Arizona Wildcats

Head Coach

Mike Stoops	5th year
07-08	5-7
PAC-10	4-4
FCR	66

Previous Season Wins

Arizona Preview by Chris Farrelly

Head Coach - Mike Stoops enters his 5th season in charge and is still looking for his first winning record and bowl invite. The Wildcats have historically been a defense oriented squad under Stoops but the roles will likely be reversed in 08’. Arizona returns only three starters on defense but the offense will bring back ten starters and they may be forced to win some shootouts this fall. The pressures on and the Cats had better be bowl eligible or chances are good that they’ll be a new head man in Tucson next fall.

Quarterback - Senior Willie Tuitama put up big numbers last year with 3,683 yards and 28 TD’s and is poised to be one of the nations leading passers and he plans to lead his Wildcats to meaningful late season games. Redshirt freshman Bryson Beirne is set to be the backup this season, he’s got a big frame for a QB and has a strong arm and moves well in the pocket.

Running Backs - Running back sophomore Nic Grigsby came out of no where last year and had a breakthrough season, he’s looking to improve on those numbers and lead the Wildcats to greater heights this year. Junior Xavier Smith and senior Brandon Lopez will be on the tail of Nic Grigsby and looking to contribute.

Receivers - Mike Thomas is looking to lead the team again this season; he was last year’s PAC-10 leader in catches with 83 and added 11 touchdowns. Junior Terrell Turner is back after starting 10 times last season, he’s looking to improve on last seasons 50 catches by using he long frame and soft hands. Sophomore Delashaun Dean is looking to have another great year in support of his QB Tuitama; he uses his height well to catch balls over smaller corners. Senior tight end Rob Gronkowski is looking to contend for the Mackey Award and is one of the nation’s top tight ends.

Offensive Line - The O-Line returns four starters led by junior right tackle Eben Britton; he has the mobility to move positions and make other lineman better. Also returning are sophomore left guard Colin Baxter, senior right guard Joe Longacre who has 27 career starts and at center will be junior Blake Kerley. Senior James Tretheway is looking to finally get on the field as a starter this year and will be at the always critical left tackle position.

Defensive Line - All four starters upfront will be new this season, at defensive end senior Jonathan Turner is the most experienced player on the line and he’ll be joined by sophomore Ricky Elmore who has a big upside as a edge rusher. On the inside junior Earl Mitchell is a former fullback who line up at defensive tackle, he’s undersized but has great quickness. . On the nose will be sophomore Lolomana Mikaele who showed this spring that he is ready to play on this level. The Wildcats are going to need some frace faces to step forward or this could be a potential problem are this season.

Linebackers - The only returning starter in the front seven will be the middle where senior Ronnie Palmer will roam; he’s extremely athletic and big but needs to work on being a touch more consistent. Senior Adrian McCovy will man the strongside, the coaches have moved him to outside this season to better utilize his intensity and athleticism. On the weakside will be junior Xavier Kelley, he has the best pass rushing ability of the 3 linebackers, he’s undersized but makes up for it with his speed and great range.

Defensive Backs - Two starters return led by senior free safety Nate Ness and junior strong safety Cam Nelson, Ness led the Wildcats with five interceptions and Nelson added 60 tackles. At one corner junior Devin Ross is looking to become the next great corner in Tucson, incoming freshman Robert Golden has locked down the other corner spot with his performance this spring.

Special Teams - Senior Jason Bondzio will once again handle the placekicking, he was 21 of 26 a year ago and has excellent range. His leg power is good and accuracy is not bad at all. Sophomore Keeyn Crier is one of the premier punters in the PAC-10 and averaged 43.7 yards on his kicks, look for him to be even better this season. Handling the returns will be senior Mike Thomas and junior Devin Ross.

Schedule - -The Wildcats schedule this season is easy compared to other teams in the Pac 10. The non-conference games include Idaho and Toledo but the game at New Mexico could be the key to Arizona getting that elusive bowl bid this season. The whole schedule sets up nicely and they could conceivably be 6-0 when Cal comes to town on the 18th of October. The second half includes matchups with USC, at Oregon and they close at home with rival Arizona St. They’ll put points on the board and Stoops will get over the hump and the Cats will win 8+ games this season.