"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

>>Post scrimmage video and stats from Tuesday >>Lance Briggs: Crazy about comic books

Arizona by the numbers with 23 days until kickoff:

---

• Sophomore safety Mark Watley of Encino, Calif., wears jersey number 23 for the Wildcats. Has not seen much playing time to this point. He was the coaches’ scout team player of the week for the UCLA game during his redshirt freshman season in 2008. Fun fact about Watley: Set the school record at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino with a 400-meter time of 47.91 seconds in 2007.
• Arizona defeated No. 2 UCLA 23-17 on Nov. 1, 1980, in Tucson — the first time the Wildcats beat a team ranked that high in the Associated Press poll.
• Dubious mark: The Wildcats’ record for fewest rushing yards in a Pac-10 game is minus-23 at Oregon State in 2002. The Cats were in the midst of a six-game losing streak under, you guessed it, John Mackovic.
• Bobby Wade and Mike Thomas — two of the best UA receivers in school history — each caught 23 touchdown passes in their UA career, and oddly enough, they ended only 120 receiving yards apart in their careers as well. Wade is the UA record-holder with 3,351 yards and Thomas is second at 3,231.
• Steve McLaughlin holds the school record with 23 field goals made in a season in 1994. He attempted 29 that season.

Series of poll questions seeks your input on developments in decade

By Javier Morales

Our Anthony Gimino wrote an informative and thoughtful article at TucsonCitizen.com yesterday about Arizona’s place in the Pac-10′s standings of the decade 2000-2009.

That sparked my interest to get your input on the most significant developments pertaining to the UA athletic department as we wind down this decade. Since all of us are gearing up for the holidays, including the Holiday Bowl between Arizona and Nebraska in San Diego, we will offer you a UA football poll first (feel free to make comments about your selection in the comments section at the end of the entry):

DECADE NUMBERS: >>Overall record: 47-67 >>Pac-10 record: 30-54 (last) >>Record vs. ASU: 4-6 >>NFL picks: 21 >>First-round picks: 2 John Mackovic Mike Thomas

By Anthony Gimino

It was an eventful training camp for players with Arizona ties.

Fan favorite Tedy Bruschi retired from the Patriots and joined ESPN as an analyst. Rookie free agent safety Nate Ness was cut three times — from the Browns, Jets and Saints. Wide receiver Bobby Wade, entering his eighth season in the league, was cut Thursday from the Vikings despite 107 catches in two years with the team. He won’t be catching passes from Brett Favre.

Elsewhere, the Browns plucked running back Chris Jennings — who arrived at Arizona as a junior college walk-on — from the Canadian Football League. He didn’t survive the final cut, but was re-signed to the practice squad.

Meanwhile, former All-Pro cornerback Chris McAlister is looking for work, trying to come back from two seasons of knee problems. He tells the L.A. Times he’ll be back next week. And, oh yeah, his Beverly Hills-area home is for sale at $7.9 million.

For now, 14 ex-Cats are on active NFL rosters. Here is the list:

(more…)

This is a continuation of WILDABOUTAZCATS.com’s countdown to Arizona’s football season-opener vs. Central Michigan at Arizona Stadium on Sept. 5. We are showcasing the best player with that uniform number in UA football history.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT:
>>Arizona football All-Decade team (offense) (WILDABOUTAZCATS.com)
>>Arizona football All-Decade team (defense) (WILDABOUTAZCATS.com)
>>QB situation: Still no decision (WildcatSportsReport.com)

---

Wide receiver, Mike Thomas (2005-2008). The Pac-10′s career leader with 259 receptions, Thomas twice earned first-team all-conference accolades, registering 157 catches and 15 touchdowns over his final two seasons. Showed scouts that he could contribute on special teams, as a punt returner last season as a senior. The DeSoto, Texas, native scored two touchdowns on returns. His career receiving yards of 3,221 is only 130 shy of the school record held by Bobby Wade, who played from 1999-2002.

