Jeff Lund

Luck.

Some people believe in it, some don't. Regardless of anyone's belief in its role in sports, it is safe to say that other than a controversial call in Arizona's favor to preserve a victory against Utah, the Arizona Wildcats have had none.

Not even a little.

But this weekend at Stanford, Arizona again found a way to lose öö this time by failing to show up as a team.

And luck had nothing to do with it.

Despite another stellar game from senior Bobby Wade and other individual efforts, it was the mistakes that loomed large in the loss.

Missed tackles, terrible blocking up front öö quarterback Jason Johnson was sacked six times öö and three interceptions.

Tack on a blown call in which the ball was stripped from wide receiver Lance Relford after his knee was down, and you have the story of Arizona's football season thus far.

When it does all it can to win against a good team, it comes up heartbreakingly short.

When it plays a team it should beat, the effort lacks at times, and the losses begin to pile up.

Since a 12-1 season in 1998 Arizona has gone 16-19. Ten of those losses came by 10 or fewer points and five by five or less.

Two weeks ago at Washington was just the latest in a long line of late-game let-downs, and Saturday's lackluster effort in front of a bunch of empty seats was just the continuation of a long line of frustration that started, ironically, after Arizona had peaked with a win against Nebraska in the 1999 Holiday Bowl.

It seems that the Wildcats have been finding ways to lose ever since a fateful kick three years ago.

Oct. 23, 1999 öö Former UA kicker Mark McDonald missed a 45-yard field goal with two seconds left in Arizona's 44-41 loss to Oregon in front of 55,251 at Arizona Stadium.

Maybe the laces were in, or maybe they were out. The point is, Arizona lost, and two weeks later began a horrid span for the Wildcats in conference play.

UA has lost 17 of 22 games in the Pac-10 including a 10-game losing streak against conference foes.

Close losses litter the dismal period.

A four-point loss at Oregon in 2000 marked the eventual fall from the Top 25 rankings.

A three-point loss the next week at home against UCLA and a three-point defeat to Washington terminated Arizona's ranked days, snapping a nine- year streak in which UA was in the Top 25 at one time in the season öö they haven't been ranked since.

The most recent heartbreakers are all too familiar for UA fans.

There was last season's three-point shortcoming at No. 12 Washington, followed immediately by a seven-point loss to USC, low-lighted by a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:50 left in the game.

It is almost as though Arizona forgot how to win close games, and remains in a funk, struggling to get out and reestablish itself.

The Wildcats will start having to make their breaks, rather than waiting for them to fall or be put into their arms.

The heart and desire is there ö÷ most of the time ö÷ as Arizona has proved against Oregon and Washington, making the team's effort in Stanford all the more disconcerting.

After teasing fans with hopes of success and eventual turning of the tide, the same intensity that the Wildcats brought against the Huskies and Ducks was left at home.

There is just one thing missing in the close games ö that one play to turn the game around. Rather than defending against the backbreaker, the Wildcats must deliver it, which is much easier said than done, though it seems like it comes weekly against UA.

"The first priority is to try and win," Mackovic said. "We have to look at it as there is a tomorrow."

There will always be a tomorrow. The question is, will that tomorrow be fruitful?

Mackovic knows what his team is capable of. Otherwise, he wouldn't keep mentioning bowl games.

But with every lackluster performance or gut-wrenching loss, the hope is fading.

It's time for the Wildcats to get lucky ÷ or for them to start making their own luck.