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Wildcats have a lot of work before facing TCU

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior defensive end D.J. Vasquez (left) and junior center Bruce Wiggins (right) flank senior placekicker Mark McDonald on the sidelines Saturday afternoon at Penn State. McDonald, who missed two field goals in the 41-7 loss to the Nittany Lions, will have to do better if the Wildcats hope to contend for the conference title this season.

At the end of Saturday's 41-7 loss to now-No. 2 Penn State, some members of the Arizona football team were beginning to think ahead to their next game. Looming ahead of them is a dual task of coming back from a thoroughly draining loss to the Lions while also preparing for Texas Christian in Fort Worth, Texas, this Sunday.

"We have a better idea of where we are, and the film leaves no question of where our minuses are right now," UA head coach Dick Tomey said.

DEFENSE

The first thing Arizona needs is senior strong safety Greg Payne back. Nursing a sprained ankle, Payne sat out Saturday's game. And with the Wildcats thinner than the average Calvin Klein model in terms of secondary depth, the coaches had to improvise against Penn State and move senior linebacker Marcus Bell to strong safety and insert junior Antonio Pierce into Bell's spot.

While Pierce did his job (11 tackles, 2 passes broken up), the other linebackers did not. DaShon Polk was hurt and Scooter Sprotte didn't live up to the numbers he put up last year. Arizona needs Bell, who also hurt his ankle, back at his natural position, even if it forces Pierce or Sprotte to the bench.

"We did a very poor job tackling, and they made us miss a bunch," Tomey said. "It was a mismatch in the hitting area, and we just did a poor job in all areas."

The Wildcat secondary needs to improve as well. Senior Leland Gayles looked bad and good, though the bad moments weren't always his fault. Witness PSU fullback Aaron Harris dragging the undersized Gayles into the end zone. Kelvin Hunter, interception aside, missed several key tackles and got burned by the Lions' receivers.

Up front junior DE Austin Uku, senior LB Stadford Glover and junior DE/DT Idris Haroon, all backups, were the only Wildcats getting penetration. Arizona's line was simply out-muscled by the Lions' behemoth offensive line, a scene eerily reminiscent of last year's 52-28 loss to UCLA.

Arizona's ultimate goals on defense should be to tackle better, get more pressure on the quarterback and doing everything possible to stay healthy. The Wildcats don't have the all-around depth to take a couple of key injuries and still hope to contend for the Pacific 10 Conference title.

OFFENSE

UA offensive coordinator Dino Babers said what the Wildcats need to do is "get tougher."

"We're focusing on hitting, being physical," he said.

The offensive line faces a double task this week. While the interior looked solid, the tackles at either end, senior RT Manuia Savea and sophomore LT Makoa Freitas, were getting burned by the Lions' bigger and faster defensive ends.

With the tackles getting beat, quarterbacks Ortege Jenkins and Keith Smith got banged up by the Lions' pass rush. Jenkins was sacked four times in the game, fighting through the pain of a deep thigh bruise after Smith left with an ankle injury.

"They'll be good enough to play," Babers said of the quarterbacks. "But they won't be 100 percent. Very seldom are guys 100 percent once you get into the football season."

But Jenkins and Smith can't do it alone, meaning the running backs need to take some pressure off them.

"(We need to) get 'em tougher," Babers said. "There were some holes out there. Their (Penn State's) backs didn't have holes, but they didn't need them. Sometimes a running back has to make his own holes."

At the same time, the passing game has a big hole as senior WR Brad Brennan won't play against TCU. Brennan re-aggravated a hamstring injury he suffered at Camp Cochise.

"I think all those receivers need to step up," Babers said. "We're not going to change our offense because somebody is out."

The one player who will be especially scrutinized is junior Marvin Brown. A junior college transfer, only Brown has the experience and the speed to overcome Division I-caliber defensive backs.

With freshman Bobby Wade having shown his age, returning kicks out of the end zone when he should have taken a knee, and sophomore Malosi Leonard having looked shaky at best, it should be up to Brown to carry the load against TCU.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Someone needs to hypnotize Mark McDonald into believing he's back in the Holiday Bowl. It was in San Diego that McDonald went 3-for-3 after an 8-for-17 regular season. But he was back to his old self Saturday, missing two field goals, one a chip shot from 40 yards on Arizona's crucial failed first drive.

As for punter Chris Palic, he needs to work on punting for short yardage. Twice he punted into the end zone for touchbacks instead of pinning the Lions deep.

As a team, the Wildcats have three choices- use Saturday's embarrassment as fuel to re-stoke their fire, forget about PSU completely and focus on the rest of the season, or dwell on the loss and go down in flames.

There are still 11 games to play, with the eight in the Pac-10 far more important than Arizona's opener, because those are the games that will ultimately determine the Wildcats' fate.

"I am very concerned about TCU, because they are as big a challenge at Penn State," Tomey said. "Right now the focus needs to be on Arizona. We need to get Arizona right and Arizona understanding what we need to do to improve and take it from there."