Arizona swarms to the ball to take down Washington running back Chris Polk/Photo by Chris Morrison, US PRESSWIRE

The focus, deservedly so, was on Arizona Wildcats quarterback Matt Scott in the 44-14 victory over Washington, but don’t forget about the standout performance by the defense.

Arizona, as I noted last week, had held four of its first six opponents to their season-low point total and had (in a different combination of teams) held four foes to their season-low yardage total.

How did the Cats do against Washington?

The Huskies’ 14 points tied their season low (against Arizona State) and their 290 yards were their second-lowest total of the year.

“As we keep going,” said senior defensive end Ricky Elmore, “every win gets more satisfying, makes us hungier and makes us want to work harder.”

It helped that Washington quarterback Jake Locker was bothered by a rib injury, which limited what the Huskies could do with him in the running game. He was 17 of 29 passing for 183 yards, and the Cats sacked him four times. He had only two other runs.

“He’s beat up,” said Washington coach Steve Sarkisian. “His ribs are hurting and I didn’t want to expose him.”

Arizona is seventh in total defense (13.43 points per game) and 10th in total defense (285.14 yards per game). Both marks lead the Pac-10.

It would be a quick show of hands from those who saw that coming.

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It is customary for a college football head coach to talk up his weekly opponent. The gamesmanship is just part of the game.

Mike Stoops

But without a touch of insincerity, Arizona coach Mike Stoops raved and raved Monday about Washington junior Jake Locker, mentioning the quarterback in the same breath as Florida’s Tim Tebow (one of the greatest college quarterbacks ever) and John Elway (one of the greatest quarterbacks ever).

“I think people used to laugh at you when you compared him to Tebow a couple of years ago,” Stoops said at his weekly news conference.

“But watch him play. There is not a throw on the field he can’t make. Some of throws he made in the USC game to give them a chance to win were phenomenal. …

“One of his strongest attributes is his ability to scramble and keep plays alive and keep looking downfield to throw the ball. We’re talking that this kid might be the best quarterback in the country. He possesses arm strength and makes throws a lot of guys can’t make. He just flicks the ball and it just gets there very quickly.”

One of the reasons Stoops might be such a big fan is that Locker had — statistically — his career game against Arizona as a freshman in 2007 in Seattle. Locker passed for 336 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 157 yards and two scores, but the Wildcats rallied to win 48-41 and probably saved Stoops’ job that day.

Locker was out with a thumb injury when Arizona routed Washington last season.

“I don’t want to get crazy, but the guy has got an Elway-type of release and arm strength that not many people have,” Stoops said. “His mobility … John was a lot like that when he was younger.”

Locker (6-3, 226) played in only four games last season because of the thumb injury, and he entered this season below 50 percent in career accuracy. Things are different this season under first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, who tutored Heisman-winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC.

With improved mechanics and working in a pro-style offense, Locker has completed 57.7 percent of his throws through five games.

“I read somewhere we he lost 10 pounds or so. You can tell,” Stoops said.

“He’s not as bulky as he was, and he’s much more fluid in what he is doing when you watch him play. … Accuracy is somewhere where he struggled, but his accuracy is much different. He’s working with a guy who has worked with a number of top quarterbacks throughout his career.”

If you don’t believe Stoops’ flattery, how about the praise from USC’s Pete Carroll? He said this about Locker — before the Huskies upset the Trojans in Seattle last month.

“That’s the best quarterback we’ve played in nine years here,” Carroll said. “He’s the most extraordinary athlete at the position we’ve seen, and I saw that as a freshman.”

That “extraordinary athlete” thing includes Texas QB Vince Young.

And what are Stoops’ final words on Locker?

“Hopefully, he will leave after this year,” he said.

INJURY NOTES
Stoops said that all his injured players have a chance to be back this week, with the exception of tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Bug Wright.

Gronkowski is out for the season after back surgery; Stoops said it would be 2 to 3 months before he could resume physical activity. Wright, who had arthroscopic knee surgery, could be back for the Oct. 17 home game against Stanford (which, by the way, will start at 4:30 p.m. and be telecast on Versus, it was announced Monday).

