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

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

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

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

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

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“Yo, O, you going to lend a hand around here?”
Photo by Chris Morrison/US Presswire

As you were watching the Oregon/Stanford game what was running through your mind?

A) Both these teams stink. Arizona can start engraving the trophy now.

B) Looks like a couple more 10-9 games are coming.

C) Luck a Duck… The Cats might have to score 60 to beat these guys!

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This always happens. So why does it hurt every time?

It doesn’t matter who Arizona is playing, or how big an underdog the Cats are, once the ball goes in the air we start hoping for a win. When the team mounts a comeback to get it close before the half you begin to think it’s possible. When the defense pitches a shutout in the third quarter and the UA takes the lead you get sucked in. When the lead gets to ten in the fourth quarter you start to feel it. When you get a play-for-the-ages touchdown to retake the lead you know you’re THIS close.

And if you’re a fan of Arizona Football, you know you’re THIS close to losing it all.

That sinking feeling is what we’re fighting as a program. That woe-is-us fear that defeat is right around the corner. The problem is you could sense that fear at Arizona Stadium Saturday night. More specifically, you could hear it.

When Jeremiah Masoli found Ed Dickson for 23 yards down to the Arizona 2-yard line in the second overtime the building went silent. When LaMichael James was stopped short of the goal line it stayed silent. Even when the Ducks were stopped again on second down you could hear a rose petal drop.

That’s not normal. Remember, the Cats were winning at this point. If they get one more stop on third down they could force Oregon to go for the tie. If there’s a false start Arizona’s chances go way up. If there’s a turnover the Wildcats win. In any other stadium the crowd would have been deafening.

In any other stadium and they would have believed.

This is what Mike Stoops is up against. He’s not just trying to get better players to win more games. He has to save Arizona Football from itself.

This is our plea, Coach Stoops. Don’t become just another UA football coach. You have been a part of teams that won the big games. You have a national championship ring. Help us become like you. Please don’t become like us.

The red-and-blue lining is we still care and we keep coming back. As a fan, don’t ever let go of the pain. Do not give in to the numbness of apathy.

THIS will not always happen. Believe it.

. . . .

It was so close to being the perfect football day. The ESPN College GameDay experience lived up to the hype. In additional to the whole national-TV thing there was something about being out before dawn among like-minded people. It was like collecting left-footed platform shoes and finding out there’s a convention.

GameDay is so big it brings out fans of teams that aren’t even playing. There were supporters of Washington State (as always), Ohio State, Alabama, and…the Green Bay Packers? Apparently the NASCAR fans couldn’t make it.

After a day of anticipation the game got started with ESPN’s moving camera suspended above the field. The Stadium was packed and the atmosphere was electric. After spotting Oregon two touchdowns the Cats responded and the cycle of think-suck-fail began.

The Wildcats did make some really big plays. Nick Foles’ fade pass to Juron Criner in the corner of the end zone was a thing of beauty. Alex Zendejas’ 47-yarder to end the first half was huge. Xavier Kelley shutting down the fourth-down attempt with seven minutes left was a championship-level play. The 71-yard Criner catch-and-run had a chance to become this generation’s Chuck Cecil play.

But, alas, the list of Arizona Plays was longer. Fumbling at the one. Two Cats fighting for a fumble and kicking it back to Masoli. Missing a 24-yard field goal. Rushing the field too early. Hold on, that one deserves its own section…

Things Nobody Else Does

• Pour out of the stands in a one-score game while the other team has the ball

Aren’t you just asking to lose at that point? The only way it could have been worse is if they were on the phone buying Rose Bowl tickets.

Moving on. Who do we play this week?

Oh. Them.

This year’s Territorial Cup game is going to be a battle to see which team can best bounce back from having its dreams crushed. Arizona will finish short of the Rose Bowl for the 32nd consecutive year. ASU has locked up its second-straight losing season for the first time in 62 years. So all that national exposure associated with the Oregon game? This week will be the opposite.