Ironically Dennis Northcutt, No. 2 on the list behind Wade with 3,252 receiving yards in his UA career, was traded from Jacksonville to Detroit to help make room for Thomas. The Jaguars selected Thomas in the fourth round as the 107th pick overall. The Wildcats will miss “Money Mike’s” big-play ability. The knock on him at the NFL level is his lack of size at 5-foot-8, 195 pounds. “I think it’s going to fuel my fire inside,” Thomas said during his press conference after the NFL draft. “I’ve always even at Arizona got knocked down for being 5-8, 5-7 or whatever you want to call it, something that is out of my control. I definitely think that is going to spark my fuse and it’s already sparked my fuse. I’m just ready to get going.”

Before Thomas came along and wore the unconventional No. 10 as a wide receiver, former quarterback Jason Johnson looked to be the best in UA history to wear that number. Johnson had a school-best (at the time) 3,327 passing yards in 2002. Willie Tuitama shattered that mark with 3,683 yards in 2007.

---

ARIZONA’S CURRENT NO. 10: Trevor Erno, Fr., LB, 6-1, 230. Probable start to UA career in first camp at inside linebacker. All-CIF Pac-Five first-team defense. Co-Moore League Defensive MVP. PrepStar All-America. Tacoma News Tribune Western 100. Played on 10-3 club rated in California Top 25 for coach Thadd MacNeal. Team made CIFSS Pac-Five semis. Erno had 128 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 2008, to lead the Lancers. Played on kicking units as a hard-hitting force. Offense-Defense Sports All-America game in South Carolina 2009. Was early nominee for U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Participant in Speedburner speed-training camps to improve burst ability. MaxPreps first-team Division I All-State defense 2008 for Lancers. Information provided by the UA Sports Information Department.

---

CENTRAL MICHIGAN REPORTS

>>CMU BLOG UPDATES (Sun Sports Blog)
>>CMU hoping for a balanced offensive attack (Mount Pleasant, MI, Morning Sun)
>>Chippewas hungry to win third Mid-American Conference championship in four seasons (Morning Sun)
>>Linebackers lead veteran CMU defensive cast into 2009 (Morning Sun)
>>Chippewas show off new look during media day (Morning Sun)
>>Chippewa receiving corps has unlimited potential (Morning Sun)
>>Chippewas hit the pads (Morning Sun)

---

NOTE: WILDABOUTAZCATS.COM will run a similar countdown toward Sean Miller’s inaugural season opener, starting when the season tip-off is 55 days away. The season-opener is Sun., Nov. 15, against Northern Arizona at McKale Center, which is 83 days away.

FOLLOW US BY CLICKING ON THE LOGOS:

THE UA PHOENIX ALUMNI CHAPTER 42ndAnnual Wildcat Kick-Off Luncheon with Head Coach Mike Stoops Click here for more information

By Anthony Gimino

The last time an Arizona player made a prediction to me about his return skills, it was after the 2007 fall scrimmage and Devin Ross was saying he was going to return a kickoff for a touchdown in every game.

“You can hold me to that,” he said.

Of course, Ross, splitting duties that season with Mike Thomas, fell 12 touchdowns short. His prediction was all in good fun, however, and it showed the kind of unshakable confidence he has brought to the cornerback position.

Which brings us to sophomore receiver Bug Wright.

Here’s another confident, talented player, and when I asked him after Saturday’s scrimmage about his punt return skills, he said:

(more…)

By Anthony Gimino

Twenty former University of Arizona players are in NFL camps this summer, including a pair of promising rookies with the Jacksonville Jaguars — offensive lineman Eben Britton and receiver Mike Thomas.

Arizona is best represented at linebacker, with three Pro Bowl players, all of whom are holdovers from the Dick Tomey days at UA — Tedy Bruschi, Lance Briggs and Antonio Pierce.

We’ll keep tracking the former UA players as camps unfold, updating with news and transactions. For now, here is the list of ex-Cats in the NFL, with a comment on each:

(more…)