Arizona Will Upset Iowa Saturday

Let's get something out of the way right from the get-go: I'm an Arizona guy.

I went there. I graduated from there. And in the decade since I left campus, I've spent a great deal of time following the school's sports teams.

So I'm a partisan. I'm Glenn Beck talking about health care — I have an agenda and I make no bones about it.

So take all that into consideration when I tell you this: Arizona football is about to get back on the map.

After two ho-hum wins to open the season (19-6 over Central Michigan, 34-17 over Northern Arizona), the Wildcats now head up north to Iowa to take on the similarly 2-0 Hawkeyes (a 5.5-point favorite as of writing).

The 2-0 start in itself isn't all that impressive. They went 2-0 last year only to get beat by New Mexico.

But this Wildcats team is better. The have a great run game with Nic Grigsby, who is second in the nation in rushing with 325 yards on just 38 carries (8.6 yards per rush) with 3 touchdowns.

Thanks also in part to ultra-athletic quarterback Matt Scott, who leads all Pac-10 QBs in rush yards with 16 times for 131 yards, Arizona is averaging 300 yards on the ground per game, fourth most nationally. They have a 6.6 yards per carry average on 93 attempts.

They also have a dynamic return man in backup running back Keola Antolin (who is also averaging 5.1 yards per rush).

And then there's a defense that shut down a Central Michigan team that went on to put up 418 yards in their next game, beating Michigan State in East Lansing last week.

The Arizona D held Central Michigan, which led ranked 11th nationally in pass offense in 2008, to just 3.5 yards per pass attempt (18-of-31 for 108 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception). Against the Spartans, Chippewas starting quarterback Dan LeFevour completed 33-of-46 attempts for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns with an interception.

(Yes, I'm using Central Michigan as an example. It was either them or Northern Arizona.)

You may not know the names, but this Arizona defense can cause problems for any offense.

There are a few concerns heading into their first road game of the season: the have a young, inexperience quarterback duo of Scott, an 18-year-old sophomore, and Nick Foles, a third-year sophomore who has 16 total pass attempts to his college career.

Scott has great athleticism, but he's also thrown two interceptions against defenses not exactly over-flowing with future NFL draft picks. He's going to have to watch out for Iowa CB Tyler Sash, who already has 3 interceptions in two games.

Also young is true freshman kicker Alex Zendejas, who has missed 2-of-6 field goal attempts and an extra point. On the road against a team that has shown it can block some kicks, the Arizona special teams need to get that corrected or it could come back to haunt them.

Arizona could get some help on the injury front with the possible return of Rob Gronkowski, the first-team All-Pac-10 tight end who has missed the first two games with a back injury.

Gonzkowski, a third-team All American in 2008, was set to practice Monday and will be evaluated by the coaching staff later in the week to see if he can go for Saturday. His return would be a huge addition for an offense that's already averaging 500 yards per game.

There's a little bit of a homecoming aspect to this game, as well: Iowa is the alma mater of Arizona head coach Mike Stoops and his brother, UA defensive coordinator Mark Stoops. Both Mike and Mark played safety for the Hawkeyes and both started their coaching careers at Iowa.

One final bit of motivation for the Cats: in this week's Associated Press rankings, Arizona appeared in the "Also Receiving Votes" section with four votes. A win on the road over Iowa and it could be the end to a nine-year drought out of the polls.

It's time.