Purdue rushing game dispatches Arizona defense

Prior to Saturday night’s matchup with No. 11 Purdue, members of the Arizona football team were expecting to see a pass-heavy Boilermaker offense, and for good reason.

After all, this was the same Purdue program head coach Joe Tiller has built around a stellar quarterbacking corps over the last decade.

But in Saturday’s 31-24 loss before a capacity crowd at Arizona Stadium, the Arizona defense faced something totally unexpected — an almost run-exclusive Boilermaker offense from a spread-option set. [Read article]

For the second year in a row, the Arizona football team hung in with a nationally ranked Big Ten opponent.

For the second year in a row, the Wildcats lost.

In front of a sellout crowd of 56,400, the Wildcats (1-2) fell to No. 11 Purdue (2-0) 31-24 Saturday night, after hurting themselves with penalties and other costly mistakes.

“It’s the same little things that keep holding us back, and against a team like this, it’s hard to have those mistakes,” said senior safety Darrell Brooks. “We have to get over the hump.” [Read article]

Tobias carded, watches second match in stands

With head coach Dan Tobias watching from the top row of the bleachers yesterday while serving a one-game suspension, the No. 22 Arizona soccer team tied New Mexico 1-1 at Murphy Stadium in the Four Points University Plaza Arizona Soccer Classic.

Tobias got a red card in the 68th minute of Arizona’s 1-0 overtime win over No. 25 Utah Friday for arguing with the center referee. He watched the rest of the game from the stadium parking lot. [Read article]

The best of the weekend's athletic performances [Read article]

En route to winning the Rhode Island Invitational this weekend in Kingston, R.I., the No. 20 Arizona volleyball team earned head coach Dave Rubio the honor of being the winningest coach in program history.

The Wildcats (8-1) defeated North Carolina three games to one Saturday afternoon (30-19, 22-30, 30-23, 33-31) after sweeping Connecticut and Rhode Island on Friday.

Senior outside hitter Kim Glass was named tournament MVP, averaging 3.9 kills, 3.2 digs and 1.2 blocks in the three matches. Fellow senior outside hitters Jennifer Abernathy and Bre Ladd were also named to the all-tournament team. [Read article]

Lance Thomas, a highly sought-after recruit for the Wildcat men’s basketball team in 2006, visited the Arizona campus over the weekend in his first official visit.

Among his activities, Thomas ate lunch at Frog & Firkin on University Boulevard, met with professors and played pickup basketball Saturday with the current team.

“It’s beautiful, it’s really beautiful,” he said of the campus. “The weather is beautiful, the school is great, the basketball is great, and I got a liking to most of the professors that I met.” [Read article]

McGregor finishes fourth for women

The Arizona men’s cross country team won the third annual Dave Murray Invitational on Saturday, as 10 Wildcats placed in the top 18 positions.

Junior Robert Cheseret won with a time of 25:01. He passed teammate Obed Mutanya (25:03) at the finish line to take the victory.

Mutanya has finished first and second, respectively, in his first two meets this season. [Read article]

The Arizona men’s golf team struggled this weekend in its first action of the 2005 season, finishing in eighth place at the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

Juniors Josh Esler and Brian Prouty were the only Wildcats who made par over the last 18 holes, as junior Henry Liaw finished the tournament tied for 23rd with a two-over 218.

Juniors Nathan Tyler and Mark Lamb were the only two individual competitors in the tournament. Tyler tied for 13th place with an even-par 216, buoyed by a second round 70, and Lamb shot a final-round 76, dropping him to 20th. [Read article]