Arizona continues a quest for its first conference win of the season this week after turning the ball over five times last Saturday against Stanford en route to a 20-16 loss. The beleaguered Wildcats (1-5 overall, 0-3 conference) have not tasted victory since their Sept. 10 win over Division I-AA Northern Arizona.
Aside from five turnovers, Arizona played a defensively sound game, allowing only 195 total yards to the Cardinal. It marked an all-time low for the Wildcats under second-year head coach Mike Stoops. As stingy as they were, the Wildcats failed to record any takeaways of their own.
On offense, Arizona’s committee of tailbacks churned out 110 yards on the ground. Mike Bell ended the game with 88 rushing yards to lead the Wildcats and Gilbert Harris added 56 of his own. Both tailbacks broke the goal line once, accounting for Arizona’s two touchdowns of the game. Off-setting 34 of the team’s rushing yards were five sacks surrendered by Arizona’s offensive line. Quarterback Richard Kovalcheck seemed to be running for his life for most of the game, taking big hits and fumbling the ball two times – both were recovered by the Cardinal. Kovalcheck also tossed two interceptions and passed for 161 yards.
For Stanford, quarterback Trent Edwards and kicker Michael Sgroi combined for all 20 points scored by the Cardinal. Edwards hooked up with Anthony Kimble and Michael Horgan for a pair of 10-yard touchdown passes and Sgroi booted two field goals and two extra-point conversions to lead Stanford to its second-straight win.
The two biggest keys to a victory for Arizona are limiting its turnovers and protecting Kovalcheck. When Kovalcheck throws on the run his accuracy is subpar at best. Both of his interceptions last week were thrown after he was forced out of the pocket.
Turning over a new leaf
After posting the nation’s best record for fumble recoveries last season, the Wildcats have taken the ball away just seven times in 2005 and have produced points on just one of those turnovers. Meanwhile, the offense has thrown 10 interceptions and has lost the ball on the ground seven times for 17 total turnovers. Nine of those turnovers have led to points for the opposition. The Wildcats rank last in the Pacific-10 Conference in turnover margin (-10).
Backing the ‘backers
Arizona’s linebacking corps has fallen on tough times recently, much like the rest of Stoops’ squad. The linebackers have been hit the hardest by injuries, resulting in only two consecutive games in which Stoops could start the same three linebackers. Among the wounded Wildcats are five-game starter Dane Krogstad (out indefinitely with a knee injury), and potential starters Ronnie Palmer and Randy Sims. Palmer had not played in a regulation football game since high school prior to last week against Stanford, but he made the most of his appearance, teaming up with defensive end Jonathan Turner for a combined sack of Edwards.
A young dandy at wideout
Freshman wide receiver Mike Thomas had a career-best eight catches against the Cardinal and upped his team-best totals to 31 receptions for 394 yards. That gives him one more catch than arguably Arizona’s most prolific wideout Bobby Wade, who had 30 grabs for 454 yards as a freshman in 1999.
Seeing red
Arizona’s red alternate jerseys were introduced to the fans this year, but the team has not won a game when wearing them. The jerseys failed to do the trick last week against Stanford and didn’t phase then-No. 12 Purdue, who held off the Wildcats 31-24 on Sept. 17. Do not be surprised if Stoops opts for his team to wear their traditional blue home uniforms against Oregon.

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