get a chance to test it out this Saturday…but we’re not there yet.

The new season brought some changes to Arizona Stadium. A new concrete wall was set up to keep the Zona Zoo from rushing the field (or at least get them to wait until the game has actually been won). New signs were put up to commemorate the conference championships and bowl appearances (but why would you list the bowls in reverse chronological order?). Even the port-a-potties behind the Red Zone had a new sponsor. There was a scent of newness all around.

The pregame atmosphere was excellent. Seeing that many fans for an early-season no-name game was a big step in the right direction. The next step is getting them to stick around.

I know people paid good money for their tickets and they can do whatever they want with them but I will never understand leaving early. And not just ducking out a few minutes early to beat the rush to the parking lot, but leaving with a half of football left.

The way I see it, with only seven (at most) home football games a year you’re dealing with such a precious commodity it’s a shame to waste any of it. If you were only given seven days to live, would you go to bed early on Sunday?

I’m guessing the seats will stay occupied a bit longer this week.

Here we go. The warm-up games are done. The Iowa Hawkeyes are coming to town with their Orange Bowl trophy and top-10 ranking, and the world gets a much deeper look at the insides of this Wildcat football squad.

How much did this team learn and grow from the Holiday Bowl? Lincoln, Nebraska and Iowa City are only 300 miles apart and they’ve even closer in the size of their linemen.

Even though this is the first true test since the 33-0 thrashing you have to like where the UA is positioned for this game: at home as an underdog on national TV. And – most importantly – good enough to do something about it.

It’s the best possible situation in which to try to win a sporting event. Arizona has zero pressure in this game. There have been a number of examples – Oregon last year and Oregon State the last two seasons, to name a few – where a non-conference loss to a good team has only made a team stronger for the Pac-10 season. Win and you get all the glory. Lose and you’re still undefeated in league play.

But a win could do some very nice things. I was absolutely wrong. I thought it would take three wins to crack the polls this year. Three wins would be enough to break into the top 15.

Ticket sales for the rest of the year would go through the roof. Additional games would get picked up for TV. Greg Byrne would find it easier to get people to take his call as he tries to secure funding for the north end zone project.

Beating Iowa wouldn’t make the season. It would, however, take an already-exciting season and launch it into the stratosphere.

No pressure though.

Nick Foles and the Cats are hoping for Immunity.
Photo by Rick Osentoski/US Presswire

A blowout victory on national TV, a bunch of positive press, and a shiny new top-25 ranking. It’s been a good week for the Arizona Wildcats. But how do they stack up against the rest of the Pac-10?

We’re going to do something different this year. With so many Pac teams arguing they can make a run at the conference crown we’re going to narrow down the list of contenders each week Survivor-style. Sometimes it’ll be a mathematical elimination and sometimes it’ll just be common sense saying a team is done.

I will also attempt to put the remaining contenders in order. This won’t be a power ranking that looks at what each team has accomplished. It’s going to be a forward-looking guess at the teams with the best chance of making it to Pasadena when you consider record, remaining schedule and, yes, talent.

Think of it like a driver’s starting position in NASCAR. The polesitter doesn’t always win the race but he’s got a head start. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

1. Oregon
2. Stanford
3. ARIZONA
4. Oregon State
5. Cal
6. Washington
7. Arizona State
8. UCLA
9. Washington State
10. USC

The Ducks provided 72 reasons why they will be the favorite until they lose. Arizona, OSU and Stanford make up the next grouping due to having an extra home game among fellow contenders. The Beavers’ quarterback looked like a rookie against TCU so they get the four slot, and the Arizona/Stanford game is in Palo Alto so the Cardinal gets to carry the early runner-up banner.

As far as those voted off the island, USC was disqualified before the game even began. Wazzu fumbled away the first snap of the season against Oklahoma State and two plays later the Cougars established a deficit they would not overcome. Maybe next year.

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More thoughts from the Toldeo game…

One of the questions heading into the season was how the Wildcats’ offense would navigate the red zone. In the season opener the six red zone possessions looked like this:

-Antolin run, Douglas corner route
-Completion short of the goal line, incomplete Criner fade, QB keeper
-Two short passes, Grigsby in from the 1
-The INT off Tutogi’s hands
-Three short Scott completions including Antolin TD
-Taking a knee at the Toledo 5

That’s three of four under Foles and four of five when the Cats were trying, all with touchdowns. The early indication is the UA is going to use both the run and the pass instead of just trying to pound it in, with the hope of taking advantage of Foles’ ability to throw it into the corner as much as possible.

I was very happy to see Matt Scott get the opportunity to throw the ball in the 4th quarter instead of just running out the clock. For the record I’m in favor of considering redshirting Scott next year to start him as a senior in 2012. I don’t expect it to actually happen but I would give it a serious look.

