"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Corso “coming to your cit-ay” once again

By Javier Morales

When Lee Corso presumably puts on the Wilbur the Wildcat mascot head — can you imagine the uproar otherwise? — Saturday morning by Old Main he might finally feel what it’s like to be appreciated in Tucson.

Lee Corso strapped on this helmet with Florida State back in his playing days as a teammate of Burt Reynolds. Will he strap on Wilbur the Wildcat’s head on the GameDay set Saturday morning?

If you think Corso is entirely fond of Tucson, I must tell you: Not so fast, my friend.

Thirty-six years ago, Corso brought his Indiana team to town and was beaten soundly by quarterback Bruce Hill and the Cats 26-10. A year later, the UA traveled to Bloomington, Ind., and won easily 35-20 en route to a 5-0 start and 9-2 record overall.

“They beat the crap out of me,” Corso told Ryan Finley of The Arizona Daily Star in Friday’s edition. “They outran me, they had speed, they had everything. They tore us every way but loose. I don’t remember what the score was, but it was embarrassing.”

Corso, 72, was the hotshot young coach who elevated Louisville’s football program to prominence from 1969-72 when he took over the Hoosier program. Arizona coach Jim Young and his team helped Corso start his career 2-9 and 1-10 at Indiana in 1973 and 1974, respectively.

Ironically, Corso was a possibility to coach Arizona in 1973 after the Wildcats let go of Bob Weber after four losing seasons. Instead of going after Corso, Arizona hired Young, the defensive coordinator at Michigan, in 1973. Young coached only four years at Arizona, compiling a 31-13 record, before he returned to the Big Ten to Purdue, where he would coach against Corso annually for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Young went 3-2 against Corso before resigning as Purdue coach to become the associate athletic director of the school.

One more tidbit about Corso and Arizona — a significant one in the realm of the recent development of the Wildcats: Who can forget the time former coach John Mackovic was interviewed on College Gameday after a player revolt near the end of his turbulent time at Arizona?

Corso, college football’s answer to Dick Vitale, told Mackovic to tell everyone at the UA to shove it if they didn’t like the way he coaches. Mackovic resigned shortly thereafter, midseason 2003, and Mike Stoops was hired after that season. Essentially, the UA unfortunately had to tell Mackovic to shove it, and the Cats are better off today because of that.

Now on to some facts you may not know about the Oregon-Arizona game Saturday (none that include mindless Duck facts, such as a duck’s quack does not echo — or does it? Anybody care to put our mind to ease about that?):

• Speaking of old coaches not too fond of Arizona, ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit, who is staying in Tucson after the GameDay show to announce the Oregon-UA game with Brent Musberger on ABC-TV, was the first player to commit to Ohio State after former ASU coach John Cooper was hired in Columbus.
• If you happen to walk by Herbstreit today don’t make a remark like, “He played like a house on fire.” Herbstreit and his wife are suing the IRS for rejecting a $330,000 tax deduction they took for donating their house to the Upper Arlington (Ohio) Fire Division so the fire-fighters can train. The donation — and the deduction — have been common for at least two decades for Upper Arlington residents who wanted to build new homes on property where old homes resided. Firefighters have used the old houses for training and burn-down exercises. The IRS didn’t challenge the deductions until 2004 — the year the Herbstreits donated their house.
• The Wildcats hope this is the first of at least couple games that Herbstreit and Musberger will announce with them as a participant in the next few weeks. ABC announced this week that the Herbstreit-Musberger duo will announce the Rose Bowl, which already has Herbstreit’s alma mater in the fold.
• Corso almost did not make it to his first game on time as Indiana’s coach because the Hoosiers entered the field on a double-decker bus. After warming up in the fieldhouse, Corso led his team to the field. Band Day festivities hampered the progress of the bus. Illinois defeated the Hoosiers, 28-14.
• Compliments to UA media relations director Tom Duddleston about these fun Nick Foles facts: Foles is making a run toward the single-season passing yardage chart, despite not starting in the first three games. He has 1,736 yards and No. 12 is Bruce Hill (1974) who had 1,814 yards and at No. 10 is Keith Smith (1999) who had 1,903. Arizona’s single-season passing touchdowns chart is within reach of Foles, who has 13. Dan White (1994) holds the No. 10 spot with 14 touchdown throws. Last year Willie Tuitama had 23, and 27 in 2007 for the top two spots. Foles’ pass efficiency rating of 141.13 shakes out near the top 5 if held up, while his passing percentage of 69.7 would rate the best ever, compared to Smith’s 68.5 in 1998, while Tuitama sits at No. 2 with 64.9 in 2008. Foles is currently No. 5 in the nation in completion percentage at 69.7.
  

