Dear Mr. Football: Is the New Mexico-Arizona game a Backyard Brawl?
A: This game is so cheesy it should be played at the intersection of Obscure Boulevard and Ordinary Avenue. But there is some Backyard Brawl blood to it.
In 1982, when New Mexico coach Bob Davie was an assistant coach at No 2 Pitt and Rich Rodriguez was a sophomore defensive back at West Virginia, the Panthers and Mountaineers met in what the locals have forever called the “Backyard Brawl.”
Pitt had senior QB Dan Marino, yet the Panthers could win only 16-13 against RichRod’s club.
Dear Mr. Football: Is Davie truly responsible for recruiting Arizona Hall of Fame linebacker Ricky Hunley in 1979?
A: Hunley, now an assistant coach at Memphis and two-time consensus All-American linebacker in 1982 and 1983, told me it wasn’t Davie who lit his Arizona fuse, but rather 1960s UA lineman and Petersburg (Virginia) High School coach Bob Oldenwelder.
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“Coach Oldenwelder called the UA and talked to the old sports information director, Frank Soltys,” Hunley said last week. “Soltys passed the information to (head coach) Tony Mason, who assigned an assistant coach, Davie, to check me out.”
Davie flew to Petersburg, Virginia, met with Oldenwelder and Hunley and arranged for a recruiting visit. Hunley had plans to visit Ohio State, Nebraska and Notre Dame. He visited Arizona because his aunt was stationed at Fort Huachuca. He enjoyed the winter sunshine, watched a UA baseball game, and committed to Arizona on the spot when Mason told him he could also play baseball for the Wildcats.
But Mason was soon fired in a slush-fund scandal, replaced by Larry Smith. Davie fled for Pitt. Hunley wasn’t sure what he’d do; nearby schools Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia Tech remained interested. But Smith flew to Petersburg and re-sealed the deal.
Dear Mr. Football: Did RichRod’s flirtation with South Carolina damage his trust with UA players and his staff?
A: Sure it did. That’s the first casualty of coaches with a wandering eye. Players and coaches learn to watch their back first, because no one else will.
One of the few coaches not to go underground during a coaching search was Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo, who admiringly kept his staff and players informed when he visited BYU early this week.
“I wanted to take a look after the (Army) game, but I also didn’t want to be one of those guys that disappears, players wonder where the coach is,” Niumatalolo told Coachingsearch.com. “I thought, holy smokes, could you imagine if I didn’t tell my team, and then they see me Monday at the airport on breaking news? I would have lost all trust with them.”
How good is RichRod? In 175 career games at the FBS level, he is 107-68. That’s 61.1 percent. It’s close to the UA’s other top modern era football coaches.
Dick Tomey was 95-72-7 (or .565) after 175 games.
Larry Smith was 101-69-5 (or .594).
Jim Young was 110-62-2 (or .636).
Dear Mr. Football: Who had the better year, Scooby Wright or his father, Philip Wright Jr.?
A: Scooby dropped from an NCAA-high 163 tackles last year to eight this season. Eight! It was sobering.
His father, head softball coach at Santa Rosa (California) Junior College, went 20-20 and just 7-14 in the Big 8 Conference. His team’s batting average was .248.
In Phil’s final year in college football, at Long Beach State, 1988, he rushed 10 times for 19 yards. His team lost 49-0 to Oregon, 56-3 to UCLA and 29-10 to Boise State. History repeats: In three of Scooby’s last four games at Arizona, the Wildcats lost 51-13 to Oregon, 55-30 to UCLA and 38-30 to Boise State.
If you think Scooby will return for his senior season at Arizona in 2016, you will be on Santa Claus vigil next week, listening for sleigh bells and reindeer on your rooftop.
Dear Mr. Football: Do the Lobos have any five-star recruits?
A: The most highly sought Lobo who is expected to start is Kimmie Carson, a three-star linebacker from Tulsa who had offers from Washington State and Oregon State.
Most of the other leading Lobos were two-star recruits such as defensive back Lee Crosby, who played against Pima College when he was a Snow College Badger. Crosby had offers from Bethune-Cookman and Murray State. Standout offensive lineman Garrett Adcock of Dallas had offers from Army, Navy and Princeton.
New Mexico’s leading NFL prospect is tailback Jhurell Pressley, who is from Delaware, of all places. He would be a 1,000-yard rusher at Arizona or any Pac-12 school. He’s got the durability and “want-to” that seems to elude Arizona sophomore Nick Wilson.
Dear Mr. Football: Whatever happened to the five true freshmen who got on the field for Arizona in the 2012 Gildan New Mexico Bowl?
A: All but Will Parks split.
Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea, then known as Keoni Bush-Loo, made 23 tackles for Hawaii this year. Wayne Capers Jr., now a receiver, caught 51 passes for Duquesne. Dakota Conwell, now a quarterback, passed for 2,377 yards at West Liberty University, which, incidentally, lost to RichRod’s old school, Glenville State, 41-7, last month. C.J. Dozier retired from football with concussion issues.
Dear Mr. Football: Will anybody make any money in this game?
A: ESPN owns the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. It is paying the Lobos about $85,000 for use of the stadium. That’s about the only profit anyone except ESPN’s advertising people will realize.
The players will come out ahead because their NCAA-approved “gift bag” includes a blanket, sunglasses, a backpack, portable speakers, a toiletry kit and just about anything with a Gildan logo on it. Gildan? It has emerged as one of North America’s leading T-shirt manufacturers.
RichRod has a $25,000 bonus for qualifying for this game. Davie is to be paid $20,000 for a bowl game.
Dear Mr. Football: What has happened to the Lobos since longtime rival Arizona left the WAC in 1978?
A: They have trouble making a buck. The Mountain West Conference has an awful TV deal and a conference TV network that makes the Pac-12 Network come off as ESPN. And more telling, the Lobos have never been able to steadily attract large crowds at University Stadium.
It is so bad that the school sold the name of The Pit, its once-famed basketball arena for just $5 million over 10 years. It is now WisePies Arena. Sad.
After stunning Boise State and becoming bowl-eligible, the Lobos returned to Albuquerque and drew just 21,643 against Colorado State and 18,868 against Air Force to complete the regular season. That left a total of 37,937 empty seats for what looked to be two marquee home games.
It’s fortunate this game isn’t to be played at Arizona Stadium; after losing the Territorial Cup, after RichRod pursued the coaching vacancy at South Carolina, interest in UA football has ebbed to lows last seen when Mike Stoops raged on the sideline.
There could be some raging today in Albuquerque, too. Do the Wildcats really care enough to win this game?
Arizona 41, New Mexico 34.
