San Antonio or San Diego? Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl?

It’s down to those postseason destinations for the Arizona Wildcats after Washington beat Washington State in the Apple Cup on Saturday night. That gave the Huskies a three-game winning streak and the 6-6 overall record needed for bowl eligibility.

The Wildcats are 7-5 overall and on a four-game losing streak, finishing a game behind Washington in the Pac-10 at 4-5.

Pac-10 champion Oregon finished its undefeated regular season Saturday with a victory over Oregon State, sending the Ducks to the BCS national championship game against SEC champ Auburn.

Stanford, the second-place team in the Pac-10, is guaranteed a spot in a BCS game if it finishes in the top four of the BCS standings. The Cardinal was ranked fourth last week, and there is no reason to think it will drop.

The Alamo Bowl gets the next pick of Pac-10 teams, having to choose between Washington and Arizona. The Holiday Bowl gets the other team. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweeted Saturday night that a Alamo Bowl representative said no decision would come until Sunday.

Either way, Arizona will play a team from the Big 12 … but that side of the matchup also has to wait.

Oklahoma won the Big 12 title game over Nebraska and will go the Fiesta Bowl. The Cotton Bowl already has selected Texas A&M.

The comes the Alamo Bowl, the Insight and the Holiday. They will pick among three 10-win teams — Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Missouri. If the Cornhuskers go the Alamo Bowl, officials might want to avoid Washington, because the teams met in Seattle this season as Nebraska rolled 56-21.

From an Arizona point of view, it doesn’t really want to see Oklahoma State because the teams meet in Stillwater next year in the second game of the season.

Arizona coach Mike Stoops suffered his worst loss since a game at LSU early in the 2006 season/TucsonCitizen.com

Coach Mike Stoops struggled to come up with the last time his Arizona Wildcats played so poorly, was so utterly outmanned, was so flat-out embarrassed and embarrassing.

If there is one thing you have been able to count on recently from Arizona, it is the team’s ability to compete.

But starting with a poor kick return, two incomplete passes and an interception, UA was grabbed by the neck by Nebraska and bum-rushed out of Qualcomm Stadium, bowing meekly 33-0 in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night.

“Nothing was right all night,” Stoops said.

“I’m disappointed just in the way we played and took this stage tonight. It has been a long time since we played a game like this. I don’t know if we were just content getting here, but we certainly didn’t show up in any way, and for that I apologize to our fans. I have to do a better job of preparing our team.”

The last time Arizona was so dominated was Sept. 9, 2006, in a 45-3 loss at LSU. Back then, the Tigers were clearly superior, they were at home, quarterback Willie Tuitama suffered a concussion … and the result was expected. The Holiday Bowl was supposed to be a toss-up on neutral turf, a defensive struggle featuring just a few big offensive plays here and there.

Instead, Nebraska made all the plays, Arizona none.

“It was our attitude and our effort,” said defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, coaching his last game at Arizona before taking over coordinator duties at Florida State. “All the principles that we stand for, all the principles that we built this program on, were not there tonight.”

Said Mike Stoops: “We didn’t have an edge about us tonight in any phase.”

Why? Neither Stoops brother said he really saw this coming. The preparation, Mark said, was similar to last season’s game against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Did the coaches not notice the players getting big heads from a closing two-game winning streak over ASU and USC that netted the Wildcats an 8-4 regular-season record and a tie for second in the Pac-10? Effort was part of the equation Wednesday night, but there is no getting around the fact that Nebraska’s defense, led by All-American defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, was just waaaay too good.

The Cornhuskers pressed Arizona’s receivers like no team has, taking away the screen game and daring UA to go deep. “They just man up and say, ‘Beat us,’” said quarterback Nick Foles.

Arizona couldn’t. Couldn’t even come close. The Wildcats had 37 yards before gaining 72 on a final push that ended at the 8-yard line.

So, Arizona was out-coached, out-schemed, out-prepared, out-efforted.