• Oregon’s radio announcers were not happy about the way UA fans celebrated on the field after upsetting the No. 2 Ducks in 2007 at Arizona Stadium (check the YouTube video above). One of them claimed that fans were taunting former Ducks quarterback Dennis Dixon, who was injured in the game, when he walked off the field. When Oregon routed USC two weeks ago in Eugene, Oregon announcers laughed up a storm and commented that they should stay at Autzen Stadium all night to celebrate. It was about as anti-Brian Jeffries as you could get. Jeffries would never laugh openly after a game Arizona won and tell the sideline reporter to interview the exuberant fans on the field for their opinion — risking a swear word for a youngster to hear. Thankfully Oregon announcer Jerry Allen realized his mistake and told the sideline reporter to forget about that request.
• Farewall to these 23 UA seniors, who are playing their final game at Arizona Stadium on Saturday: Defensive back Haig Abnous, long snapper Jason Bertoni, running back Nick Booth, offensive tackle Mike Diaz, H-back Chris Gronkowski, offensive guard Herman Hall, safety Corey Hall, defensive tackle Donald Horton, linebacker Xavier Kelley, center Blake Kerley, linebacker Sterling Lewis, tight end Tyler Lyon, defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, fullback Kevin Morris, safety Cam Nelson, receiver Brad Posten, cornerback Devin Ross, safety Brandon Tatum, receiver/snapper Sean Trowbridge, linebacker Vuna Tuihalamaka, receiver Terrell Turner, H-back/special teams player Orlando Vargas and long snapper Ricky Wolder. Corey Hall, Horton, Kelley, Kerley, Mitchell, Nelson, Ross and Turner were four-year lettermen.
• 
  Darryll Lewis’ tackle of Oregon QB Bill Musgrave in 1990 ranks as one of the best plays in school history (click on picture to view YouTube video of the play as one of the UA’s top 10 plays of all-time — Antoine Cason’s punt return for a TD against Oregon in 2007 is also in the video).

  The Devin and Trevin Show should take notice: UA cornerbacks have supplied plays for the ages against the Ducks in Tucson. Can either Devin Ross and Trevin Wade, the Wildcats’ starting cornerbacks, follow in the footsteps of Daryll Lewis and Antoine Cason concerning their feats against Oregon in Tucson? Lewis tackled Oregon quarterback Bill Musgrave one foot from the endzone to preserve the UA’s 22-17 win in 1990. Lewis also had two interceptions in the game. Cason ran wild against Oregon in 2007. Cason’s 42-yard interception return for a score gave Arizona the lead for good five seconds into the second quarter, and his 56-yard punt return for a score 10 minutes later capped a Wildcat 24-0 run in just more than 15 minutes. UA took a 31-14 lead into the locker room and won the game 34-24.

• If Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli did not sign a Lloyd’s of London personal injury insurance policy before this game, he certainly should have. Former Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens broke an ankle in 2005 at Arizona. Dixon came into the game and immediately suffered a concussion. Two years later, in 2007, Dixon returned at the head of a team ranked No. 2 in the nation and a favorite to win the Heisman trophy. But he tore an ACL that was hurt the previous week. Oregon lost to Arizona in that game and failed to win the rest of the season. Hard to Believe Department: Former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti actually blamed the Arizona Stadium turf for Clemens’ injury in 2005. “Bermuda grass is the worst in terms of ankle injuries,” he said. Bellotti must have stayed up to date about Australian Rules Football with such information. That league had doctors assess injuries on rye grass vs. bermuda grass and it was determined rye grass is associated with fewer non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries than bermuda grass. I warned you these weren’t mindless facts.

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