Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Wildcats' loss to Utah will be forgotten by February rematch

The Star's longtime columnist provided some perspective following Arizona's ugly loss, looks at the depth of QBs in the Pac-12, and shows why Oumar Ballo is already a leader:

Wildcats' upset loss likely to be forgotten by February

.Before Utah basketball coach Craig Smith reached the celebration in the Utes’ locker room Thursday night, he got a congratulatory call from the president — Utah president Taylor Randall.

Such is the joy that comes with chopping up No. 4 Arizona, 81-66. Such is the gratification for a Utah team that went 4-16 in the Pac-12 last season.

Since Arizona became a national powerhouse 35 years ago, the Wildcats know the drill. Almost every UA road loss is met by a rush-the-court celebration or 24 hours of euphoria at (fill in the blanks) Gill Coliseum, Maples Pavilion or madhouse environments in Tempe, Boulder and Seattle.

None of this is new, but Thursday’s stunner in Salt Lake City was eerily similar to perhaps Arizona’s most unexpected early-season face plant: the 1989-90 conference-opening loss at Oregon’s old Mac Court.

The game was played on Nov. 30. The Wildcats were ranked No. 2, a week removed from beating defending NCAA champion Michigan in a made-for-TV event in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Ducks were coming off a last-place season (3-15 in the Pac-10), losing its last nine games. Yet Oregon won 73-68, igniting a court-storming madhouse, igniting the worst conference-opening road trip of Lute Olson’s Arizona career: two days later the Wildcats were blown out 84-61 at Oregon State.

Patience was in short supply in Tucson. Deep-dish worry reigned. Life went on.

Three months later, the Ducks and Beavers arrived at McKale Center for rematches.

Arizona 84, Oregon 58.

Arizona 87, OSU 60.

The Wildcats tied Gary Payton's Beavers for the Pac-10 championship at 15-3, and whipped OSU in the Pac-10 Tournament title game a week later. The lost weekend on the Oregon Trail was forgotten.

By the time Utah travels to Tucson on Feb. 16, Arizona will have played 19 more games. Last week’s loss in Salt Lake City certainly won’t be forgotten, but let’s just say that Utah's president isn’t likely to be sitting in the front row at McKale Center, anticipating another postgame celebration with Smith.

Pac-12 QBs better than ever

At his season-ending Q&A press session last week, Arizona coach Jedd Fisch spent 17 minutes of positivity looking forward to the 2023 season. He was not shy in setting high expectations for quarterback Jayden de Laura.

"I’m extremely excited about where Jayden will go," said Fisch. "I think he should be a first-team All-Pac-12 quarterback going into next season."

As has been the case over most of the last 40 years, the Pac-12 is the nation’s top quarterback conference. As good as de Laura was this season, he was probably just the sixth-best QB in the league, behind USC’s Caleb Williams, Washington’s Michael Penix, Utah’s Cam Rising, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson and WSU’s Cameron Ward.

Of that group, Williams, Rising and Ward return in 2023.

It reminds me of expectations entering the 2010 season, when Arizona junior QB Nick Foles was the rising force behind Arizona climb to No. 9 in the AP poll on Oct. 3, threatening to become the first UA quarterback to become the first-team all-conference QB.

Alas, the Pac-12’s never-ending supply of elite QBs intervened; over the next two weeks Arizona lost to Stanford QB Andrew Luck and USC quarterback Matt Barkley.

Another factor was that Arizona sorely missed master offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, who had left to become the head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette. The new OC, Seth Littrell, a 31-year-old in his first season as a college OC, was learning on the job. The Wildcats fell apart and finished 7-6.

Fisch won’t stick de Laura with a rookie offensive coordinator next year, but becoming the all-conference QB might be asking a bit too much. Maybe 2024.

3 takes on Pac-12 football coaches

1. ASU’s hire of 32-year-old Kenny Dillingham has been met with exuberance in Tempe, but outside of Phoenix it is more likely viewed with skepticism or indifference, With the talent and resources available at Oregon, Dillingham never met a challenge the way he’ll meet one at ASU. Will he be able to command respect from a staff of 45, and a roster of 110? Is he a leader or just a play-caller and recruiter? The pressure is on.

