Matt Scott is fourth nationally with 352.3 passing yards per game. Photo by Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

I talked to Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com last week about Matt Scott — “Raw, but talent worthy of developing” — and then Rang wrote more about Scott on his blog at CBSSports.com.

Rang, after having viewed Arizona’s 54-48 overtime loss to Stanford in which Scott completed 45 of 69 passes for 491 yards, wrote “talent evaluators couldn’t help but be impressed with the unique skill-set from the Wildcats’ quarterback.”

More from Rang:

“Scott is leaner than scouts would prefer at 6-2, 198 pounds but demonstrated the toughness, mobility and most importantly the arm talent to reward an NFL team willing to gamble on his upside. Scott was particularly impressive during the third quarter of this contest. He showed off his legitimate NFL arm on a pair of 3rd quarter touchdown passes to wideout Austin Hill to twice give the Wildcats the lead in the back and forth game.

“Scott was the beneficiary of good pass protection on both plays, as he had the time to fake the hand-off to Ka’Deem Carey before setting his feet and throwing perfect strikes. On the first touchdown, Scott rolled to his left and drilled the ball into Hill, who’d himself started left and was then crossing back over the middle heading right. It was a difficult throw and one easy to nitpick if Scott’s accuracy and arm strength hadn’t been up to the task, but they were.

“Scott demonstrated the same intriguing combination of zip and ball placement on Arizona’s next drive, firing a deep ball between Stanford’s cornerback and safety playing in a Cover-2 to hit Hill for a 17-yard touchdown.”

(more…)

Arizona quarterback Matt Scott was 45 of 69 for 491 yards vs. Stanford. Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images

Arizona quarterback Matt Scott’s performance against Stanford ended in an overtime interception, which might be the thing everyone remembers.

Before that, he gave his team a great chance for the upset Saturday by rewriting Arizona and Pac-12 records.

“I think Matt Scott is a stud,” Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said on his postgame radio interview after the 54-48 overtime loss at No. 18 Stanford. “He’s an absolute stud.”

Scott:

–Set school and Pac-12 records for pass attempts (69), breaking the conference mark of 68, set by Stanford’s Steve Smith in a 1989 game against Notre Dame.

–Set school and Pac-12 records for completions (45), eclipsing the league mark of 43, set by Cal’s Rich Campbell against Florida in 1980.

–Passed for 491 yards, the third-best total in school history.

(more…)

Matt Scott will try to work his way up from a late-round draft grade. Photo by Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Rich Rodriguez hasn’t been known for sending quarterbacks to the NFL, but Arizona Wildcats senior Matt Scott is getting a long enough audition to intrigue pro scouts.

“Not only is Rich Rodriguez throwing the ball more, but a lot of throws I saw were more complicated throws,” said Rob Rang, senior draft analyst for NFLDraftScout.com.

“They are further down field and forcing the quarterback to make more pre- and post-snap adjustments. So I like that. In that regard, Matt Scott is going to have more of an NFL skill set than Rodriguez has had with quarterbacks in the past.”

Scott isn’t majoring in the college-game read-option as did previous Rodriguez star pupils such as West Virginia’s Pat White and Michigan’s Denard Robinson. Arizona is passing about 54 percent of the time and using Scott only sparingly in the run game.

(more…)

Arizona State fans will be giddy, at least for the next couple of weeks.

The Sun Devils are 4-1, have found a quarterback in sophomore Taylor Kelly, are on the fringes of the Top 25 and should, with relative ease, post another victory next Thursday at Colorado.

That will set up a huge Thursday night “Blackout” game on Oct. 18 — at home vs. Oregon — that already has launched a mascot war.

With league wins over Utah and Cal, ASU should be considered ahead of schedule in its first season under Todd Graham. The Sun Devils would be 5-0 if they could have made a play at the goal line at Missouri.

But, as was the case last year, we really won’t find out what kind of team the Devils have until they hit the tougher part of their schedule in the second half of the season. ASU has yet to face a dynamic quarterback. That will change.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s first year under Rich Rodriguez already is in its critical stretch, with the Cats facing their third No. 18 team in the country this week at Stanford. UA split against its previous No. 18 foes — beating Oklahoma State and losing last week to Oregon State.

What to make of the Wildcats?

(more…)

Oregon State’s Rashaad Reynolds seals the victory with this last-minute interception. Photo by Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion fired the game-winning touchdown pass between two redshirt freshman defenders — a walk-on linebacker and an injury-replacement safety who was a receiver until fall camp.