The Wildcats had gone 31 consecutive games without a loss of more than 10 points, by far the longest such streak in the Pac-10. It’s a bit of a manufactured stat, but it shows that UA, whether it was against USC or second-ranked Oregon or ranked BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, pretty much stood toe-to-toe with everyone, winning 19 of their past 29 games and not getting blown out in two-and-a-half seasons.

What happened Wednesday night was the exception, not the rule.

“This game is humbling in a lot of different ways,” Stoops said. “When you think you have arrived, that’s when you are going to get whacked. And we certainly got whacked by a much better team. …

“Believe me, I am proud of what we accomplished this season, but you can’t ever forget how you got here. Sometimes that can happen. We’ve earned a lot of respect over the past two years but you have to continually work on that.”

Stoops should be proud of what Arizona accomplished this season. The Wildcats were one game better in the regular season than last year, although the final record – 8-5 – is the same. Those are the two best back-to-back seasons at Arizona since 1997 and 1998.

Remember, the Wildcats were picked to finish eighth by the Pac-10 media (and were generally projected anywhere from fifth to eighth).

The crushing defeat in the Holiday Bowl stings, but it doesn’t change the fact that Arizona exceeded expectations, provided several thrills, delivered ESPN’s College Football GameDay to campus for the first time and kept the program on an upward pitch.

Mark Stoops, standing in a hallway outside the locker room and addressing a few reporters, told the story of how senior defensive tackle Earl Mitchell stood up in a meeting before the Oregon game and told his teammates that no matter what happened the rest of the way, he was going to be proud because “this group changed the complexion of Arizona football.”

“Basically,” Mitchell said last night after being one of the final players to leave the locker room, “I told them I had seen our team rise from pretty much nothing, from our trials at LSU to our triumph at USC.”

But at the very end, the team that had proven it could compete with anybody on its schedule, didn’t.

Mitchell sees a silver lining for what is left behind.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “A lot of our younger guys, they came in and saw a lot of the good things, and they didn’t really understand how it feels to be down.

“Hopefully, they can be to able to play with some pride because they know how it feels to be down.”

Can’t argue with that.

The offseason awaits. Time to get back to working with a purpose.

Over: 33-0.

* * *

Going down to the field for postgame interviews. Our trio of TucsonCitizen.com writers here at Qualcomm Stadium will be back with postgame reaction and analysis.

* * *

Matt Scott is in the game. … Now?

(And, after two plays, he’s out.)

* * *

This figures to be, at least, Arizona’s worst loss since a 45-3 setback at LSU on Sept. 9, 2006. At least that result made some sense. The game was in Baton Rouge, and quarterback Willie Tuiitama was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Arizona was still building under coach Mike Stoops.

This result comes out of leftfield.

One common thread: Bo Pelini. He was LSU’s defensive coordinator at the time, and now he’s Nebraska’s head coach.

* * *

Nebraska leads 33-0 at the end of the third quarter. Here’s one streak that will end: Arizona had gone 31 consecutive games without losing by more than 10 points.

* * *

You’re not surprised are you? UA cornerback Devin Ross gets beat down the sideline by Niles Paul, and quarterback Zac Lee hits him in stride for a 74-yard touchdown.

Someone mentioned in the comments section about Ross’ draft stock plummeting. I think it has dropped steadily in the second half of the season … not long after I quoted Rob Rang from NFLDraftScout.com as saying Ross’ stock was on the rise. Maybe it was after a few games, but the senior is not leaving scouts a good impression here.

Nebraska leads 33-0 with 3:39 to go in the third quarter.

* * *

It probably doesn’t matter much, but Devin Ross dropped another would-be interception, this time in the end zone. Nebraska has to settle for a field goal and a 26-0 lead with 10:07 to go in the third quarter, but it’s the second case when an interception would have prevented a Husker field goal.

Alex Henery’s four field goals are a Holiday Bowl record.

* * *

I hope Arizona is making some brilliant halftime adjustments because, if not, they would have been better off watching a super halftime fireworks display.

* * *

Nebraska’s snow-bound band didn’t make the trip, but the Cornhuskers’ offense, defense and special teams sure did. As for Arizona … well, hey, the band is here!

