Arizona defensive end Brooks Reed takes down Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi/Photo by David Kadlubowski, The Arizona Republic

There are echoes in the way the Arizona defense is playing and what the players are saying.

Said cornerback Robert Golden after the 10-9 victory over Cal: “We just went out and played with our hair on fire.”

Said cornerback Trevin Wade, asked about how he describes the way the defense is playing: “I just think we play hard and with our hair on fire.”

Hair on fire?

What is this, 1993? Is Dick Tomey the head coach? Is the Desert Swarm defense on the field for the Wildcats?

What’s old is new again. Arizona has picked up on a Tomey-ism from back in the day — much like his everyday vow that his teams were going to “fight like the dickens” — and the defense is, surprisingly, living up to the program’s long-held defense-first tradition.

Just to be clear: This UA defense isn’t Desert Swarm, which set the bar so high as to discourage almost any comparison.

The 1992 Wildcats, for example, allowed only 8.9 points per game, the lowest average for any Pac-10 team since 1967. The 1992 Arizona defense yielded a mere 30.1 rushing yards per game, the best mark since the Pac-10 began tracking the stat in 1954.

Although this defense has given up more rushing yards in four games (405) than the 1992 team did all year (331), it ain’t shabby.

Please read the rest of this story at FoxSportsArizona.com.

Rich Ellerson, one of the architects of the Wildcats' Desert Swarm defenses of the 1990s, was 5-7 in his first season at Army/Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

By my count, there are 44 former Arizona Wildcats football coaches who are active in coaching college or professional football.

(I guess that number should be 45 if you count Jeff Hammerschmidt, who is both a former and current UA assistant coach.)

Seven of those ex-Cats are head coaches, including Rich Ellerson, a Salpointe Catholic High School graduate who is one of the true good guys in coaching and who is off to a 3-1 start in his second season at Army. The Black Knights are in good position to reach their first bowl game since 1996.

Elsewhere, first-year Akron coach Rob Ianello is off to an 0-4 start but the Zips might find better luck against MAC competition, which begins this week.

First-year Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes, who had been Arizona’s offensive coordinator for the past three years, is 1-3 with the Bulldogs amid a tough non-conference schedule.

Eric Wolford, the first-year coach at Youngstown State, has his Penguins ranked 20th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Youngstown State, typically a national power in that division, hadn’t been ranked since September 2008.

Here’s a look at all the former UA assistants and where they are now in coaching, with years at Arizona followed by current occupation.

Let me know if I missed anybody:

(more…)

Mike Stoops might spend a lot of time yelling at the refs, but they don't usually call many penalties on the Cats/Photo by Chris Morrison, US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats have been a mess in the past two games when it comes to penalties — 22 flags for 202 yards.

“I don’t know,” said coach Mike Stoops, asked after Saturday’s game if he could identify the causes of the surge in penalties.

“Gotta look at it. Really disappointed in that aspect. You know, we’ve been good enough to overcome them, but that is only going to last for so long.”

Five of Arizona’s penalties in the past two games — wins over Iowa and Cal — have been a combination of personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct.

“Our discipline wasn’t very good when it needed to be,” Stoops said after the 10-9 victory over the Bears.

This has been a rarity for Arizona under Stoops.

(more…)

A Foles-themed website ... what a concept.

I don’t read the print edition of the Arizona Daily Star, and I’m not inclined to pay for whatever on-line content they temporarily put behind a pay wall, so I didn’t see Greg Hansen’s column Sunday on the Arizona-Cal game.

But by Monday morning, I had managed to find a copy of the story, which was well done, especially considering writing a game column on deadline carries the second-highest degree of difficulty of any job in the stadium, right after covering Juron Criner one-on-one late in the game.

Although it was difficult to choke down Hansen’s lead:

How much did life change after Arizona beat Iowa and jumped to No. 14 in the nation? As God is my witness, some goof started a “Nick Foles for Heisman” campaign.

So, that’s how I found out I was a goof.

(more…)

The Arizona Wildcats have a new pregame tradition this season with the Wildcat Walk, an idea that first-year athletic director Greg Byrne borrowed from other schools and successfully implemented here.

