Jacquizz Rodgers was happy to see the Sun Devil defense.
Photo by Joe Nicholson/US Presswire

Five Pac-10 games featuring all ten teams.

Saturday is one of only three instances this season when each Pac-10 school is playing a conference game on the same day.

The best team plays the worst team but other than that you have four games that could go either way. Two games feature four teams that already have to be concerned about their bowl chances. The other two games feature three teams trying to dig in and see if they can keep up with the machine from Eugene.

TWIT-Pac says: It’s time for the rivalries to get bitter again.

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Luck vs. Duck
Photo by Kyle Terada/US Presswire

This is the first weekend without a non-league game in the Pac-10. Usually you get to ease into the conference season with a couple easy games before the big boys butt heads at the end of the year.

This year is a little different.

There could be multiple heavyweight battles out west this year but the one in Eugene on Saturday may end up being the biggest. On the one hand it’s a shame that it’s happening so early but why wait until both teams have a loss? It’s hard to argue with two undefeated top-ten teams in the prime time national game of the week.

Sometimes it’s OK to eat your dessert first.

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The Quizz hopes to run away from the Frogzz.
Photo by David Wallace/The Arizona Republic

Breathe it in. You smell that?

It’s game day.

The fortunate fans in the world of Wildcats have already made plans to get off work early and watch the late afternoon game. Everyone else will be scrambling to listen to the radio, sneak a peek at ESPN3.com, or fake a sudden illness.

Do what you gotta do! Opening day only comes once a year.

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I apologize for the interruption. Where were we?

Oh yeah: Now that’s the kind of game I like. But I had someone tell me on Sunday how boring the Washington State game was. The stream of red shirts heading to the exit at halftime agreed. Are we spoiled already? Have we forgotten 38-0, 45-0 and 59-13, when the big numbers were on the wrong side of the scoreboard?

Give me boring any day if it means my team is a huge favorite and it plays like a huge favorite.

Opening the game with a kickoff return touchdown is how you get it done when you’re expected to win by 30 points. Starting the game with a total yard advantage of 179-4 is another way. Scoring 31 points before giving up a first down is another.

On to more notes out the Wazzu:

It was great to see Nic Grigsby wearing his jersey and leading the team out onto the field before the game. It’ll be better when he’s back creating fireworks during the game.

We did have our #2 ball-carrier available and Keola Antolin looked to be at full speed. The Flyin’ Hawaiian even put on an air show at the goal line.

We used the all-hair backfield! Nick Foles, Taimi Tutogi and Keola Antolin formed one shaggy I.

Then, to mix it up, Tutogi got some carries himself. Just in case you were wondering who our
fifth-string running back is.

Speaking of hair, Brooks Reed played, recorded a sack, and didn’t limp off the field. That’s the triple crown for our defense.

Earl Mitchell came oh-so-close to intercepting that pass in the flat. Watching him rumble down the sideline with the ball would’ve been just like old times, only with 50 more pounds.

Can we please have Matt Scott run just one old-school, two-hands-on-the-ball, end-over-end-backhand-pitch option play? Ronnie Veal and my Wildcat memories would appreciate it.

Happiness is clinching tacos in the first half.

Was Wilbur trying to show his age at halftime or was that his pimpin’ cane?

I was happy to see walk-on kickoff guy, John Bonano, get to kick an extra point. It was like David Bagga hitting a three. Maybe Bonano will write a book about it.

How is the SEC the best conference when their championship game match-up is decided with three weeks left? We’re here trying to figure out how to break a four-way tie and the SEC has already booked their ‘Bama/’Da championship game. Yawn.

Here are the updated Pac-10 standings projections. Remember, the following is based on the favorite winning every game.

I’m not comfortable being a road favorite but thus spake the gambling guys. And, Nose Hole aside, suddenly Arizona has to keep winning just to keep pace with OSU and Stanford.

If the above comes to pass and both Oregon and USC make BCS bowls, who does the Holiday Bowl pick between UA, OSU and Stanford? The Cardinal would be coming in having won four of five so I’ll go with them. That would leave the Cats for the Sun, OSU to the Emerald, Cal to Vegas and UCLA squeaking into the Poinsettia.

Last year I would have fallen all over myself to sign up for that. Not this year. It’s time to let it ride.