Other than that, not much else looks good for the Wildcats, including their new white helmets. Won’t be seeing those again any time soon, I would guess. Start speculating on when Mike Stoops will break out red helmets. Can’t wait.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse …

Arizona was penalized on a Nebraska punt with less than two minutes to go before halftime, giving the Cornhuskers a first down at the UA 26. They turned that into 41-yard field goal for a 23-0 halftime lead.

Nebraska is playing so well that you would think it had 22 guys named Jimmer.

The Wildcats have a long way to go just to make this respectable. As for winning the game, consider that Nebraska has allowed more than 23 points in a game just once this season (31, Texas Tech). UA has to somehow find a way to get at least 24 points in a half. Good luck with that.

* * *

Arizona, in a sense, just “gave up” three points. On third-and-8 from the UA 33, Cody Green throw a quick out that cornerback Devin Ross could have intercepted, but didn’t. The Cornhuskers were then able to get a 50-yard field goal by Alex Henery for a 20-0 lead with 8:25 to go in the second quarter in what is turning out to be a rare dud of a Holiday Bowl.

(I guess it’s still better than getting beaten by Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl, though.)

* * *

Just some stats for your (in)digestion: Arizona, after five drives, has 24 total yards and is 3 of 12 passing. I guess “drives” isn’t the right word. How about we say “possessions” instead?

* * *

Nebraska easily drives 82 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 11:57 to go in the second quarter. This won’t be the sendoff UA defensive coordinator Mark Stoops is looking for as he heads off to become the coordinator at Florida State. And, at this rate, offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes won’t look so hot for that new head coaching vacancy at Texas Tech.

* * *

Three thoughts at the end of the first quarter as Nebraska leads 10-0.

1. Arizona needs to go to Matt Scott at quarterback right now. The Wildcats have done next to nothing in four possessions, and a running change-up at quarterback just might help things. Probably can’t hurt.

2. If the UA defense doesn’t come up with a turnover, the Cats can’t win this game.

3. I thought the 1998 Nebraska team that played Arizona in the Holiday Bowl probably was the best tackling team I had seen play the Wildcats. This group is just as good … so far.

* * *

UA’s fourth possession begins inside the 20 for the third time. Sure would be nice to have Rob Gronkowski running up the seam right now.

* * *

Arizona tries a couple of different things on its third possession — an end around and a shovel pass to Nic Grigsby. Nothing working there either. Plan C time?

* * *

Three more for Nebraska on a 47-yard field goal by Alex Henery. At this rate, the “over” of 40 points will be beaten by the Cornhuskers all by themselves. The Cornhuskers are up 10-0 with 8:53 to go in the first quarter, and it seems as if UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes already needs to go to plan B.

* * *

Nothing doing on UA’s second drive. The Cornhuskers seem intent on taking playing tight coverage and taking away the screen pass, which means Arizona has to pass block longer against Ndamukong Suh and friends. Six plays for Arizona, only one run.

* * *

Saw University of Arizona president Robert Shelton before the game. He said of tonight’s game, “No turnovers, we win.” So much for that. Nick Foles, trying to hit a sideline fade pattern on third-and-10, instead finds Nebraska safety Matt O’Hanlon, who returns the interception to the UA 5.

Two plays later, quarterback Zac Lee keeps around right end for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with only 1:15 gone in the game. That’s the fastest score in Holiday Bowl history.

Nebraska was pressing the UA receivers on the third-down play, perhaps baiting Foles into that fade pass, which he underthrew.

* * *

So far, the “Go Big Red” chants are greater than the “U of A” chants. Ready for kickoff …

* * *

Greetings from drizzly San Diego. There’s no mist right now, but the sky is gray and Arizona’s helmets are white. Maybe that’s a good combination.

Steve Rivera, Javier Morales and I arrived a few hours before game time and soaked in some of the atmosphere around the stadium, and crashed the Arizona alumni tailgate. University of Arizona president Robert Shelton spoke to the crowd after the UA marching band performed.