But it’s still must-win for both teams.

With the Rose Bowl dream dying the question has been if the six-win Cats could end up going to the No Bowl. Could a 6-6 / 3-6 UCLA team get a bowl bid at the expense of a 6-6 / 4-5 Arizona team?

This explanation of the Pac-10 bowl selection process from the Emerald Bowl seems to indicate the conference standings take precedence. The Seattle Times says bowls will be able to pick any eligible Pac-10 team regardless of the final standings, but not until next year. So the Cats should be safe as long as the Bruins lose to USC.

But do we really want to find out? You know the Poinsettia Bowl would do everything possible to be able to take a team from the L.A. market that has won three of its final four games. The Cats need to win one more game to ensure they don’t get left out.

So we are playing for a bowl this week.

And did I mention it’s ASU? That should be all the motivation anybody needs.

. . . .

I know, I know, the basketball season is already two games old. We’ll preview (postview?) Miller Era, Year One soon. In the meantime the Maui Invitational starts Monday with the Cats tipping-off against Wisconsin at 10 p.m. Arizona time on ESPN2. Root for Arizona to play Gonzaga and either Maryland or Vanderbilt as the tournament progresses. The best scenario is beating good teams. The next-best scenario is losing to good teams.

Anyone know how to say “Bear Down” in Hawaiian?

Are you over the Cal loss yet? Me neither. Let’s mope together.

In the first quarter Arizona had two possessions, two first downs, and zero points. So much for a fast start to get a struggling Bear team to quit early.

Since we (rightfully) treated WSU like a scrimmage we had three weeks to prepare for Cal. The new wrinkle on offense was an odd one – splitting Chris Gronk out wide and using him as the motion man. Not only did it eliminate the threat of handing off to a wide receiver, it also made Gronk run 15 yards before getting ready to block on running plays.

To top it off, on the one tricky play we were setting up all game – C.Gronk going in motion and running deep down the sideline – Foles missed him. Back to the wrinkle drawing board.

Remember last year’s Cal game when we turned the game around with 28 third-quarter points? This year the UA opened the second half with five straight three-and-outs. Washington State’s offense wasn’t that bad.

The Wildcat defense didn’t give up a touchdown until midway through the third quarter and even then it took a 14-yard punt to set it up. We’re still waiting for the offense and defense to show up in the same non-scrimmage-like game.

Give Matt Scott credit. He came in after the fifth three-and-out, did what he does best, ended the first-down drought and got the team started on a TD drive. I hope we continue to use Scott’s legs to shake things up when they need a good shaking.

Rule of thumb: You don’t want fewer points than your ranking if you want to stay ranked.

How hard did Cal try to give this game away? Riley’s Longshore-esque interceptions, going for two too early, a pass interference penalty on 2nd-and-17, another PI on 3rd-and-12, and missing the final extra point in an eight-point game. But nobody out-Arizonas Arizona. Which brings us to…

• Turn a 15-yard loss into a nine-yard gain
  Not a three-yard loss. Not a seven-yard loss. Fifteen. Now that’s some poor tackling. The Cal player was so far behind the line of scrimmage even Jim Marshall was embarrassed.
• Forget the rules of football
  What would it take to top the double pass? Trying to throw the ball through the uprights for three points? Running a bootleg with the ball stuffed in your pants? I probably shouldn’t give them any ideas. But I do know this: Nick Foles is undefeated in games decided by fewer than one extremely bizarre play.

Cal only loses to USC and OSU at home. USC only loses to Stanford at home. You think they’ll let us borrow the Tree for December 5?

If you were using your TWIT-Pac decoder ring you knew once we lost to Cal it was OK to root against ASU, so at least we have that. Sure enough the Ducks put a beating on the Devils to get back to their winning ways, just in time to face our guys.

