"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

This is part of a reprint from an Aug. 17 blog published at TucsonCitizen.com

By Javier Morales
TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona’s football team usually starts camp banking on another team traveling to arid Tucson to play the Cats in their environment to start the season.

In their first 10 seasons in the Pac-10 (and throughout the Larry Smith era), the Wildcats opened their season at Arizona Stadium. The UA did not fare all that well, winning only six of those games and suffering upset losses to Fresno State and Colorado State in the process.

Dick Tomey did not care about the supposed advantage of starting the season in front of the home crowd. In his 14 seasons as head coach, the UA opened the season seven times on the road, including four consecutive years at the end of his tenure (from 1997 to 2000).

In that four-year span, the UA opened at Oregon, Hawaii, Penn State and Utah. The UA beat Hawaii and Utah, but the losses to Oregon and Penn State took a toll on Tomey’s program.

Revisit the entire blog at TucsonCitizen.com

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The second part of the interview Fox Sports Arizona reporter Todd Walsh did with UA football coach Mike Stoops earlier this month

Other recent Fox Sports Arizona interviews:

• Mike Stoops, Part 1
• Nick Foles, Part 1
• Nick Foles, Part 2

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Pro photographer offers glimpses of UA football weekend

By Jim Patterson

It’s been a fun week for me, following the Arizona Wildcats athletics department and football team around Arizona. The 10-city tour concluded with a luncheon with Coach Mike Stoops and players at Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army post outside of Sierra Vista, located in southeastern Arizona.

I got a chance to chat with Arizona Wildcats athletic director Greg Byrne at the three stops I made it to. I figured Greg had to get me in doses in a few places. All at once is too much shock, I fear.

Enjoy the slideshow and read the rest of Jim’s entry at his Web site: TheCogentCommunicator.Blogspot.com

NOTE: We encourage readers to offer their blog viewpoint rather than only expressing themselves in the comments section. If you have a blog in mind, submit it wildaboutazcats@gmail.com. If it’s fit to be published after a review, your blog will appear right here.

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Playing at Toledo more risky than Iowa in Glendale

By Javier Morales

In the recent interview UA football coach Mike Stoops did with Todd Walsh of Fox Sports Arizona, the controversial topic of playing a “home” game in Glendale was discussed.

The topic drew much conversation at Anthony Gimino‘s blog at TucsonCitizen.com.

When Walsh asked Stoops about his thoughts of playing a game at University of Phoenix Stadium, Stoops said, “We want to do it … I’ve wanted to do it,” and he proceeded to discuss what it will take to make it happen.

“Getting to where we’re good enough to go away from home,” Stoops told Walsh. “You have to look at the opponent that you want to bring in. Going there to play an Iowa this year, I’d love to, we’re just not at that … you know, we need to be at our stadium.”

Stoops is entering his seventh season with the momentum of two consecutive bowl appearances and the promising development — finally — of a quarterback in Nick Foles who could play beyond his Wildcat career. With all due respect to Stoops, who was the best hire for the job following the John Mackovic disaster, it’s time to discard the booster seat and take the driver’s seat.

Please read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

ALSO AT TUCSONCITIZEN.COM: Stoops vs. the Pac-10: Breaking down the numbers

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Fox Sports Arizona’s Todd Walsh (a former UA men’s basketball student manager) recently inteviewed UA football coach Mike Stoops for FoxSportsArizona.com. The other portion of it can be seen in FSA’s “Arizona Wildcats College Football Preview” that debuts Aug. 19 at 5:00 p.m.

It airs again on Aug. 20 at 5 p.m., Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. and then Aug. 22 at 10 p.m.

Special thanks to Brett Hansen, FSA media relations director and former UA men’s basketball media relations specialist, for bringing this to our attention.

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Videos and analysis after the first day of practice

• Brad Allis reports on the opening day of fall camp
• Video interviews of Trevin Wade and Ricky Elmore
• Mike Stoops comments about the first day of practice
• Arizona’s co-offensive coordinators meet the press

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YouTube Video Playback

This day in UA history, Aug. 4

UA PRESIDENT: BOWL GAME FOR STOOPS OR BUST (Press conference, Aug. 4, 2008) — It’s been nine years since Arizona has participated in a bowl game. UA president Robert Shelton and many others believe the time is now to get it done. Expectations are running high for the 2008 season, with what appears to be the best team under coach Mike Stoops. “I’d be more concerned if we didn’t have these types of expectations,” Stoops said during Sunday’s press conference. “We expect to win every game we play, and we hope everyone on this team expects the same.”
Stoops, in his fifth season at Arizona, finally managed a winning season (8-5), culminating with a Las Vegas Bowl victory over BYU.

UA birthdays this week:

• Aug. 2: Alex Monetta, turns 20, Soph., tight end
• Aug. 3: R.J. Young, turns 20, Soph., linebacker
• Aug. 4: Trevor Foster, turns 23, Sr., safety
• Aug. 4: Ariel Coleman, turns 20, Soph., women’s hurdler
• Aug. 5: Travis Cobb, turns 20, Sr., wide receiver
• Aug. 6: Jacob Meskin, turns 22, Sr., catcher

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