Below are a few photos from the pregame, including former Citizen sports staffer Rodney Haas, who drove over from Tucson on Wednesday morning with a homemade sign:

UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes says you don't want to overdo trick plays in a bowl game/Tucson Citizen photo

SAN DIEGO — Greetings from beautiful San Diego as the Arizona Wildcats are ready to play Nebraska on Wednesday night in the Holiday Bowl. …

No secret here. As UA defensive end Brooks Reed says, this game is “defense against defense.” The oddsmakers in Las Vegas agree, as the Holiday Bowl had the lowest over/under total of the 34 postseason games, with the points-scored number hovering around 40.

Sounds like a good time for both teams to break out some trick plays.

Neither team can be confident in its ability to put together something like a 10-play, 80-yard drive. I see this as more of a heavyweight rope-a-dope fight, with each offense just waiting for that one opening to land a haymaker.

With the extra time to prepare, a bowl game is a good time for trick plays, anyway.

“It is,” UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes said after a recent practice.

“You have a little bit more time to get prepared and watch tape and all that stuff. The big thing is sometimes you get too creative and do too much new stuff. And, really, the bowl game is all about getting our guys to play fast and execute. There is always a balancing act between enough new stuff and being able to execute the stuff you do.”

Arizona backup quarterback Matt Scott can really be a wildcard here. He is healthy again after missing the USC game with a rib injury. UA hasn’t really explored its full options of having two quarterbacks on the field at the same time, but this might be the time to throw caution to the wind and keep the superb Cornhuskers defense off balance with Scott’s running threat. …

Quarterback Nick Foles’ quick release will help him against a ferocious Nebraska pass rush, led by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. But Nebraska’s sack total (42) is also a factor of an excellent secondary, which can create coverage sacks. Can the defensive backs take away UA’s screen game and make Foles hold the ball a bit longer?

Sounds like the key question for Arizona. …

Dykes on Suh, who was the Associated Press Player of the Year: “The thing about him is he is just so productive. You look up and he has nine or 10 tackles, and it seemed liked he had three or four. He really has a great feel for the game. When he’s rushing and he can’t get there, he knocks balls down. He plays screens. He really is a smart football player.’ …

Arizona not only had a wonderful talent base when it played Nebraska in the 1998 Holiday Bowl — cornerback Chris McAlister, offensive lineman Edwin Mulitalo and receiver Dennis Northcutt, to name three long-standing NFL players — but it had an all-star cast of coaches.

Consider: That nine-man staff had four coaches who either were, have been or are head coaches … and that doesn’t even include Duane Akina, who just might be the best secondary coach in the business.

Bob Wagner, the former head coach at Hawaii, was the inside linebackers coach. Jeff Woodruff, who would go on to be the head coach at Eastern Michigan, coached the running backs. Defensive coordinator Rich Ellerson just completed his first season as head coach at Army after a successful run as the head coach at Cal Poly. And Rob Ianello, who was Arizona’s recruiting coordinator and receivers coach, was just hired as the head coach at Akron.

Others on the staff included four respected assistants who have stayed busy in the business, including offensive coordinator Dino Babers (now at Baylor), offensive line coach Charlie Dickey (Kansas State) and Marty Long (Northwestern). Pete Alamar, who had been at Cal since 2003 (special teams/tight ends) was let go this week. Thoughts go out to Long, who recently underwent emergency surgery for what published reports called a “growth.” Long, 45, will miss Northwestern’s appearance in the Outback Bowl. …

As for Ianello, former UA head coach Dick Tomey, interviewed by TucsonCitizen.com’s Matt Minkus on a recent podcast at radioexiles.com, said that “Akron has hired someone who will put them on the map.” Tomey added: “Rob is just so smart, so hard-working, and he will be as good a recruiter as any head coach in the country.” …

Outgoing Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood was at a Holiday Bowl luncheon on Tuesday, as he hasn’t completely left the premises for his new job at UNLV. His first major act as the athletic director at UNLV was to hire Montana football coach Bobby Hauck, who was 80-17 in seven seasons with the Grizzlies, a powerhouse program in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Hauck is 45; it was only a matter of time before someone gave him a top-division job. Livengood will be trying to buck history with this hiring, though. UNLV is a graveyard of coaches. Of the nine head coaches in the Rebels’ history, only one ever coached in college again after his days in Las Vegas. That would be Ron Meyer, who jumped to SMU in 1976 and then the NFL in 1982.

