By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
After 2 straight losses for UA importance of each game grows
The Arizona football team is at a crossroads.
Three weeks ago, Wildcat fans had one question on their minds. Could the Wildcats play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in program history?
What a difference two weeks can make.
After losing two consecutive games by a total of seven points and having the hopes of a Rose Bowl invitation shattered, the UA football team (5-3 overall, 3-2 Pacific 10 Conference) might have a new goal in mind - to win just one more game to become bowl eligible.
Although Arizona remains only one game away from the magic number of six wins - enough to guarantee a bowl bid - the road to Pasadena, Calif., Hawaii, El Paso, Texas or San Diego is hardly an easy one.
UA will head to Seattle, Saturday, to take on No. 8 Washington (7-1, 4-1) in a game where Arizona is expected to be a large underdog.
After a loss to Oregon five weeks ago, UW is riding a four-game winning streak into it's matchup against Arizona Saturday.
"Our attitude has to be that we know we need to come in (to Seattle) and come out playing our best football winding down these last three games," senior quarterback Ortege Jenkins said.
After the trip to Washington, No. 14 Oregon State (7-1, 4-1) comes to Tucson. The game, which could be another roadblock for Arizona and its hopes of becoming bowl eligible, would feature UA's defense against OSU running back Ken Simonton.
Oregon State - one of the most surprising teams in the Pac-10 this season - could become a problem for the Wildcats, especially if UA allows Simonton and junior quarterback Jonathan Smith to gain yards.
After the Homecoming Game against the Beavers, UA will face in-state rival Arizona State to close out the 2000 season.
The Sun Devils record - 5-2 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-10 - might not be as good as Washington's or Oregon State's, but the Sun Devils have a history of scaring good teams.
This past Saturday, Arizona State gave Pac-10 leader Oregon a run-for-its-money only to lose in a double-overtime thriller, 56-55.
Jenkins said the best approach to the remainder of the season is to take each game one at a time.
"We've just got to win each game," Jenkins said after the loss to UCLA. "You got to win game-to-game, week-to-week, practice-to-practice because if you don't - if you think about this too much - it can affect your play next week. We've got to get it out of our system."
Throughout the season, UA head coach Dick Tomey has been reiterating the idea that the only way to win games in a tough conference is to keep improving every week.
With UA's offense stalling in the past two games, improvement will be key on the offensive end.
"We are not a juggernaut," Tomey said. "We are not a team offensively like at times we were the last couple years. We are just not that team right now ... but we are working hard to get better."
Tomey said that execution - not a lack of talent or poor play calling - doomed UA against the Bruins.
"The bottom line is we did not get the job done as a team (against UCLA). If we were able to win that game we would still have the same problems we do now but we would feel better."
It won't get any easier.