Stanford provided the blueprint for stopping Oregon: You don’t. Not a single Pac-10 team has held the Masoli-led Ducks below 42 points. That means we need six touchdowns just to stay in the game. Zendejas shouldn’t even bother warming up.

Here are the updated bowl projections (assuming the favorite wins each game), if you dare…

The big winner this past week was obviously Stanford who is now in the driver’s seat for the Holiday Bowl. Not a bad splash for your first postseason appearance in eight years.

The big loser over the weekend was Your Frustrating Arizona Wildcats. From the top 20 to battling UCLA for the Poinsettia Bowl.

But, hey, that’s nothing a big upset victory can’t fix.

Sometimes a game leaves you with a lot of thoughts but not enough mental capacity with which to organize them. This was one of those games.

I figured we were going to see Nick Foles in red for the first time but the team chose to attack the Cardinal in blue-on-blue uniforms. It turned out to be the right call as the Cats have now won eight straight games while wearing blue jerseys. Truth. Everyone loves the red but we haven’t lost wearing blue shirts since the Oregon State home loss three years ago. Somebody alert the team’s fashion consultants.

The best part about Robert Golden’s touchdown wasn’t the interception, it was the fact that he eluded Andrew Luck on the return. When you pick off a short throw near the sideline the quarterback is the only guy who can stop you from scoring. If you don’t have room to get around him you need to slow up and let one of your blockers catch up and flatten him.

In the Texas/Oklahoma game we saw what often happens. Late in the game a Sooner defensive back got too excited after a pick and let Colt McCoy bring him down while a wall of would-be blockers trailed a step behind. Sure enough, Mike Stoops’ brother’s team failed to score on that possession and ended up losing by a mere three points. The cardinal rules of returns: Don’t let the punter push you out of bounds, and never get tackled by the quarterback.

Is it considered nepotism when you throw two touchdown passes to your roommate? David “Roomie” Douglas’ 43-yard catch-and-run was the longest touchdown reception of the year thus far. I’d pay his half of the cable bill this month.

After the red zone struggles against Washington it was a relief to see the Cats score before they got inside the 20…but then Zendejas’ extra point attempt was blocked. Even when we score a touchdown it turns into two field goals.

I love the new offensive package with Antolin in the backfield and Grigsby split out wide. It allowed us to run the end-around with a real running threat and I’m sure we’ll throw it out to Nic for the quick screen a time or two as the year goes on.

Speaking of our battered backs, Keola and Grigs combined for 129 yards on 15 touches against Stanford. Imagine if they were both healthy.

Speaking of only 15 touches, that brings us to this week’s…

Things Nobody Else Does
-Go from a running team to a Run ‘N’ Shoot team in three weeks
In the first three games the UA averaged 39 rushing attempts a game and our starting quarterback completed an average of just 12 completions a contest. The Foles Era has seen the ball go in the air 46 times a game and in the Stanford game we called a whopping 11 running plays. Somewhere Mouse Davis is smiling.

What on earth was that long inflated flesh-colored thing the Zona Zoo was bouncing around? Let’s just say it didn’t seem very Family-Weekend-friendly.

With his team down nine and Stanford seemingly about to put the game away, Mike Stoops busted out the gather-the-entire-team-on-the-field-during-a-timeout routine before the fourth quarter. That never works…except when you hold your opponent scoreless the rest of way and you score two long touchdowns to steal the game.

UCLA comes to town this week and it’s a huge game no matter what your expectations are for this team. Because of the way the schedule lays out the eight-game roadmap is the same for a 7-5 season, a 10-2 season, and everything in between. The Wildcats have to get to 6-2 which means they needs win #5 this week.

If you’re the kind that likes to worry you’ll be happy to know Arizona is 0-1 in letdown games this year. Oregon State could have been a momentum-building win but we all know what happened at Washington. Can the team use the euphoria of the Stanford victory as motivation instead of distraction?

We’ll have to wait and see. Or we can just wait and see what the team is wearing.