Nebraska has Ndamukong Suh, the Associated Press Player of the Year as a defensive tackle. The Cornhuskers have the enduring Blackshirts nickname for their defense.

They have a defense that ranks second nationally, allowing 11.23 points per game. They have a defense that gave up just 202 yards to Texas in the Big 12 championship game.

Earl Mitchell (making tackle) and Ricky Elmore (No. 44) have been big parts of a stout Arizona defensive line/Wildcat Sports Report photo

They have another defensive tackle, Jared Crick, who was All-Big 12 as a sophomore and had five sacks against Baylor this season. They have two more players who were first-team all-conference — cornerback Prince Amukamara and strong safety Larry Asante.

And what will Arizona’s defense counter with in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday?

Although the bar wasn’t set high, this is UA’s best defensive line in at least a decade.

Defensive end Ricky Elmore finished the regular season with a Pac-10-best 10.5 sacks. Brooks Reed has been a factor since coming back from a mid-season injury. Defensive tackle Earl Mitchell is a possible mid-round NFL draft pick. Horton has been solid.

Arizona’s 34 sacks are the most since the 2001 season.

The Wildcats have been a self-described bunch of no-names all season — no first-team All-Pac-10 players on this unit — but that chip on their shoulder has served them well.

No need to brush it off now.

“Ndamukong Suh, he’s a crazy player,” said Arizona senior defensive tackle Donald Horton.

“He definitely plays hard and does his thing. But I feel that we have done, as a unit, just as much. At times, we can really dominate. There were times in the middle of the season when we got lackadaisical and fell off a bit, but I think we hit our stride the last couple of games and really tried to turn on the heat.”

Arizona will be trying to turn on the heat against a lukewarm Nebraska offense that grew increasingly conservative during the season, content to let its defense do the heavy lifting (and trying to avoid another eight-turnover disaster like the one in a 9-7 home loss to Iowa State).

After that, the Cornhuskers didn’t attempt more than 21 passes in any of their other six games. They scrapped the spread offense for a run-oriented attack, led by running back Roy Helu Jr. (1,139 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns).

Nebraska topped 300 total yards only twice in nine Big 12 games.

The team’s biggest playmaker is receiver Niles Paul, who has 36 receptions for 673 yards and is dangerous in the return game. Nebraska is expected use junior Zac Lee and true freshman Cody Green at quarterback.

“They’re not a complicated team offensively,” Horton said. “They don’t have a lot of shifts, and there aren’t a lot of adjustments we have to make. We just play our defense and be comfortable in it.”

The Wildcats don’t want to get too comfortable. Nebraska figures to be persistent with the run, pounding away, hoping to spring something big on the ground or play-action to Paul.

“They are very physical up front,” said UA defensive end Brooks Reed.

“They do a lot of traditional stuff. But if you can’t stop it, you can’t stop it. And they’re going to keep doing it until you can.”

It will be up to the no-names to stop it, to make a name in a game in which Suh is the undisputed star. He is the probable No. 1 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft … and when is the last time Arizona faced a defender this good?

Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington in 1999? Washington defensive tackle Steve Emtman in the early 1990s?

Horton said his father has had words of advice when it comes to Suh.

“He said, ‘All the attention is going to be on him, but you’re going to be at the stage, too. Make a name for yourselves, too, as a defensive front,’” Horton said.

“In my heart, I’ve been using that as a challenge.”

Related links from TucsonCitizen.com’s Sports Network:
AG’s Wildcat Report: UA’s Horton hoping a dream comes true in Holiday Bowl

Wild About AZ Cats: UA’s offense more of a challenge for Pelini this time around

AG’s Wildcat Report: Wildcats ready to shed the blue helmets for Holiday Bowl

AG’s Wildcat Report: Holiday Bowl flashback: What the Nebraska ‘N’ really stood for

Wildcat Sports Report: Cats close to completing recruiting class

UASports.net: Breaking down the Holiday Bowl inside and out

Donald Horton

Arizona Wildcats defensive tackle Donald Horton has a dream. Mostly, he’s been having a dream as he prepares for his last game — UA’s appearance in the Holiday Bowl against Nebraska.

