Matt Scott (right) could be separated from fellow senior-to-be Nick Foles by redshirting in 2011.
Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

In January, when Arizona Wildcats football coach Mike Stoops held his press conference to wrap up the season, I asked him about the possibility of redshirting quarterback Matt Scott.

That would allow Scott to take over as the senior starter in 2012 after incumbent Nick Foles finishes his eligibility in 2011.

“I think you look at it and you talk to Matt, but you hate not to compete,” Stoops said at the time. “We’ll talk about that.”

Tucson sports talk show host Jody Oehler asked Stoops the follow-up question Thursday.

And Stoops’ answer was: Let’s try for that redshirt.

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Matt Scott hands off to Keola Antolin in the UCLA game.
Photo by Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

For most of Arizona football’s existence in the Pac-10, one of the Wildcats’ problems has been a lack of talent and depth at the quarterback position.

So, having two talented senior quarterbacks — Nick Foles and Matt Scott — is not the worst scenario for coach Mike Stoops to have. But the timing is unfortunate. It would be nice to spread their abilities and experience over a longer period of time.

Foles redshirted after his transfer from Michigan State, so that’s not an option. Scott, however, does have a redshirt year available.

Would Stoops consider trying to sit down Scott for 2011? Then, Scott could start in 2012 while the coaches continue to develop Daxx Garman, who graduated from Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School and will begin classes at Arizona on Thursday.

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Arizona coach Mike Stoops figures to have some options at quarterback against Oregon. Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats football coach Mike Stoops approached the gathering of local media after Monday’s closed practice and had a message.

“OK, guys, we’re going to play the quarterback who gives us the best chance to win. OK?”

At first, I thought it was Stoops making a little joke, perhaps mocking a typical question that coaches never answer.

But he had a little edge in his voice. And this wasn’t a rare case when he was joking with the media.

I can’t remember what he said after that — perhaps something along the lines of “and let’s leave it at that” — with the upshot being that he seemed prematurely exasperated we were going to be pestering quarterbacks Nick Foles and Matt Scott about upcoming playing time or strategy … or something.

The bottom line is that Stoops put the quarterbacks off limits to the media this week in advance of Friday’s game at top-ranked Oregon.

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Matt Scott suffered a wrist injury against UCLA on Oct. 30. Photo by Kelvin Kuo, US-PRESSWIRE

Arizona quarterback Matt Scott doesn’t figure to be available again this week against USC because of a wrist injury, coach Mike Stoops said at his weekly Monday news conference.

“Matt will be out, it looks like, this week. His long-term prognosis, I don’t know what that is past this week,” Stoops said.

Scott injured his right wrist late in the UCLA game on Oct. 30, but didn’t tell the coaches at the time. He stayed in the game, but missed some throws in the fourth quarter, and Stoops said the coaches figured something was wrong.

Scott nicely filled in for Nick Foles for two games, while Foles was out with a dislocated kneecap. Scott passed well and added a running element to the position that Foles lacks.

Foles returned last week at Stanford. The backup again will be Bryson Beirne.

“Nick came out in good shape, so that’s a positive,” Stoops said.

In other injury news, Stoops said receiver Juron Criner, nursing an ankle injury that kept him out late against Stanford, won’t practice much this week but could be ready to play Saturday.

Running back Nic Grigsby was able to handle only one carry at Stanford before deciding the ankle he sprained a week earlier at UCLA wasn’t good enough to play.

Nick Foles (left) is completing 75 percent of his passes, but third-stringer Byrson Beirne hasn't missed at all. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats are completing 74.13 percent of their passes this season. That’s not just good for a program that has been historically starved at quarterback. It’s good for anybody, anywhere, anytime.

In fact, if Nick Foles and Matt Scott — and maybe even third-stringer Bryson Beirne and anyone else throwing a pass off a trick play — can push that percentage a little higher, it would challenge an NCAA record.

That belongs to the 2008 Colt McCoy-led Texas team that completed 76.7 percent of its passes (343 of 447). Arizona’s current percentage would be the second-best figure ever.

Can we get an assistant coach of the year award for first-year quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo?

“I think Frank Scelfo has done a great job coaching these two guys,” Arizona head coach Mike Stoops said, referring to Foles and Scott. “Anytime you can complete over 75 percent of your throws … that’s not an accident.”

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Matt Scott signaled in the Washington game that he could be a good leader, too/Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops is expected to deliver some news about the status of quarterback Nick Foles’ knee at his weekly news conference last Monday morning.

It was encouraging to see the junior in full uniform Saturday night, jogging around the field and making throws in pregame drills.

And, as a team leader, Foles did plenty of work during the Washington game even if he couldn’t play.

