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Rising from the ashes

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Things were looking bleak when the No. 15-ranked Arizona Wildcats were down 25-7 in the third quarter to unranked Texas Christian in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday night.

Then UA senior wide receiver Dennis Northcutt took over and salvaged Arizona's stumbling season, catching 10 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats (1-1) stormed back and won 35-31.

"I think we played really hard in the first half," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "I think we played our butts off in the first half, we just had turnovers and we were trying hard on defense, we weren't recognizing things as well. I don't fault our effort in the first half."

Tomey's post-game focus was on the heart the Wildcats showed in coming back from 18 points down, but the Wildcats still spent the first 30 minutes looking awful on both offense and defense, and a lot more needs to be done before Pacific 10 Conference play starts in two weeks.

OFFENSE

Northcutt proved the Wildcats' passing game is sound, but with senior Brad Brennan (hamstring) and sophomore Malosi Leonard (knee) out, Arizona is still looking thin in terms of receivers.

Freshman wide receiver Bobby Wade caught two passes for 29 yards, one for Arizona's first score of the game, while junior tight end Brandon Manumaleuna caught two passes for 28 yards and a touchdown.

"Dennis Northcutt was clearly the catalyst in this game," Tomey said. "Our pass protection - obviously the guys throwing the ball did a great job throwing it, we just made too many other mistakes - our offensive front, in pass protection, not run blocking, made some good plays."

The offensive line did do a good job keeping senior Keith Smith (12 for 16, 174 yards, 2 touchdowns) and junior Ortege Jenkins (5 for 9, 163 yards, 3 TD) from getting hurried as often as they were against Penn State, but Tomey was right in saying the line needs to do a better job with the run.

Sophomore right tackle Makoa Freitas was getting beaten consistently, and Arizona had no ability to run in that direction. In fact, the Wildcats couldn't run in any direction for the second straight week.

"We have to grow in the running game," Tomey said. "We've got to run harder, we're not breaking any tackles."

Senior Trung Canidate has 87 yards on the season and a 3.6 yards-per-game average, less than half his 7.3 average of last season. He at least knows he won't be facing any more run-defenses of TCU and PSU's caliber.

"Their defense, they did a great job, just like they did in the game we saw with USC," Tomey said, referring to the Horned Frogs' 28-19 victory over Southern Cal in last year's Sun Bowl. "Their front, they well may have more players in their front than Penn State does. More quickness, more athletes in their front, in the down group."

DEFENSE

In the first half the Wildcats couldn't stop TCU tailback LaDainian Tomlinson (170 yards total).

"I say it every time it happens," Tomey said. "Option football is the toughest kind of football to play against when you don't see it all the time. They understand it and they play it well on a consistent basis."

While it is true that Arizona sees the option once in a blue moon, the Wildcats were still getting pounded by TCU's fullbacks, offensive linemen and even the Horned Frogs' receivers. They blew holes through Arizona's defense that could sink an aircraft carrier.

Then in the second half, something changed.

"I thought the defensive staff did a fabulous job of keeping their poise and anticipating what the next step was for TCU," Tomey said. "And I thought the defensive players did a really good job of staying the course. We were really struggling but they were giving us some things that really were hard on us, stuff that really killed USC and some stuff that USC did not see.

"We got better against their stuff as the game went on. I credit the defensive coaches for staying the course and solving problems as they occurred. They (TCU) went from a team that was moving the ball at will (to a team) that didn't score a touchdown in the second half."

That's something Arizona can build on the rest of the way. UA will have to do a better job of stopping the run for 60 minutes if the Wildcats still intend to have a winning season.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Arizona's kicking game still ranks somewhere between horrendous and miserable. Senior Mark McDonald missed an extra point and was removed late in the game in favor of sophomore punter Chris Palic, who nailed two extra points but missed a field goal.

"Obviously we need to place kick better," Tomey said. "But we're kind of in the place we were a year ago. We just have to work through that. It's not unlike a golfer missing putts. You just have to go back out there and keep putting."

Tomey said that if Arizona had found itself stopped on its final drive, he would have let McDonald kick a potential game-tying field goal.

"I just would have yelled at him to get on the field right before so he wouldn't have time to think about it," Tomey said.