“It’s this weird dream,” he said.

“It’s kind of like a quarterback rollout play. I break through the line. I’m running and right as he throws it, I jump and I knock the ball out and the ball lands in (defensive back) Corey Hall’s hands. He runs it back and we win off that play.

“Weird, right? I have been having that dream all the time. If that happens, I don’t know what I would do. I would go crazy.”

If anyone deserves to go crazy — in a good way — it’s Horton.

The fifth-year senior is a survivor of the early Mike Stoops years, when the Wildcats were trying to crawl out of the Mackovickian muck, when progress was measured not so much in wins and losses, but by an decreasing margin of defeat.

Stoops, especially recently as the Wildcats are having their best season since 1998, has praised those enduring fifth-year seniors, who were part of his first full recruiting class in 2005. They were buying on faith.

Horton made his recruiting visit during the 2004 home game against 20th-ranked Wisconsin … a night that provided ample reason to not want to come to Arizona.

Thunderstorms and lightning, the product of Hurricane Javier, delayed the game 88 minutes. The teams eventually slugged it out in miserable conditions, with the Badgers winning 9-7 when Arizona’s Nick Folk missed a 47-yard field goal with 43 seconds left.

“Even from my recruiting trip, I just had the feeling Arizona was really going to do something,” Horton said.

“Wisconsin was a powerhouse at the time. And I was like, man, we are keeping up with them and pushing them, and we didn’t have very much at the time. I was like, man, these boys are going to be good.

“For me, it wasn’t that hard to believe in them.”

So, Horton had a vision, he is having a dream … and after the Holiday Bowl, he will begin the dream.

And it doesn’t have anything to do with playing football.

For sure, Horton has been a valuable member of the Wildcats. Able to play inside or outside on the defensive line, he has 42 games of experience, including 19 starts. As a full-time starter this season, he has three sacks.

But he’s not exactly pro stock.

As the door to his football career closes, another one opens. Already a graduate student, Horton will begin an internship next semester, working in Arizona’s strength program.

“What I have in mind, what I really want to do, is strength coaching,” Horton said.

That can wait for one more game.

Maybe on Wednesday night, the Nebraska quarterback will roll out. Horton will break through the line. The quarterback throws. Horton jumps. Deflects the ball. Corey Hall grabs it and runs for a touchdown.

Well … it could happen.

The rumor going around is that Arizona is going to wear white helmets, not blue, for its Holiday Bowl matchup against Nebraska on Dec. 30.

True?

UA senior defensive lineman Donald Horton was talking with reporters after Monday’s practice, when KVOA-TV’s Ryan Recker slid in a question about what Horton knew about possible uniform changes.

“What are you trying to do, man?” Horton said with a laugh, reacting very much like someone who did not want to let the cat out of the bag. Horton then somewhat answered by saying he knew “nothing about the uniforms.”

OK, the helmets. What have you heard?

“All kinds of stuff. Red helmets, white helmets, all kinds of stuff,” Horton said.

He laughed again.

“What are you trying to do, man?”

The rumor does has some legs. Wendell Neal, the associate athletic director for equipment operations, joked with a trio of reporters late in the practice that he was up all night painting helmets. (The UA’s helmets, even the blue ones and the would-be white ones, are painted.)

Despite everyone being sworn to secrecy, you can bet Arizona is going to break out the white helmets.

Arizona has experimented with its uniform combinations in recent seasons, including red pants and all-red uniforms last season. The Wildcats have worn blue helmets since Mike Stoops arrived for the 2004 season. Before that, Arizona wore some version of a white helmet dating to 1981.

The Wildcats have worn red helmets before, the last time being in 1980.

The Wildcats are the visiting team for the Holiday Bowl, so they will be wearing white jerseys, with blue numbers and red trim. And apparently red socks. You can see pictures at Neal’s equipment blog.