The team might have a new, more spontaneous, tradition for after the game.

The administration wanted the team after Saturday’s victory over Cal to go to the band area in the southeast corner of the stadium and sing “Bear Down, Arizona.” That didn’t seem to fly, but soon the players were walking along the perimeter of the field, slapping hands with fans on the west side of the stadium, all the way around to the south end zone and to the Zona Zoo area.

Seemed to work pretty well.

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles answers a couple of questions after the Wildcats’ 10-9 victory over Cal on Saturday night.

You can always find a lot more video after the game and during the week from our TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network partner WildcatSportsReport.com and at WSR’s YouTube channel.

Arizona eventually subdued Iowa on the field, but not on eight of 60 AP ballots/Photo by David Kadlubowski, Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats stayed at No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 after its 10-9 victory over Cal.

The Wildcats moved ahead of Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas, which all lost. I’m not sure why Arkansas should drop five spots after nearly beating top-ranked Alabama — isn’t that a sign of a really good team? — but the Razorbacks did slide to No. 15.

Stranger still is that one voter totally left Arizona off his ballot. That would be Desmond Conner from the Hartford Courant.

Conner did, however, find room in his Top 25 to put Houston — which got smacked by UCLA on Sept. 18 and has lost star quarterback Case Keenum for the season — at No. 23. He was the only one of the 60 voters to list Houston.

(more…)

Arizona's Nic Grigsby led the Cats in rushing with 12 carries for 65 yards/Photo by Chris Morrison, US PRESSWIRE

Arizona seemed to do everything wrong and still won. The Wildcats probably made you furious, curious, outraged and out of your mind. And they still won.

A 10-9 victory over Cal was as improbable as it was ugly. You know it. The Wildcats know it. Coach Mike Stoops knows it.

But they won.

I’m not sure I believe quarterback Nick Foles when he said “we always knew we were going to win,” because if Cal’s Giorgio Tavecchio makes that 40-yard field goal with 2:37 left, the Wildcats weren’t going to win.

But they did.

(more…)

Juron Criner, who caught the game-winning TD, ackowledges the crowd as the leaves the field after the 10-9 win over Cal/Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Another fantastic finish. Does getting the win — any way, any how — make up for the sloppy play from the Wildcats? The coaches can spend the next weeks working on that; the good thing is they got a 10-9 win over Cal in their pocket to go 4-0 overall, 1-0 in the Pac-10.

Nick Foles, for the second consecutive week, led a late touchdown drive, this one after Cal missed a field goal that could have put the game out of reach. Instead, the Wildcats took over and marched 77 yards, the bulk of it coming on a deep 51-yard pass to Juron Criner.

Arizona punched it in on a 3-yard pass from Foles to Criner … and then the defense held when Joe Perkins picked off a tipped pass in the final minute. He drew the wrath of the coaches by not getting on the ground, as he fumbled at the end of his return, but Arizona’s Robert Golden recovered.

So, Arizona did just about everything wrong … but still won. Sometimes, a little luck helps.

“Just a great way to finish,” coach Mike Stoops said.

“We didn’t play very well offensively. We really had no rhythm. We made a lot of mistakes. Made a lot of selfish playts, and our discipline wasn’t very good when it needed to be. To be able to overcome that, and to lose the turnover battle and still win the game, there’s a lot to be thankful for.”

(more…)

Nick Foles in action last week against Iowa/Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Arizona junior quarterback Nick Foles appeared on the Petros and Money Show on Fox Sports Radio on Friday afternoon. Near the end of the eight-minute interview, Petros Papadakis asked this question:

What’s your plan when it comes to the NFL? What are the chances you leave Arizona early?

It’s a reasonable question, especially because Foles is a fourth-year junior.

Of course, you have to take the answer with a grain of salt because it’s early, a lot can happen, players can always change the minds … and almost no one says, ‘Yeah, I’m outta here!”

But, for the record, here is Foles’ response:

“Oh, I love playing college football. This was a dream growing up, playing college football. It’s a dream of mine to play in the NFL, but I tell everyone my first dream was to play college football, and I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, my strength coaches. I’m in a great situation here and I plan on being here.”

Continue reading the transcript of the rest of the Foles interview.