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Wildcats need to fulfill potential leadership

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Dan Rosen

First, I would like to take the time out to mention that there is no reason to continue reminding Mark McDonald how bad of a kicking job he is doing - it is fairly obvious and he knows.

Now, a Hail Mary to win with five seconds left in a game at Washington State, against a team that lost to Idaho last weekend at home? The Vandals run a Steve Spurrier-type offense, right?

No, they don't. They won because the Cougars are a bad team. Very few players have the ability to play a significant role in a 60-minute game, but they still should have beaten the Wildcats. This is the same UA team with the talent to beat just about anyone this side of the Mississippi; something is very wrong.

Something must be done. There needs to be a shakeup during this bye-week. Taking out Scooter Sprotte and Rafell Jones in favor of Antonio Pierce and Jarvie Worcester obviously did not tweak this lineup enough.

Now the question is, what needs to be done? What is it going to take for these guys to realize their potential and actually play up to it?

Before the crowd gets in an uproar, let me tell you this - Dick Tomey will not be fired anytime soon. It won't happen, so stop praying right now.

Last year the Wildcats were 12-1 because they had talent coupled with great leadership. Chris McAlister, Kelvin Eafon and Yusuf Scott were exceptional leaders. They may have been the best in the history of this football program.

This year, the Wildcats are 3-2, because no one has stepped up to fill those shoes. Chris, Kelvin and especially Yusuf have enormous shoes to fill, but someone has got to try them on.

History dictates it should be the seniors, but with the play of some of them like Kelvin Hunter, Scooter Sprotte and Mark McDonald, this team may be the exception to the rule.

But then there are guys like Keith Smith, Dennis Northcutt, Marcus Bell and DaShon Polk, who still proudly bear the A on their helmets and could be those guys. The problem is that they just haven't been told they are the leaders yet.

One could argue that they should know, but without the backing of the coaching staff, these seniors can't assume anything. They should act like leaders, but they still need to be told.

Tomey has to choose his regular season captains soon, he can't keep up with this game-by-game leadership or his prayers will have to be answered by hail marys for the remainder of the season.

The bye-week is here, and as a head coach in turmoil would say, "let's see if we can get this ship righted."