“He was talking to me the whole game,” said Matt Scott, a junior who made a case for continued playing time by completing 18 of 22 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, also rushing for 65 yards.

“He came up to me after every drive and said, ‘Let’s go, let’s get another one.’ He was really excited. He gave us that competitive edge.”

Said center Colin Baxter on Foles: “He was there, talking to Matt, talking about what they both saw, helping each other out. It was nice to see him there.”

With Foles is an established leader and one of four team captains, offensive players talked after the 44-14 win over Washington about how Scott has matured as a leader, too.

“It’s a very big difference,” said receiver Juron Criner, comparing Scott to last season, when he started the first three games. “He has more confidence and he is more comfortable in what he’s doing. It’s all starting to show.”

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Coach Mike Stoops wants QB Matt Scott to not hesitate to use his legs/Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats junior quarterback Matt Scott is the X-factor tonight against Washington. You knew that. There are reasons to be optimistic, reasons to be worried.

Let’s start with the sunny side of the street:

Scott has three games of starting experience; he isn’t wide-eyed.

He has, thanks to the tutelage of new quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo, greatly improved his throwing mechanics. Scott is more accurate and has more velocity because of a more compact throwing motion. Coaches aren’t afraid to let him wing it.

He also is a runner, a guy who can make something out of nothing, a guy who can give the defense something else to scheme for, to worry about.

Arizona coach Mike Stoops said he has just told Matt to play like Matt, that he doesn’t have to prove he can stand back there and pass like Nick Foles. Scott needs to take the ground gains when he sees them.

OK, as for the pessimism:

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UA coach Mike Stoops says quarterback Nick Foles should be back this season after suffering a knee injury last week/Photo by the Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops wouldn’t take direct questions about the status of quarterback Nick Foles’ injured knee on Monday, but said it was not a season-ending injury. He called it a “week-to-week” situation.

Foles has returned to his hometown of Austin, Texas, for a couple of days to be with family and have his knee looked at it, Stoops said.

“He’ll keep in touch. He’s optimistic,” Stoops said. “And you know Nick will come back stronger than ever, and he’ll come back as well as he can. …

“He’s responded well in the 24 hours since this occurred.”

Foles was injured Saturday at Washington State when defensive end Travis Long rolled into his leg after the quarterback had thrown a pass. Stoops said after the game that Foles had suffered a sprained right knee.

“I’ll know next Monday what the likelihood of his earliest return will be,” Stoops said. “He’ll be back when he’s ready.”

Junior Matt Scott takes over the starting role, backed up by junior Bryson Beirne.

“We feel very comfortable with Matt and are excited to watch him play,’ Stoops said. “Matt is a guy who I said all along we can win at the highest level with.”

QB Nick Foles is showing complete command of the UA offense/Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

NOTE: This part of the weekly “Nothin’ But The Notes” column at WildcatSportsReport.com, written by me and Javier Morales. Follow the link for more football and loads of basketball recruiting.

One of the many encouraging things about Arizona’s opening game against the Toledo was the absolute control, the calmness, that quarterback Nick Foles showed.

Even when the offense sputtered in the first half, there was absolutely no panic, and first-year quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo said that comes from Foles being a dedicated student of he game in the offseason.

“The thing with Nick is that he’s knowledgeable,” Scelfo said. “He knew what he was doing. He felt comfortable with the game plan. It’s like taking a test and knowing the answers. He had a great offseason.”

One thing Scelfo and head coach Mike Stoops mentioned as an area of improvement is getting to the line and getting the ball snapped fast.

“We have a chance to put the defense at a little bit of a disadvantage is we can pick up the tempo a little bit more,” Scelfo said.

Trivia question
Did you know that there are seven former Arizona football assistants who are now head coaches at some level of college football? Probably not. Question is, how many can you name? Answer below.

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QB Matt Scott tries to scramble for a first down against Toledo, but the play was called back because of holding in the end zone/Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

The big question from the Toledo game: Why did the coaches put in backup quarterback Matt Scott early in the second quarter when the Wildcats were backed up at their 4-yard line, leading only 7-0?

“That was kind of unfair,” coach Mike Stoops said. “I wasn’t really pleased with that decision.”

Which is an odd thing for a head coach to say — doesn’t he make all the decisions? — so I asked him if he had the chance to overrule that personnel decision.

Sounds like that one zipped right past the chain of command.

Chalk up to the coaching staff, with new co-offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Bill Bedenbaugh still working through communication issues during the game.

“That is just stuff we have to work through, and we will,” Stoops said. “That was a mistake. Like I said, we had talked about putting Matt in early in the second quarter, but that wasn’t the ideal situation. …

“That is just something that has to be communicated better. That was my fault.”

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