Whether Utah can replicate its 46.3 points-per-game average from last season remains to be seen heading into tonight's season opener, but the Utes' offense will keep some of its flavor.

Arizona head coach Mike Stoops said he expects Utah defensive coordinator-turned-head coach Kyle Whittingham and former Oregon offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to employ the spread option offense.

The Utes used that a season ago to produce more points per game than just about every squad in Division I-A. [Read article]

Going into today's season opener, the Arizona football team will have a lot on its mind.

The Wildcats will be thinking about avenging last year's loss to Utah, the national television audience, starting the 2005 season away from home and maybe the possibility of a bowl game down the road.

But the No. 1 thing on everyone's mind is just getting a win.

"It's going to set a big tone for our season," said senior defensive end Marcus Smith. "If we can go in there and beat them it will put us on the map. It'll set our season off on the right foot." [Read article]

With 18 players, the No. 17 Arizona women's volleyball team will have plenty of depth as it kicks off the season with the Four Points University Plaza Wildcat Classic in McKale Center this weekend.

Arizona will face off against Winthrop today at 10 a.m. and No. 20 Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. The tournament concludes tomorrow, as Arizona battles Northwestern at 7 p.m.

"They're in good shape, and I think they should be able to handle the physical rigors of something like that," said Arizona head coach Dave Rubio of his players. "It certainly gives us an opportunity to play some other people should we need to do that or should we have the flexibility to do that." [Read article]

After a disappointing 3-1 loss Sunday to Pepperdine, members of the Arizona women's soccer team said they are so hungry to redeem themselves that they almost feel bad for who has to face them next. Almost.

"If I were the next team we were playing, I'd be scared because we have a lot of making up to do," said sophomore defender Claire Bodiya.

The Wildcats (1-1) look to get their first road win of the young 2005 season Sunday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-0) at 5 p.m. [Read article]

If for some odd reason you had to sum up the change in the Arizona football team in one sentence, you can go with this: "The Wildcats have gone from the team you schedule for your homecoming game to the team you don't want to play."

A couple of weeks ago, Fox Sports Net Arizona replayed the 2004 Territorial Cup. I taped it, and upon second viewing, the one thing that really struck me was how hard the Wildcats were hitting. [Read article]

The Arizona cross country teams open their season tomorrow in San Francisco with eyes on the upcoming Pacific 10 Conference season.

Arizona head coach James Li said he looks forward to learning a lot about his squads tomorrow at the San Francisco Invitational.

"It's going to be great to get things underway," he said. "Hopefully (the meet will) answer a lot of questions about our team, as well as our athletes." [Read article]