Running back Nic Grigsby would not have contact today in practice as he tries to come back from a shoulder injury, Stoops said. Other players trying to make it back are defensive end Brooks Reed (ankle), offensive guard Vaughn Dotsy (concussion), offensive tackle Mike Diaz (concussion), running back Keola Antolin (ankle) and receiver Delashaun Dean (thigh).

Washington will play Arizona next Saturday on a two-game losing streak, including Saturday’s thrilling-to-watch overtime loss at Notre Dame.

Now, do those two losses make Washington angry and hungry? Or it has it deflated the Huskies’ confidence after they beat USC?

Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker was so upset after the loss that he asked to not speak to media for the first time ever.

Last week, Scott Terrell of our partner UAsports.net figured it was best to root for Notre Dame because “I’m playing the ‘I hope the Huskies face the Cats riding a two-game losing streak with their confidence in the toilet’ card,” he wrote.

Doesn’t matter to me. It’s hard enough to predict games without trying to predict a team’s emotional mindset. Let’s just call next week’s game in Seattle another major tussle … and go from there.

That’s the way the Pac-10 is. With the exception of its game against Washington State, Arizona can expect to play seven more games like the one against Oregon State — hard-fought, physical, down to the wire.

You either make a handful of plays and win.

Or you don’t and lose.

The Huskies could have/should have beaten Notre Dame — how in the world did the officials take a late TD away from Washington on a replay ruling? — and will be kicking themselves for getting stuffed repeatedly at the goal line.

I wouldn’t expect any hangover. A night game Saturday at Husky Stadium will be the cure.

“If you take anything for granted, you’re going to get slapped around,” UA coach Mike Stoops said during the bye week. “We understand. We’re not good enough to beat anybody unless we’re at our absolute best.”

I’m writing this as the USC-Cal game is beginning, and one of those teams — who were Nos. 1-2 in the league in my mind before the season began — will have two league losses later tonight. That is the brink of elimination in the Pac-10 race. (No three-loss team has ever won the conference.)

But look who’s on top: Stanford. The Cardinal is 3-0 after Saturday’s 24-16 win over UCLA. As UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said last week about Stanford’s physical play: “You better put on your big-boy pads.”

Former UA coach Dick Tomey, whose San Jose State team has lost to USC and Stanford this season, was asked about the Trojans last week on a podcast at the Tucson-based radioexiles.com. Tomey instead talked about the Cardinal.

“We played Stanford, and I think Stanford may well be a better team,” Tomey said. “Stanford is a very good team.”

Stanford has its toughest challenges ahead, but will be a tough out. Same thing about the Huskies next week. Same thing for most teams every week. I hope Arizona got a good rest during its off week.

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Next Saturday’s game at Washington is set for 7:15 p.m. and will be shown locally on Fox Sports Net Arizona, although the announcers will be from Fox’s Northwest crew. UA’s home game against Stanford will either start at 12:30 p.m. (on ABC) or at 4:30 p.m. (on Versus).

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Washington lost starting free safety Justin Glenn, a redshirt freshman, to a broken fibula against Notre Dame. The Huskies might also be without their starting strong safety against Arizona. Nate Williams suffered a concussion against the Irish. Big-play receiver D’Andre Goodwin also suffered a concussion.

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I was surprised at this stat, given how mediocre Notre Dame has been recently: Including the overtime victory against Washington, the Irish have won nine consecutive games against Pac-10 teams not named USC.

Anyway, Notre Dame’s streak against the Pac-10 dates to an Oregon State victory over the Irish in the 2004 Insight Bowl. For what it’s worth, the Irish have won 14 consecutive regular-season games against non-USC competition from the Pac-10.

Granted, most of the opponents haven’t been the best Notre Dame has to offer, but this is a team that has lost to Syracuse, Air Force and Navy in recent seasons. Here is the list of Notre Dame’s Pac-10 conquests in its nine-game streak: