Coach fired with 2 years left on contract, 10-18 record at UA

Arizona head football coach John Mackovic was fired yesterday, athletic director Jim Livengood announced at a press conference after speaking with President Peter Likins and holding separate meetings with Wildcat players and Mackovic.

Mackovic led the UA program to an overall mark of 10-18, failing to take the Wildcats to a bowl game or produce a winning record in his 2 1/2 seasons at the helm. Arizona won just three of 17 Pacific 10 [Read article]

After yesterday's press conference eded and all the reporters walked out to their respective computers, the bags under the eyes seemed to disappear and even a few smiles crept across their faces.

It isn't the cr�me de la cr�me of decisions, but it is something athletic director Jim Livengood had to do before this football program started drilling past rock bottom.

"My responsibility is to provide the best collegiate experience possible for each of our almost 500 student athletes," Livengood said. "I have not seen that with our football team." [Read article]

The Wildcats made it much more interesting than their fans expected ÷ and than TCU would have liked.

But the end result was the same, as Arizona lost its fourth straight game, 13-10 in overtime to the No. 19 Horned Frogs on Saturday at Arizona Stadium, in front of 40,515 people.

In overtime, Arizona got the ball first and turned it over on their second play, as freshman quarterback Kris Heavner threw an interception to a TCU defender. [Read article]

Former defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz was named Arizona's interim head coach after the removal of former head coach John Mackovic yesterday.

Hankowitz becomes the 27th head coach in UA football history.

"It's my belief he will work for and with this excellent football staff to work forward," athletic director Jim Livengood said.

"He'll do fine," said junior tight end Steve Fleming. "A lot of players respect him." [Read article]

The women's golf team finished the Mason Rudolph Invitational this weekend in fifth place as sophomore Erica Blasberg grabbed her first victory of the year.

The team finished 27-over-par (891) in Nashville this weekend, 17 shots behind champion Georgia on a windy morning yesterday.

Blasberg notched the third victory of her career as she finished at 3-under 213, but said the conditions on Sunday caused her to shoot a 74 ÷ her worst score of the tournament. [Read article]

As if blowing a 2-0 lead to its in-state rival wasn't enough, the struggling UA volleyball team must now face all four California schools ÷ the leaders of the Pacific 10 Conference ÷ in succession.

After being upset by Arizona State (6-6, 1-2 Pacific 10 Conference), the No. 22 Wildcats (6-7, 0-3) are now facing their toughest stretch of matches this season to date. This week, Arizona plays host to No. 4 Stanford and No. 11 Cal, and then travels to Los Angeles to face No. 8 UCLA and No. 1 Southern California. [Read article]

Before last Saturday, Arizona's defense had given up 55 points a contest in its last three games. That suggests the defense has trouble stopping its opponents.

In those same three games, the offense has only scored 30 points and has lost the time of possession battle by almost 30 minutes.

The defense has been on the field nearly ten more minutes a game than the offense.

Saturday night, in the Wildcats' 13-10 overtime loss to Texas Christian University, Arizona's defense showed how successful it can be when its offense gains first downs and sustains drives. [Read article]

UNLV ends soccer's unbeaten streak

Despite out-shooting UNLV 14-7, the UA women's soccer team was edged by the Rebels, 2-1, in a neutral-site contest played in Missoula, Mont., on Saturday.

The loss ended a four-game unbeaten streak for the Wildcats, sending them to 4-4-1 on the year, while UNLV improved to 6-3-1.

All three of the contest's goals were scored in the first half. UNLV struck first with a goal off a long-range free kick in the 13th minute. [Read article]