Arizona could wear red pants, blue pants or white pants. White on white on white?

We’ll see.

Ready to go
The Wildcats will have a walk-through kind of practice Tuesday and then leave for San Diego on Wednesday. The team is scheduled to attend the Poinsettia Bowl, between Cal and Utah, on Wednesday night.

“We’re excited to leave, and I thought we had a great five days (of practice) here.” Stoops said.

“I think our players really worked really hard and we’re in great shape physically and mentally. We’ll give them a couple of days to rest up. We’ve gone after it pretty good here at the end of finals.”

It was the week before the 1998 Holiday Bowl, and Arizona coach Dick Tomey was riding a theme.

Arizona defenders bring down Nebraska's Shevin Wiggins in the 1998 Holiday Bowl/Tucson Citizen photo

That “N” on the Nebraska helmet?

“He kept telling us the ‘N’ stood for ‘Not today,’” remembered Brandon Nash, a receiver/special teams player on the 1998 Wildcats who is now a local sportscaster.

“Every time we saw that helmet, he wanted us to think, ‘Not today, not today.’ You look back at that now, and it sounds so corny, but that has stuck with me forever and it was very motivating back then.”

It worked.

Dec. 30, 1998, was not Nebraska’s day.

It was Arizona’s.

The Wildcats won 23-20 in a thrilling Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Arizona scored two touchdowns in the final quarter, including a 1-yard plunge by Kelvin Eafon with 6:08 left.

On Nebraska’s next possession, freshman quarterback Eric Crouch, who would go on to win the 2001 Heisman Trophy, threw deep over the middle on third-and-11 from the UA 46.

Arizona’s All-American cornerback Chris McAlister made a leaping interception, and UA secured the victory by running off all but the final 34 seconds.

That was so fitting. McAlister started the season with a kickoff return for a touchdown at Hawaii, and he basically ended the season with another big play.

“This is the happiest and saddest time of my life,” McAlister said after the game.

“This was a tremendous win for the University of Arizona, and that makes me very happy. But I’ll never get to strap on my helmet as a Wildcat again … and that’s the sad part. I can’t believe it’s over.”

The interception put the final touch on a 12-1 season — the school’s best-ever record — and the Wildcats finished fourth in both major polls.

“That game felt different than any game I played in at Arizona,” said quarterback Keith Smith, who now lives in southern California.

“It kind of felt like what I thought the Super Bowl would feel like. It was like the lights were brighter. It was different.

“It was definitely fun to play in. It was probably the most fun I had in a football game.”

The lights were a little brighter. At the time, it was ESPN’s most-watched bowl game ever. No Holiday Bowl since then has been as highly rated.

“To this day, anywhere I go, walking around here in California, they bring that game up,” Smith said. “They can tell me more about the game than I can.”

UA took a 9-0 lead on three field goals from Mark McDonald, but Nebraska led 13-9 at halftime, with its touchdown coming on a 45-yard pass to Shevin Wiggins.

Arizona would have led, but McAlister had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown called back because of a questionable block-in-the-back penalty against Derek Hall. Tomey called it an “awful call.”

Hall said after the game that the official later told him that it might have been a clean block.
“And (he) kinda winked at me,” Hall said.

The score stayed 13-9 until the fourth quarter, when Smith hit Brad Brennan on a 15-yard touchdown pass.

“The first thing I think about in that game is Brad Brennan’s catch,” Smith said. “There was a lot of pressure at that point of the game.

“We kind of looked at each other, and he broke off his route into a skinny post. I knew I had to zip it in there, and I threw it as hard as I could.

“He split two defenders and was excited to come out of that thing alive.”

UA’s defense had dared Crouch to throw all game, devoting an extra linebacker to play across Nebraska’s interior offensive line for run support. UA held the option-based attack to a measly 87 rushing yards.

Crouch, who was the Huskers’ leading rusher with 28 yards on 15 carries, completed just 12 of 28 passes.

“Nebraska was always a team you wanted to play, wanted to beat,” Smith said.

“We were confident. We said, ‘We belong on the field with these guys. They should be excited to play us.’”

