Flipping over on your head without catching the ball: Bad.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Football life is good for Arizona Wildcats receivers coach Dave Nichol.

He has an All-American in senior Juron Criner.

He has more trustworthy seniors in David Douglas and Dave Roberts.

He has a touted junior transfer from Texas — Dan Buckner.

He has promising inside receivers of differing sizes — junior Terrence Miller (big) and sophomore Richard Morrison (small).

He has three redshirt freshmen he can deploy this season — Austin Hill, Tyler Slavin and super speedy Garic Wharton.

He has, to sum up, one of the best receiving corps in the country.

“We need to tap the brakes on that,” Nichol said.

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Nick Foles was the first QB to pass for more than 300 yards against Iowa since the end of the 2007 season/Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

It’s one of those classic “movie” moments. Game on the line. Quarterback gets into the huddle and says the most perfectly inspirational line. Something about heart and determination and respect and all that.

So what did Arizona Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles say to his teammates in the huddle late in Saturday night’s game against the ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes?

“I love ya’ll,” he said. “Let’s go do this.”

Foles doesn’t need someone else to write his lines.

That was perfect.

Speaking of love, just how much are you loving Nick Foles right now?

Foles didn’t crack under the pressure Saturday night, even after the Wildcats were trying to put a pretty bow on their gift-wrapped present to the Hawkeyes. Penalties. Turnovers. More penalties. More turnovers.

Arizona, which had been up 27-7 at halftime, was tied at 27. Momentum gone. Cue the panic in Arizona Stadium.

Not from Foles, keeping his offense loose on the sideline.

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Running back Greg Nwoko had a couple of big plays in Saturday night's storm-shortened scrimmage/Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona got in only 20 minutes and 25 plays of its scrimmage Saturday night. Coach Mike Stoops wanted to see more … but, in another sense, he had seen enough.

At least, he had seen least enough to know that defense remains the overriding concern of these Wildcats, now 12 days away from the opening kickoff at Toledo.

“I was hoping we would be a little bit further along, but we have a lot of young players,” Stoops said after lightning cut short the scrimmage at Arizona Stadium.

“That correlates to some confusion. We have to eliminate some of the confusion so we can play faster and more effectively defensively.”

The team was scheduled to have Sunday and Monday off, but, given the abbreviated Saturday night, Stoops said he likely will hold a scrimmage during that time. That young back seven on defense needs the work.

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