Oregon State stops Ka’Deem Carey short of the goal line in last year’s game in Corvallis, won by the Beavers 37-27. It was the last game for UA head coach Mike Stoops, who was fired two days later. Photo by Jim Z. Rider-US PRESSWIRE.

Looking for one reason to explain Oregon State’s dominance over Arizona for more than a decade? Try this:

The Wildcats have managed to rush for only 65.4 yards per game in the past 12 meetings against the Beavers (see chart below).

That’s it right there. That’s why the Wildcats are a miserable 2-10 against the Beavers since 2000 — and you can make that a 2-11 skid when you include the 1999 game in which Arizona ran for 257 yards and still lost.

The point is, if you can’t beat a team in the trenches, you probably can’t beat them on the scoreboard.

And Arizona hasn’t beaten a Pac-10 team as infrequently as Oregon State since 1999. Surprising but true. The Cats also have only two wins over Oregon since then (but three vs. USC).

The trends aren’t promising for Arizona for Saturday’s matchup against the 18th-ranked Beavers at Arizona Stadium.

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Matt Scott is brought down by Oregon defensive back Brian Jackson on Saturday night. Photo by Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

The biggest question about Arizona Wildcats football this week might not get an answer until Saturday night.

Senior quarterback Matt Scott said his injured right hip — which limited his versatility, at least, in a 49-0 loss to Oregon on Saturday night will be “all right,” but it’s also pretty clear Arizona wouldn’t say if it wasn’t.

Scott said he took a hit on the hip during the first drive against Oregon. He went to the locker room to get extra padding on the hip and missed a couple of plays. When he returned, the coaches took care to decrease his exposure to hits, basically abandoning the quarterback-run plays that are the cornerstone of the read-option offense.

“Matt got a little sore, a bit banged up, in the first quarter,” coach Rich Rodriguez said.

“We weren’t running Matt a lot anyway. But after that, it limited some of the stuff we would normally do with Matt. After that, we curtailed any other quarterback thoughts we had as far as Matt running the ball.”

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Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics.

As Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez sat down at the table for his weekly press conference, a member of the communications services staff reached below the table for a copper helmet, propping it next to Rodriguez.

OK, Coach … trying to tell us something?

“It is our first Pac-12 home game this year, so we’re going to break out the copper helmets,” Rodriguez said, referring to Saturday’s game against Oregon State (7 p.m., Arizona Stadium).

“Copper is not going to replace our school colors or anything, but I think it is a tribute to the mining industry in our state.”

There’s that, and there’s the buzz that helmets and increasingly numerous and outrageous uniform combinations create among fans and recruits. And there are merchandising opportunities.

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Mike Riley gets ready to spend some money Saturday. Photo from @Coach_Riley

The crew at the In-N-Out Burger on East Ajo Way better get ready for a late-night rush on Saturday.

That location will on the way as the Oregon State Beavers head from a game at Arizona Stadium to Tucson International Airport. The kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

An Oregon State win will be bad for the Wildcats but good for business.

Coach Mike Riley tweeted that he treated the entire team to 200 double-double and fries after the Beavers upset UCLA 27-20 last Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

He told Oregon State reporters Sunday night that he figures to do the same thing this week in Tucson.

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We’ll finally get to see what the Arizona Wildcats look like in the light of day.

Arizona’s game at Stanford on Oct. 6 will begin at noon and be televised by Fox. This will come after five consecutive night kickoffs, including this Saturday’s home game against Oregon that will start at 7 p.m. The Pac-12 Network will televise the game against the Beavers.

Other Pac-12 games that day are UCLA at Cal, Washington State at Oregon State, and Washington at Oregon, which will be televised by ESPN at 7:30 p.m.

Stanford plays at Washington this Thursday, so the Cardinal will have a couple of extra days of preparation before playing Arizona. Stanford, ranked No. 8 in this week’s AP poll, is 3-0.

(Arizona plays host this week to 18th-ranked Oregon State, which is 2-0 and looking to bounce back from two consecutive losing seasons. Coach Mike Riley didn’t suddenly become a bad coach in those two years; here is a profile of him from USA Today, our Gannett partner, that ran late last week.)

Mike Riley’s Oregon State team upset UCLA 27-20 on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

By Jeffrey Martin, USA TODAY Sports

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Etched on a small block on Mike Riley’s desk is a quotation: “That which we manifest is before us.” It’s from Garth Stein’s book “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” and it obviously resonates with the Oregon State football coach.