Arizona’s team was filled with NFL talent — including three who are still in the NFL — cornerback McAlister, receiver Dennis Northcutt and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna. Offensive lineman Edwin Mulitalo had a long pro career.

Several others played in the NFL, including first-round running back Trung Canidate, defensive end Joe Tafoya, linebacker Marcus Bell, linebacker DaShon Polk, tight end Mike Lucky, offensive lineman Yusuf Scott, tight end/H-back Paul Shields and receiver Jeremy McDaniel.

Several others played professionally somewhere — such as quarterbacks Smith and Ortege Jenkins, Eafon and defensive lineman Daniel Greer — or made it to NFL camps.

No doubt, Arizona’s program was rolling. It had 17 returning starters for the 1999 season and was such a hot property that ABC picked the Cats to open at Penn State in the Pigskin Classic.

Alas . . .

The Penn State game was a 41-7 disaster, and the Wildcats faded in 1999 and 2000, missing out on the postseason and leading to Tomey’s departure.

“It would have been nice to build on that momentum and do better things after that,” said center Bruce Wiggins, who was a sophomore starter for the Holiday Bowl team.

“But we’ll always have ’98.”

The hiring of John Mackovic in 2000 sank the program lower. Then came Mike Stoops. His massive rebuilding project took a significant step with last season’s Las Vegas Bowl victory over BYU.

And now another step — an 8-4 regular season and, 11 years later, a rematch with Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

The Wildcats can only hope that the “N” on those helmets still stands for “Not today.”

Writer’s note: My first version of this story originally appeared in the Tucson Citizen in August 2008. I tweaked a few things and added a new ending.

Five teams from the Pac-10 already have seven victories and are qualified for a bowl. Arizona has six victories, which makes the Wildcats bowl-possible … but, remember, all the teams with winning records get placed ahead of those with 6-6 records.

UCLA also has six victories with one game to play — at USC this Saturday.

Three Pac-10 teams have been eliminated from the postseason.

Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford and USC are in. If Arizona wins at Arizona State or USC — and UCLA loses to the Trojans — the Wildcats are a sure thing to grab one of the league’s six contracted bowl bids.

But …

If UCLA gets to seven wins, and Arizona loses twice more to finish with six, the Wildcats might not be bowling at all. They would be shut out of the Pac-10 bowls and would have to hope to find an open spot somewhere else. A 6-6 team can only go to a bowl if all the other winning teams across the country have been exhausted and filled 68 postseason slots.

Even if there was an opening, would a 6-6 Arizona team on a four-game losing streak be especially attractive?

Basically, it’s like this: Beat Arizona State, and Arizona can at least count on the Poinsettia Bowl.

Lose twice more, and this has turned into one miserable season.

Here are other bowl destinations and how UA could land there:

Holiday Bowl
* Arizona beats Arizona State and USC to finish at 6-3 in the league.
* Oregon beats Oregon State, giving the Beavers three losses and creating at least a three-team tie for second.

The Holiday would be free to pick among any of the tied times, which would include Stanford (already finished in Pac-10 at 6-3) and possibly Cal, which is 5-3 and finishes at Washington on Dec. 5.

Arizona would be attractive among that group because the Wildcats would have won their final two games, would be coming off a win over USC … and you know the ‘Zonies would travel to San Diego.

Sun Bowl
* Arizona beats Arizona State and USC to finish at 6-3 in the league.

If UA finishes second but gets passed over by the Holiday Bowl, the Sun Bowl would love to grab the Wildcats.

If Oregon State beats Oregon, the Wildcats would finish in a tie for third, and the El Paso bowl likely would prefer Arizona over any other third-place team because of its geography and the length of time — 17 years — since UA has played in that bowl.

Emerald Bowl/Las Vegas Bowl
These teams have the fourth and fifth selection in the Pac-10, and can swap out picks to create the best matchup. If UA wins out, it would finish no worse than fifth in the conference pecking order.

Poinsettia Bowl
* Arizona splits its final two games to finish 7-5 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats would finish no worse than sixth in the league, keeping ahead of UCLA no matter what the Bruins do.