5-2 Arizona Wildcats Still Under The Radar

With the USC Trojans visiting the Oregon Ducks on October 31st for first place in the conference and Arizona on their bye week the Wildcats will continue to go unnoticed. Arizona defeated the UCLA Bruins 27-13 in a great defensive effort. The Bruins were held to 2/15 on third down conversions and 1/3 on fourth down. Three UCLA QB’s combined for a total of 146 passing yards and UCLA was held to 65 yards on the ground averaging only 2.8 YPC. Arizona held the Bruins scoreless in the 1st and 4th quarter of the game.

The whole country is familiar with the USC Trojans. The Oregon Ducks receive a lot of attention for their interesting uniform combinations, but the Ducks did qualify for the Fiesta Bowl in 2001. The Ducks have beaten high profile programs such as Michigan and Oklahoma over the last three seasons. The last time Arizona made a BCS game was in 1993 when they defeated the Miami Hurricanes 29-0 when the BCS was called the Bowl Coalition. Last season the Wildcats defeated BYU 31-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Before last years Bowl victory the Wildcats had not qualified for a Bowl game since the 1998 Holiday Bowl against Nebraska.

The rest of the Pac Ten and the entire country should pay close attention to what Mike Stoops is doing in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats at 30.5 PPG are the 4th best scoring offense in the Pac Ten. Arizona has the best passing offense in the conference with 259 passing yards per game. The Wildcats should have a very competitive team for the next three seasons, because QB Nick Foles is only a sophomore. Foles currently leads the Pac Ten in passing efficiency with a QB rating of 151.9 .

After the bye week the Wildcats have Washington State and California before they get the Oregon Ducks at home. When the Ducks come to Arizona Stadium on November 21st the Wildcats have a very good chance of being 7-2. The USC/Oregon game will have a lot at stake as far as what team can control their own destiny in the Pac 10, but before the conclusion of this season Arizona will be involved heavily in the race to become the Pac Ten Champion.