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Bowl-bound Arizona turns focus to the Oregon teams
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 | No comments posted.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Even after locking up its first bowl berth in 10 years, Arizona is waiting to throw a bowl party.
Now it’s all about moving up in the Pac-10’s bowl chain.
“We feel more energized, maybe. You are excited about your opportunities, but we all want better opportunities,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said Monday at his weekly campus news conference.
Arizona (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10) clinched one of the seven Pac-10 bowl slots with its sixth win of the season, a 59-28 victory over Washington State last weekend. The Wildcats’ last postseason appearance came in 1998, when they defeated Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.
The Wildcats are happy to go bowling. Now they want the best destination possible.
A berth in the Holiday, Sun and Las Vegas Bowls seems the most likely. In the next two weeks, the Wildcats will face Oregon and Oregon State, the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings.
“Winning takes care of everything,” Stoops said. “We are worried about just keeping moving forward. We are not out of anything. We want to position ourselves as high as we can go.”
Stoops was hired to turn the program around after the 2003 squad finished with a 2-10 mark. This is the first step, but Stoops is the first to say the job isn’t over yet. He is 23-32 overall in his four-plus years.
“It has been a tough process,” Stoops said. “It is not just going to a bowl game. It is about establishing a program. We don’t want to be a one-shot wonder, go to a bowl game and deteriorate again.”
The Wildcats have not won more than six games in a season since their last bowl trip. They can change that at Oregon on Saturday.
Arizona’s potent offense is a large reason for this season’s success. The Wildcats average 39 points per game, best in the Pac-10.
“We know as a team what we want to accomplish,” tailback Nic Grigsby said. “We just don’t want to accomplish six wins.”
Neuheisel returns
Rick Neuheisel returns to the school where he once coached when UCLA plays this weekend at Washington in yet another sideshow for the Huskies, who have a lame duck coach and are the nation’s only winless team.
“Obviously I’ve got history there,” Neuheisel said Monday. “I had a great experience being their coach many years ago and very much respect their program and respect the university and know that they will play with great passion and pride this weekend despite a tough season.
“We’re also experiencing a tough season, but as is the case with Washington, our kids have not given up, they continue to play hard and I think you’re going to get a spirited game on Saturday night.”
Neuheisel, in his first season coaching his alma mater, guided the Huskies four years before the university fired him for being involved in an NCAA basketball betting pool. He filed a wrongful-termination suit and won a $4.5 million settlement from the university and the NCAA.
Neuheisel was successful at Washington, posting a 33-16 record from 1999-2002. The Huskies went 11-1 in 2000, tying for the Pac-10 title and beating Purdue 34-24 in the Rose Bowl.
Now it’s all about moving up in the Pac-10’s bowl chain.
“We feel more energized, maybe. You are excited about your opportunities, but we all want better opportunities,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said Monday at his weekly campus news conference.
Arizona (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10) clinched one of the seven Pac-10 bowl slots with its sixth win of the season, a 59-28 victory over Washington State last weekend. The Wildcats’ last postseason appearance came in 1998, when they defeated Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.
The Wildcats are happy to go bowling. Now they want the best destination possible.
A berth in the Holiday, Sun and Las Vegas Bowls seems the most likely. In the next two weeks, the Wildcats will face Oregon and Oregon State, the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings.
“Winning takes care of everything,” Stoops said. “We are worried about just keeping moving forward. We are not out of anything. We want to position ourselves as high as we can go.”
Stoops was hired to turn the program around after the 2003 squad finished with a 2-10 mark. This is the first step, but Stoops is the first to say the job isn’t over yet. He is 23-32 overall in his four-plus years.
“It has been a tough process,” Stoops said. “It is not just going to a bowl game. It is about establishing a program. We don’t want to be a one-shot wonder, go to a bowl game and deteriorate again.”
The Wildcats have not won more than six games in a season since their last bowl trip. They can change that at Oregon on Saturday.
Arizona’s potent offense is a large reason for this season’s success. The Wildcats average 39 points per game, best in the Pac-10.
“We know as a team what we want to accomplish,” tailback Nic Grigsby said. “We just don’t want to accomplish six wins.”
Neuheisel returns
Rick Neuheisel returns to the school where he once coached when UCLA plays this weekend at Washington in yet another sideshow for the Huskies, who have a lame duck coach and are the nation’s only winless team.
“Obviously I’ve got history there,” Neuheisel said Monday. “I had a great experience being their coach many years ago and very much respect their program and respect the university and know that they will play with great passion and pride this weekend despite a tough season.
“We’re also experiencing a tough season, but as is the case with Washington, our kids have not given up, they continue to play hard and I think you’re going to get a spirited game on Saturday night.”
Neuheisel, in his first season coaching his alma mater, guided the Huskies four years before the university fired him for being involved in an NCAA basketball betting pool. He filed a wrongful-termination suit and won a $4.5 million settlement from the university and the NCAA.
Neuheisel was successful at Washington, posting a 33-16 record from 1999-2002. The Huskies went 11-1 in 2000, tying for the Pac-10 title and beating Purdue 34-24 in the Rose Bowl.
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