He grew up here. He won a state title as a quarterback at Corvallis High. After leaving for four years in the NFL in the late 1990s — including a stint as head coach of the San Diego Chargers — he was re-hired to coach the hometown Beavers in 2003. He’s resisted opportunities to leave again.

In the ever-changing Pac-12, which features four new head coaches this year, Riley has the longest tenure, in his 12th season.

Riley, 59, appreciates his life at Oregon State.

“This is something bigger than a team or a game,” he said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “That’s why I fight, claw and scratch to stay here. I’ve been around the block — I want to fight like heck to make this my last job, to make this place as good as it can be and win a championship.”

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Rich Rodriguez had a pained expression through much of Arizona’s 49-0 loss at Oregon. Photo by Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona, ranked No. 22 in the AP poll last week, still received a smattering of votes on this week’s ballots following a 49-0 loss at Oregon.

The 3-1 Wildcats, on the strength of their home win over Oklahoma State on Sept. 8, appeared on six of 60 ballots for a total of 17 points (putting UA 31st overall).

Arizona was as high as No. 20, thanks to the vote of Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Arizona State appeared on three ballots, all of which came from Pac-12 precincts — Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (No. 21), Kyle Ringo of the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera and Dirk Facer of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats will be facing a ranked team for the third time in five weeks when they play host to Oregon State on Saturday night (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network). The 2-0 Beavers, who have wins over Wisconsin and UCLA, moved into the AP poll at No. 18.

A win this week could put the Cats right back into the Top 25.

Here is my AP ballot for this week:

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Matt Scott and the Arizona offense couldn’t break through against Oregon. Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Big picture. Gotta still look at the big picture.

The Arizona Wildcats’ 3-0 start was swept sway Saturday night, carried out by waves of mistakes against a more talented team, as Oregon pulled away for a 49-0 victory at Autzen Stadium on Saturday night.

“It’s embarrassing,” coach Rich Rodriguez said on his postgame radio show on 1290-AM (KCUB). “Our execution offensively is embarrassing. We have to be able to finish drives. We have to be able to kick a field goal.”

Arizona could do neither of those things.

Despite taking their first four possessions to the Oregon 4, 12, 2 and 13-yard lines, the Wildcats trailed 7-0 early in the second quarter, undone by a bad hold on a field goal, an interception, a fourth-down failure and a blocked field goal.

Arizona ultimately would go 0-for-6 in the red zone and throw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the second half before having time to think about its football follies all the way back to Tucson.

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Oregon stacks up Ka’Deem Carey in the first quarter. Photo by Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona’s time in the Top 25 spotlight has come to an end.

The Wildcats crashed in Eugene after their 3-0 start, losing 49-0 to the third-ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday night. A sputtering offense failed to convert in six red-zone opportunities, and the Ducks pulled away with a 36-point second half that included a pair of touchdown on interception returns.

Arizona, which was ranked No. 22 in the AP poll this week, returns home to play Oregon State on Saturday at Arizona Stadium (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

* * *

B.J. Denker comes in and immediately throws an interception returned for a touchdown. Oregon, 49-0. Let the clock run and head home, Cats.

* * *

The Ducks have scored again. It’s a 42-0 with 4:02 left in a game that could have been so much more interesting if not for UA’s squandered opportunities.

The Ducks have clearly established their superiority, but the tenor of the game would be completely different if the Cats had cashed in some chips early and/or made a couple of key plays in the second half.

* * *

To continue the theme: Arizona goes for it (why not?) on fourth-and-1 at the Oregon 14 … and doesn’t get as it, as Ka’Deem Carey is wrapped up short of the marker. That keeps the storyline simple: Six red-zone chances, absolutely no points.\

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Rich Rodriguez was a popular interview subject this week. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez has been on the cover of the USA Today sports section, went coast to coast with radio host Jim Rome and will get some love from the ESPN GameDay crew on Saturday morning.

That’s just a small accounting of his media blitz this week.

Even if you just nibbled on college football coverage in the past few days, Rodriguez and the Wildcats have been unavoidable as one of appetizers to a big college football weekend.

Rodriguez’s name, his comeback storyline after the face-plant at Michigan and UA’s win over Oklahoma State two weeks ago has moved the Cats, at least until late Saturday night, into the curiosity category.

Staying there will require No. 22 Arizona to do something thoroughly unexpected during a late-night ESPN telecast against third-ranked Oregon in Eugene, kicking off at 7:37 p.m.

East Coast insomniacs rejoice: Anything less than a combined 80 points and 1,000 yards will have Rodriguez and Oregon coach Chip Kelly resigning their chairmanship in college football’s Up-Tempo Club.

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