When left tackle Mickey Baucus committed to the Arizona Wildcats back in 2010, he thought he was moving to Tucson to play for a program that was going to contend for Pac-12 titles.
“Part of the reason I liked Arizona so much is because I thought we were on the right path — building up to compete for championships,” Baucus said.
The man with 48 straight starts didn’t think he’d have to wait five seasons to be in the race, but he’s not about to start complaining now.
“It’s my last year, and we’re finally here, and we can get it done with a little bit of help,” the senior said. “It’s exciting to be playing good football at a high level.”
With two games left, the UA’s road to a Pac-12 South title is far from direct and has quite a bit of congestion.
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The No. 15-ranked Wildcats have to win at No. 20 Utah on Saturday and follow it up with a victory over No. 13 ASU next week. Arizona also has to hope No. 11 UCLA beats No. 24 USC on Saturday before pulling for the Bruins to lose their regular-season finale against Stanford.
It’s not impossible — ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the UA a 21.4 percent chance at winning out — but it’s certainly unlikely.
As much as Baucus and the Wildcats would like to win the South and represent the division in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Santa Clara, California, next month against No. 3 Oregon, they’re mostly focused on themselves at the moment.
“It’s in the back of our mind, but none of it matters anyway if we don’t win out,” Baucus said. “We’re trying to focus on Utah. Obviously we need a little help to win the South, but like I said, if we don’t win the rest of our games, it doesn’t even matter.
“So we have to focus on this week.”
Coach Rich Rodriguez wants his team to focus on the Utes, but also wants the Wildcats to realize a Pac-12 championship is still out there.
Some coaches don’t like talking about such things. Rodriguez isn’t one of them.
“Our first goal every year is to win the Pac-12 South and then win the Pac-12 championship,” Rodriguez said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Here we are with two games left with a chance. There have to be things happen, and we have to take care of our own business, but at least with two games left, we have a chance.”
Forget UCLA and USC for a minute, the UA has some stuff to clean up on its own.
After a shaky performance in a last-second 27-26 win over Washington on Saturday, Rodriguez and Arizona went back to work Sunday. Before the UA hit the practice field, Rodriguez took his receivers and quarterback Anu Solomon into the meeting room to hash some things out.
The Wildcats gained just 375 yards of offense against the Huskies and turned the ball over a season-high three times. The Wildcats also went just 3 for 15 on third downs and punted six times — tied for the second most this season.
“We had a really stern quarterback-receiver meeting (Sunday), and it wasn’t real enjoyable for them,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn’t really enjoyable for them or for me. I told them that my expectations are so much higher for them than anyone else’s. We owe it to each other to be as sound and efficient and clean as far as doing your assignments as best as possible.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of busts, but we had enough at key times that it could have cost us the game.”
Florida talk
Rodriguez’s name came up almost instantly when Florida fired coach Will Muschamp on Sunday morning.
The UA coach has been mentioned by several outlets as a possible candidate to replace Muschamp in Gainesville. However, on Monday, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy reported Rodriguez — along with Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen — aren’t candidates for the job.
When Muschamp was first on the hot seat last month, the Star asked Rodriguez about the speculation.
“Unless you’re doing well, you’re probably not being mentioned,” Rodriguez said. “It doesn’t affect recruiting because I think everyone knows our situation here is pretty stable.”
UA athletic director Greg Byrne chimed in Monday night when he tweeted: “In this season of speculation, we are very glad (Rodriguez) is our coach. He & his staff are building something special. #BearDown.”
Like everything else in college football these days, Las Vegas came out with odds on who the next Florida could will be. Bovada labeled Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy as the favorite at 4-1.
The gambling web site gave Rodriguez 7-1 odds, behind Colorado State’s Jim McElwain (9-2), Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (11-2) and Mullen (11-2).
The coach didn’t address the rumors Monday.
Solomon’s ankle
Solomon is still nursing a sore ankle that has limited his running the past few weeks. The quarterback, who has spent time in a walking boot, hasn’t missed any practices, and Rodriguez said “he’s been running around OK.” But it does remain a concern for the Wildcats. Solomon told his coach during the Washington game that it was irking him, but that he didn’t want to come out.
“It’s probably been hurting him more than he’s let on,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think he was 100 percent. That being said, every week, unless he gets banged up again, he’ll get a little healthier every week.”
The coach said Solomon’s status would limit his play-calling “a little bit.”
“But we’re not calling a lot of designed quarterback runs anyway,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of our stuff involves him throwing on the run and throwing on the move and sometimes when you’re getting chased by big, mean guys, you can run a little bit faster. He was running pretty fast when he was getting chased at times.”
