By Joel Flom
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 14, 1997

Szlauko rewarded for big Stanford game

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat Defensive end Mike Szlauko (44) heads off Stanford wide receiver Damon Dunn during Saturday night's game. Szlauko was named Pac-10 defensive player of the week after his performance, which included six tackles for a loss, three of which were sacks.

One of the primary factors responsible for knocking out Stanford's offense in Arizona's 28-22 upset Saturday was rewarded by being named Pacific 10 Conference defensive player of the week.

Senior defensive end Mike Szlauko led the Wildcat defensive attack, recording six tackles for a loss (-38 yards), including three sacks.

Despite his performance, Szlauko was quick to give credit to the preparation made by the coaches.

"Our defensive scheme was excellent for that game," Szlauko said. "I found myself getting clear shots at the quarterback."

Stanford's offense was unable to get anything started against Szlauko and the rest of the Wildcat defense, managing only 11 yards rushing and 236 yards of total offense. The defense also forced eight fumbles and recovered five of them.

"It (the pass rush) was good," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "Szlauko just makes a difference because he is so quick. He is very athletic and really tough.

"He is not unlike how Tedy (Bruschi) was just in terms of what he is able to do."

For the Phoenix native, it was a nice return considering he had missed the past two games due to a torn calf muscle and had been very limited in practice.

In his four games this season, however, Szlauko has been huge. He leads the team with 13 tackles for losses (-76 yards) and 8.5 sacks.

Szlauko is the second Wildcat to win the award this season. Senior Joe Salave'a was also named defensive player of the week after Arizona's 28-20 loss to Ohio State on Sept. 20.

Mosh Pit helps

Slow starts have plagued the football season all season, and Tomey was ready to try anything to get the team's emotions and energy flowing.

Before the first quarter and during halftime, the team formed the "circle drill." A one-on-one, all-out hitting drill in which a player from the offense goes against one from the defense while the rest of the team forms a ring around them, creating a pseudo mosh pit.

In the center of the chaos was Tomey.

"I just like it (the circle drill)," Tomey said. "It just makes me feel better. I get to push some guys around, jump in some guys' faces, and they're afraid to hit me back. It's more my mentality and I think they like it."

The drill is nothing new to Tomey. "I have done it before," Tomey said. "We did it last year and I did it in Hawaii."

The players like it as well.

"It gave us a chance to get the nerves of that first hit out of the way," UA cornerback Chris McAlister said. "It really gets us going and I think it helped us get ready for the game."

It seemed to have worked, as the Wildcats got off to a 7-0 start in the first quarter and scored two touchdowns in the third. In the previous five games, Arizona had been outscored 55-21 in the first quarter.