TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -There was a time, not all that long ago, when Mike Stoops was coaching season to season, almost game to game at Arizona.
The tide shifted, gradually, and now Stoops has firmly established the Wildcats as a program on the rise.
Next up is a chance at something that has happened only one other time in school history: three straight bowl appearances.
And, with the parity in the Pac-10 this year, it might not just be any bowl. The Wildcats’ first Rose Bowl in the 111-year history of the program is, for once, an actual possibility.
“We’ve had some success, but we have a chance to do something that’s never been done,” Stoops said. “I think our players understand just how wide open this thing is going to be and what a great year it’s going to be in the Pac-10 and what an opportunity we have.”
No. 11 Oregon, the eventual Pac-10 champion.
That earned Arizona a trip to the Holiday Bowl against No. 20 Nebraska. The Wildcats beat Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl the year before, but this one didn’t go so well. The Cornhuskers manhandled Arizona in a 33-0 rout, a game the Wildcats have thought about constantly over the past eight months.
“That has been our motivation all offseason,” receiver Bug Wright said. “Every time we touch the field, we just remember that game and how embarrassed we were and how our school felt about it. We really didn’t represent Arizona football in that game. We just used that as motivation to work hard and I believe it made us a lot better team.”
They certainly should be.
Arizona has 14 starters back, many of them skill players on offense.
Quarterback Nick Foles is coming off a sophomore season in which he threw for 19 touchdowns and over 2,400 yards. The Wildcats have a multitude of receiving threats, led by junior Juron Criner, who caught 45 passes for 582 yards and nine touchdowns last season. The offensive line has four starters back and plenty of depth.
Senior running back Nic Grigsby, who struggled with a shoulder injury last season, has averaged 5.3 yards per carry during his career and he’ll get plenty of help from Keola Antolin, along with bruisers Greg Nwoko and Taimi Tutogi.
Defensively, the Wildcats do have some question marks.
The front line is solid. Defensive end Ricky Elmore had 10 1/2 sacks last season and Brooks Reed had 8 1/2 as a sophomore before being plagued by injuries last season. The secondary is led by cornerback Trevin Wade, but doesn’t have a lot of depth.
Arizona also has to replace all three starting linebackers, a combination that could force the offense into a score-more-than-you mode if the gaps aren’t filled.
“Defensively will be our challenge, replacing three really quality linebackers,” Stoops said. “I feel like we have talent there, now the key is to make them productive players in this league. That will be the key for us.”
Perhaps more than anything, confidence is what will give the Wildcats a chance at history.
Arizona’s 16 wins the past two seasons are one fewer than the previous four years combined and the mental momentum is building. All those years of losing – no winning record from 1999-2007 – have been erased from the memory. The current group of players knows how to win, enjoys what it feels like and wants to pass it on to the new players who have come in.
“We’re just trying to instill in the guys’ heads that we are a good enough team to do that, but you have to take the right steps to get there,” Foles said. “You can’t just think, ‘Oh, we’re going to the Rose Bowl.’ What coach Stoops is saying is we have a good enough team. Guys need to realize that and continue to push it.”
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