Mike Stoops Q&A

ESPN's Ted Miller spoke with Arizona head coach Mike STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS on the state of Arizona football. The one part that stands out the most to me is this:

Has this program turned the corner and how close are you guys to competing for the Rose Bowl berth?

MS: I think we've definitely turned the corner. I think we are a much more confident team, just when we take the field. I think we take the field expecting to play well and expecting to win. I don't know if that has always been the case here. We competed well last year throughout the season. We had an opportunity to win all 12 games [the Wildcats' five losses came by a combined 28 points] in the fourth quarter. We're developing here as a program. Obviously, the win over Arizona State was huge because it was in-state and we hadn't won in three years. But beating BYU [in the Las Vegas Bowl], going into the offseason with that confidence, really helped our football team. All that stuff that festers inside your program leaves once you win. A lot of things will go on inside your program until you win. Now our guys have a great attitude about what they do and it has become a much easier team to coach.

Do you hang the Rose Bowl out as a goal?

MS: We've always set our sights on the Rose Bowl. It will be very challenging but we feel like we have that type of team. Anytime you have a solid defense, you have a

chance to win. We have to get better but I think we have a chance to have one of our best groups on defense when it's all said and done. This is the fastest defense we've had. So if we can stay healthy, we'll have a chance. Obviously, USC has set a very high standard, but we feel like we've matched up with them relatively well the last couple of years. We feel like we're closing the gaps on everyone we play.

I agree with Stoops wholeheartedly. We're not at USC's level yet, but we're definitely on the way up. Of all the teams that lost to USC last year, we lost by the smallest margin. Even Penn State got a bigger whuppin' than we did. We're on the way up and I can see us being a perennial top 5 of the conference for a while. Fighting for the Rose Bowl berth is obviously a few years off, but if this program continues in the direction it's going in, don't be surprised if the Scum Devils' insult about us being the only team never to have played in the Rose Bowl suddenly becomes irrelevant.