Here’s the entire list of things that didn’t go well last Friday night:

-The run game
Take out Grigsby’s breakaway run and the top two backs only had 30 yards on 12 carries (2.5 yard average). Not what was expected with a senior-heavy offensive line.

-Penalties
Eight for 48 yards. That’s not a ton of yardage but it’s more than we’re used to seeing from the Cats, and Toledo’s only points came as a result of a yellow flag.

-Long-snapping
True freshman Chase Gorham was shaky all night and caused one failed PAT.

That’s it. You can write off the penalties and extra point woes to first-game jitters, so that leaves the rushing attack as the main point of emphasis over the next two weeks.

The name of the game against The Citadel (they get a capitalized definite article like The Situation) is precision. Know what you want to accomplish, be where you’re supposed to be, execute the plays, and move on to Iowa.

Most importantly, this weekend is the first of three straight Saturdays with a home game, then there’s a bye week, and then another home game. I hope you’ve got your tailgating game face on.

Mana Mikaele proudly displays the Cats’ new win total.
Photo by Rick Osentoski/US Presswire

Pile on the optimism, Wildcat fans.

The potential for greatness is there.

Yes, it was only Toledo. The same Toledo team a five-loss Arizona squad scored an identical 41 points against in 2008. But a game like this can only produce two types of feelings. Either…

Does that mean it’s a really good sign when our easy game actually is easy? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

…or…

We’re way beyond wake-up calls. Either you wake up, or you’re dead. After every single one of these bad losses we thought the lesson was learned. Yet here we are again. They only let you re-take a test so many times. After a while you just flunk out.

The first quote was after the 2008 Idaho game. The second is after the New Mexico game two weeks later. “Wait and see” is a great place to be.

When you play an inferior opponent you can’t confirm what you hope to see but you can confirm what you’re afraid of seeing. It’s fine to have lingering doubt about this year’s Arizona team, but it will have nothing to do with Friday’s performance.

The majority of the preseason hand-wringing was because of the defense. The UA D didn’t produce a single-digit-rushing-yard performance a la the Desert Swarm era but there was more than enough athleticism on display to believe this defense has the potential to be good enough so the offense doesn’t need to score six touchdowns every game.

There’s that word again: potential. The defensive end firm of Reed, Reed and Elmore were pressuring the quarterback, knocking down passes and making plays in the run game. At D-tackle redshirt freshman Justin Washington introduced himself as a player. New cornerback Robert Golden had enough speed to blitz from the edge and stop a 3rd-down run in the backfield.

Then there were the linebackers. The fear was three guys out of position, too small and too slow to do anything about the ball carriers zipping past them. Instead there was Derek Earls using his 6-3 frame to break up passes and haul in an impressive interception. Paul Vassallo recorded a game-high 10 tackles. Jake Fischer contributed six stops and a 2nd-half sack. The early results are in and the polls indicate “just inexperienced” as opposed to “really bad.”

On offense you have to go out of your way to find fault with a game that includes 187 yards and multiple highlight-reel contributions from your go-to receiver. Then there’s this factoid: Nick Foles completed 85.7% of his passes in the 1st half, and it actually brought his game average down. 18 of 21 in the 1st half, 14 of 16 (87.5%) in the 2nd half, 32 of 37 (86.5%) for the game. That’s like Salim Stoudamire shooting free throws, only if the basket was 45 yards away.

Nitpickers will point to the offensive slump after the first touchdown, when the Cats couldn’t pick up a first down on three straight possessions. On the first unsuccessful drive Foles missed an open Juron Criner on a deep out. The next drive was doomed after the ball was knocked out of Foles’ hand resulting in a 2nd-and-20. Then you had the safety that came after a good punt and curious timing for a quarterback change.

So correct two plays and maybe you have two bad possessions the entire game. I’m going to say the Wildcat offense passed this initial test.

Now, if you do want to complain about something I give full permission to grumble about the new pants. The stripes are too thick and I don’t understand why the blue on the inside of the stripe doesn’t match the rest of the pant. I also sympathize with those who aren’t pleased with the smaller A on the white helmets. Maybe it’s supposed to make the players’ brains look bigger.

Speaking of brains, I do like the new double halfback formation with Foles in the shotgun and Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin on either side of him. It gives you a runner and an outlet receiver on every play, or you can attack both flats simultaneously. Considering Grigs and Ant only combined for 30 receptions all last year the eight for the pair on Friday signaled a shift in strategy. Not a surprise when you remember the new play-caller is the running backs coach.

The bottom line is the Cats have three primary touchdown-scorers in Criner, Grigsby and Antolin. The trio now has 50 combined TDs so it makes perfect sense to get them on the field at the same time and find ways to get them the ball.

A quarterback in complete command, offensive playmakers making plays, and the new defense looking athletic and fast. Not a bad start to a season at all.

A potentially great season.