UA News

Saturday's 7 p.m. (MST) kickoff will mark the first of four straight home games for the Wildcats at Arizona Stadium, where the UA is 12-3 in the last 15 games.

The Wildcats look to build on the momentum of a solid victory in their season opener with their first home game Saturday, Sept. 11 against The Citadel at Arizona Stadium.

The game will be celebrated as Public Safety Night, and University of Arizona players and coaches will embark on their first Wildcat Walk as they arrive on campus two hours prior to kickoff.

Wildcat Walk will start at the corner of University Boulevard and Cherry Avenue about 5 p.m. The team will head south on foot toward Arizona Stadium along with the marching band, cheerleaders and mascots. Fans are encouraged to line Cherry Avenue as the team passes by.

The Citadel will bring the tradition of the 89-year-old Southern Conference to Tucson. The Bulldogs will make a 2,053-mile jaunt for the game, the longest football trip in the team's history.

Arizona's offense will challenge The Citadel's defensive leader, senior cornerback and co-captain Cortez Allen.

Last week, Arizona set a single-game passing percentage record in throwing for 415 yards and three scores to punctuate a broader team effort at Toledo, defueling the Rockets, 41-2.

The UA's Nick Foles (32-for-37; 86 percent) and Matt Scott (5-for-7; 71 percent) combined for an impressive quarterback showing. Foles' individual effort was the second-highest percentage in UA history, to go along with his two touchdown throws and 360 yards. Eleven of his throws were grabbed by Juron Criner, who amassed 187 yards plus snagged a fade in the endzone to put his name in the Arizona single-game top 10 for yards (and again for game catches).

The Cats also played some wicked defense, holding Toledo to 183 net yards and zero offensive points. The two points the Rockets did score came when a holding penalty in the endzone turned a scramble for a first down by Scott into a safety.

The UA's new linebacker starters – Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls and sophomore Jake Fischer – combined for 18 tackles to go with an interception and three PBUs from Earls.

When the Wildcats held Toledo to just two points, it marked just the fifth game in the UA's entire football history that either Arizona or its opponent finished the game with exactly two points on the scoreboard. The last time a "2" was seen on the scoreboard to conclude a game was in a 24-2 Wildcat loss to New Mexico on Oct. 9, 1965.

Arizona junior quarterback Foles continues to show why he is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. He was an honorable mention all-league pick as a first-year starter in 2009. This summer, he was one of four QBs (Jake Locker, Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley) selected by the Pac-10 office to represent the league in East Coast media days in New York and at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

Voted by teammates as a team captain, Foles kicked off his junior campaign in style with a record-setting performance at Toledo and set what could set up to be a special junior campaign. Here are some quick hits on Foles:

• Preseason watch list for Davey O'Brien and Manning awards

• Currently 154 yards shy of 3,000 career yards

• Just 422 yards shy of moving into the UA's career top-10 passing yards

• No. 10 in UA history with 21 career passing touchdowns

• His 19 passing touchdowns in 2009 tied for fourth-most in a season at the UA

• A 63.41 percent completion percentage in 2009, No. 3 in UA history

• Career-high 416 yards passing vs. Stanford in 2009

• Holds UA record for single game pass completion percentage for 30+ attempts (86.49 percent at Toledo, 2010)

The Wildcats have developed quite a home field advantage playing in Arizona Stadium in front of one of the largest and most spirited student sections in the country – the ZonaZoo – and a loyal fan base that has turned out in record numbers during the era of head coach Mike Stoops. The highlights include:

• The UA has won 12 of its last 15 home games.
• Only losses to No. 6 USC and No. 22 Oregon State in 2008, and No. 11 Oregon in 2OT in 2009
• The three losses have come by a total of 12 points (4 points per game average).
• The UA has won its 12 games by an average of 22.7 points per game.
• The Wildcats had just one single-digit victory in the span (2009 vs. Stanford).
• The UA's 5-1 record in 2009 was its best home record since it went 5-1 three straight years from 1996-98.
• The Wildcats have averaged 50,000+ fans per game for six straight seasons, the best stretch in school history.
• The UA has averaged 52,780 fans per game in Stoops' six seasons, with a 21-18 record.
• More than 2 million fans have watched Stoops' teams at Arizona Stadium.
• The ZonaZoo section seats more than 10,000 first-come, first-served patrons from endzone to endzone and has a membership of well more than 12,000 and growing, which accounts for one-third of the UA's enrollment.

Arizona's 6-3 mark in the Pac-10 in 2010 was its best since 1998 and is the third six-win Pac-10 season in program history. The record gave the Wildcats 14 victories in their last 22 conference games, dating to the last four games of the 2007 season.

Next Week

Arizona will host the top-10 Iowa squad from the Big 10 in a nationally televised inter-conference showdown at Arizona Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 18. The Cats and Hawkeyes will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN in a game that is sure to be a sell-out.