There’s something about the Arizona/Cal rivalry. The all-time series is tied at 13-13-2 and the loser of the game always seems to be the team with the most at stake. In 2006 the 4-5 Wildcats kept Cal from the conference championship. We all know what the 5-4 Bears did to us in 1993. So, yes, it’s not a good sign that we’re the team a half-game out of first.

I hope no one thinks this game became a gimme when Jahvid Best went down. His backup, Shane Vareen, has more touchdowns this year (8) than anyone on the UA roster. Their third-string guy averages seven yards a carry. The Bears will still have plenty of firepower.

On top of that it’s just not easy to win on the road. When you’re looking for the best conference road wins this year it’s a short list. The candidates are UA over OSU, USC over Cal, and OSU over Cal.

That’s it. And don’t get excited because Cal is on there twice. You know the last time the Bears lost two in a row at home? 2002, Jeff Tedford’s first year. That’s right, you have to go all the way back to the team that lost to the Mackovic Mutineers.

Let’s hope this game doesn’t make us long for boring.

Now that’s the kind of game I— Hold on, let me get the door.

Hello, Opportunity.

Here we are. We have been waiting for this week and this game. Now we find out just how good this team really is.

The good news is the question hasn’t been answered yet. The season wasn’t going to be won in the first eight games but it certainly could have been lost.

2009 is not lost. The Wildcats did what they needed to do to get to this point in one piece. They won a Pac-10 road game. They won their first five home games, including three consecutive league games.

Don’t just brush that off. They did it. That’s big news! For the first time in Mike Stoops’ tenure the Cats are not going to have an inexcusable loss at home. And when you beat the bad teams at the beginning of the year your games with the good teams mean a lot more at the end of the year.

Isn’t it fun to be scoreboard watching in November? Wasn’t it exciting after our game to have everyone from the head coach to the guy in the last row of the upper deck wanting to keep tabs on the Oregon game?

Oregon beats USC, Stanford beats Oregon, and Arizona keeps winning. To quote the great military strategist John “Hannibal” Smith: “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Only one team failed to hold up its end of the perfect-weekend bargain. Yes, I’m talking to you, Arizona State. If the Sun Devils had found a way to score six more points it would have dropped our USC game into same category as the Cal and ASU games. But as it stands we still need the head-to-head tie-breaker against every potential two-loss team, so both the Oregon and USC games remain must-win.

Obviously we want to beat Cal this Saturday. There’s a winning season at stake and you always want to keep momentum this time of year. But since we got a little help from our friends the Cats have a loss to play with. A mulligan. One press of the reset button.

It eases the tension for one more week. There won’t be do-or-die pressure hanging over the team. The dream will not die in Berkeley. Win or lose the Cats will play the home game against Oregon still alive for the—

I can’t say it. Being this close I can’t bring myself to type the two-word phrase that simultaneously excites and torments the Arizona Football fan. Let’s just say it rhymes with “Nose Hole.”

This is historic stuff. The Wildcats will be going into the tenth game of the season still controlling their own destiny for the Pac-10 championship. Has that ever happened before?

Remember, the 1998 UCLA loss was barely in game six. The Oregon loss in 1994 (the 10-9 score) was in game eight. Everyone remembers the Cal loss in the penultimate game of ’93 but UCLA’s second loss came that same day so the Cats never regained destinal control after the loss to the Bruins in game eight.

The eighth game was also the end of the line in 1986 and 1983. Arizona stayed in the driver’s seat until the ninth game in both 1989 (one-point Cal loss) and 1985 (five-point UCLA loss).

What does this teach us? We don’t hate UCLA nearly enough. But you know the team that’s not on the list? ASU. It’s true; Arizona has never even made it to the final game of the regular season with the Pac-10 championship in its grasp. There’s a reason ASU fans never brag about the times they’ve knocked us out of the Nose Hole.

They might just get their chance this year.

Opportunity is indeed knocking for the first time at the door of Mike Stoops. The assumption is if you can get to this point once you can do it again but you never know. You never want to go out on anything less than your best shot, and our best shot is a home game on November 21.

Can the Stoops-led Cats handle it? In his first five years Stoops has shown he can beat really good teams as the underdog. For the first time we’ll see how he performs against the high-end teams as a potential peer. How his team performs in the “free” game at Cal will be a pretty good indicator.

Please come in, Opportunity. We’ve missed you.