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Arizona clinches Pac-10 bowl slot
Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski celebrates as he crosses the goal line in the first quarter of a NCAA college football game against Washington State Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. Gronkowski was flagged for excessive celebration on the play.
The Associated Press
PULLMAN, Wash. - Four Wheatland Express charter buses idled outside the Arizona Wildcats' locker room following Saturday's 59-28 win over Washington State, ready to take UA out of the cold and back to civilization.
Even before the Wildcats left Pullman, they had arrived.
A workmanlike win over a brutal Washington State team has assured UA (6-3 overall, 4-2 Pac-10) of its first bowl game in a decade.
Per NCAA rules, teams must win at least half their games to qualify for the postseason.
Arizona has done that and - thanks to UCLA's loss to Oregon State on Saturday - is guaranteed a spot in one of the conference's seven bowl games, even if the Cats don't win another contest this year.
Arizona has three more games to improve its already-sunny postseason situation.
The Wildcats will face Oregon next week in Eugene before returning home for games against Oregon State and Arizona State.
Saturday's victory over the Cougars (1-9, 0-7) has taken pressure off Arizona's next month.
"It's a nice feeling - everybody knows that - but we want to accomplish more than just going to a bowl game," said tailback Nicolas Grigsby, who paced Arizona's rushing attack with 28 carries for a season-high 189 yards.
"We want to go to a top bowl game."
Tackle Eben Britton said the team's seniors won't be satisfied with their bowl destination "until the night before the game, when we're in the hotel room."
"We need to stay focused," he said. "We need to have the right mindset."
Saturday was a good start.
The Wildcats endured a frenetic first quarter before finding their footing and putting the encouraged Cougars away. They led just 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
WSU quarterback Kevin Lopina tied the game with a 4-yard scramble for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, putting the Wildcats on their heels in a hostile - or at least cold and wet - environment.
UA kept its cool, in part because it had been running the ball so well.
"We knew that sooner or later, everything was going to start clicking a bit," guard Joe Longacre said.
Keola Antolin pulled the Wildcats ahead with a 5-yard touchdown run with 10:20 left in the half.
The Wildcats forced a WSU punt, then drove 69 yards on four plays to make it 28-14.
Devin Ross intercepted Lopina on Washington State's ensuing possession and the rout was on.
"This isn't it. This isn't nothing," Grigsby said. "We're just one step closer."
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