Such is Arizona football these days.

Young and beat up, but battling, the patchwork Wildcats eventually succumbed to the passing of Mannion, who rang up a career-high 433 yards, the final nine coming on a perfectly timed pass to backup tight end Connor Hamlett with 1:09 left.

The Beavers won 38-35, their sixth consecutive victory at Arizona Stadium. They are 12-2 against Arizona since 1999.

The Wildcats had enough time left to mount a counter-strike to cap a wild second-half show, but Matt Scott and receiver Tyler Slavin weren’t in sync on a crossing pattern, and Scott’s throw over the middle was picked off by Rashaad Reynolds at the UA 44 with 38 seconds left.

Scott threw ahead of Slavin, who hesitated, perhaps breaking off the route because linebacker Michael Doctor had dropped into coverage and was occupying the middle of the field. Reynolds slipped inside Slavin and made the interception.

(more…)

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.”

(more…)

Matt Scott has been on target for Arizona. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats have a 40-98-1 record against ranked teams in their history. The percentage falls, naturally, against top 10 teams and dives further against top 10 teams on the road.

Which brings us to Saturday night against third-ranked Oregon in Eugene.

Arizona hasn’t defeated a top 10 team on the road in nearly 20 years. You have to set the wayback machine to Oct. 17, 1992, to find the last time it happened — 21-6 at eighth-ranked Stanford during a Desert Swarm-fueled five-game winning streak.

Those were the defensive days: Arizona held the Cardinal to nine first downs, had eight sacks, broke up five passes and set a school record for rushing yards allowed (minus 33).

Since that day, Arizona is 0-12 against top 10 teams on the road. The Wildcats are 3-26-1 in such games in their history.

Three wins? So you’re saying there’s a chance?

Let’s take a look at five things that should be factors Saturday:

(more…)

Oklahoma State defensive tackle Calvin Barnett reacts to his double-penalty in the first quarter. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Arizona Wildcats quarterback Matt Scott said he wasn’t sure what had happened. But it sure was good.

He had taken a helmet-to-helmet hit after completing a short pass in the first quarter and then he was on the ground, entangled with 299-pound Oklahoma State defensive lineman Calvin Barnett.

Scott’s left leg was draped on the back of Barnett, who was on his knees. As the players wrestled a bit, Barnett stood up, taking Scott with him and then tossing him to the ground.

Thank you, very much. That’s another 15-yard personal foul penalty.

“It was like a WWF move or something,” Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said after his team’s 59-38 upset of the Cowboys. “I don’t know what the heck was going on there. I’m glad Matt kept his composure because he’s a competitor.”

(more…)

Matt Scott leads the band in “Bear Down, Arizona” after the game. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Arizona Wildcats quarterback Matt Scott ascended to the conductor’s platform in the southeast corner of Arizona Stadium, ready to direct the school’s marching band.

In this new postgame winning tradition, he and the rest of the Wildcats belted out “Bear Down, Arizona,” singing along with the band and students and fans. Scott punctuated the lyrics with fist pumps, reveling in the team’s 59-38 victory over 18th-ranked Oklahoma State.

What better way to symbolize that Saturday night was out with the old and in with the new.

The old Arizona lost, meekly, to Oklahoma State in each of the past two years and had dropped six consecutive games, also meekly, to ranked teams.

The new Arizona of coach Rich Rodriguez took the fight to the Cowboys, pounced on numerous OSU mistakes — including four turnovers and a ridiculous 167 yards in penalties — and scored the school’s most points ever against a ranked team, spanning 138 games.

“From the opening kickoff, I could sense our guys wanting to battle,” Rodriguez said.

“We might be a little smaller, maybe not as fast or whatever, but if a kid is a competitor, you always have a shot.”

(more…)

Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson will try to get off the turf this season against Oklahoma State and running back Joseph Randle. Photo by Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma State has humbled the Arizona Wildcats in each of the past two seasons, a direct hit to the pride of the UA veterans who have endured losses of 36-10 and 37-14.

Even for senior quarterback Matt Scott, who didn’t play in either game, sitting out the 2010 Alamo Bowl (coaches’ decision) and last season’s game in Stillwater (redshirt).

“I sat back and watched our team get beat two years in a row,” he said. “I wanted to get in there; I wanted to play. But it’s tough.

“(Not playing in the Alamo Bowl) obviously wasn’t my call or my decision. Just watching those two games makes me hungry to beat these guys even more.”

(more…)