2. I think departed Stanford coach David Shaw joins ex-USC coach Pete Carroll and Utah’s unflinching Kyle Whittingham as the league’s three best coaches of the last 25 years. Shaw left behind a staff that includes defensive guru Duane Akina, who in my opinion is the top assistant coach since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978. Akina spent 14 seasons under Dick Tomey at Arizona and nine under Shaw at Stanford. At 66, Akina still has a lot left in the tank. He’s a mentor as much as an X and O guy. Whatever school comes away with Akina for the 2023 season will be blessed.

3. If Deion Sanders indeed becomes the next coach at Colorado, the Buffaloes will probably sell every ticket for the 2023 season by mid-summer. The enthusiasm and recruiting potential of the Buffs will reach unimaginable heights. No Pac-12 school has hired a celebrity head football coach with the presence of "Prime Time." CU athletic director Rick George is on the brink of pulling off a coaching coup unseen in this conference.

Ex-UA WR Jamarye Joiner should catch on

Jamarye Joiner’s decision to transfer from Arizona is a good move for the former Cienega/Salpointe Catholic quarterback. For whatever reason, he was unable to improve on his 2019 season when he caught 34 passes for 552 yards. Don’t forget that when Joiner was a senior QB on a 12-1 Cienega team of 2017, he took official recruiting visits to Alabama and Baylor. If it seems like Joiner has been around forever, he was Salpointe’s QB in 2014, a freshman who seemed like a can’t-miss prospect. ….

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JJ Hardy up for Hall

Sabino High School grad J.J. Hardy last week became the first of the 51 major-league baseball players from Tucson high schools to be included on MLB’s Hall of Fame ballot. Hardy, who retired following the 2017 season, is one of 28 candidates for the Cooperstown Class of 2023. His career numbers are strong: Hardy played in two All-Star Games and won three Gold Glove Awards over 14 seasons. More attention will probably be paid to the Veteran’s Committee Hall of Fame vote as it pertains to the HOF class of ’23.Tucson native and Rincon High School grad Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels, is one of 16 people who will decide if Barry Bonds is part of the Class of ’23. This is Bonds’ last shot to make it into Cooperstown. Moreno is part of a committee that includes Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Chipper Jones and Ryne Sandberg who will decide Bonds’ fate. Bonds needs 12 of 16 votes to get inducted. ….

Cats can sell path to pros

One of baseball’s wonderful statistical resources, thebaseballcube.com, last week released a list of the college baseball programs who have produced the most MLB players over last 15 seasons. Arizona was No. 1, with 44 ex-Wildcats in the big leagues in that period. I thought the list might have been in error, so I checked and indeed, Arizona has sent 44 players to MLB in that span, including several who were fringe players at Arizona, like Andrew Nardi, Tylor Megill and Cory Burns. The Wildcats led LSU, 41; Florida, 40; UCLA, 38; and ASU, 36, among others. That should be terrific recruiting material for Chip Hale.

Chuck Stobart, Brad Henke made impact on, off field

During Arizona’s rise to Pac-10 football success in the 1980s, Chuck Stobart and Brad Henke became important contributors, Sadly, both died last week. Stobart was Larry Smith's offensive coordinator in 1986, a 9-3 season in which the Wildcats won the Aloha Bowl and routed ASU’s Rose Bowl team, 34-18. Stobart, who left Arizona to be Smith’s offensive coordinator at USC, died in Tucson. He was 90. Henke, a team captain on Dick Tomey’s first UA team,1987, died in Los Angeles. He was 56. Henke, a fourth-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, became more known for being a successful actor, appearing in such productions as "Nash Bridges," "ER," "SpaceJam," "CSI" and the movie "Must Love Dogs." ….

'Dr. Blitz' struggles in first season

Don Brown, Arizona’s defensive coordinator in 2021, went 1-11 in his first season as the head coach at UMass this season. Brown’s only victory was against Stony Brook. It’s not that "Dr. Blitz" is going to get an easier road in the near future; UMass is scheduled to play road games against Georgia, Penn State, Auburn and Mississippi State in the next two seasons. Gulp. ….

Pima College goalie shines

Angelina Amparano, a sophomore goalkeeper at Pima College, was selected a first-team NJCAA All-American last week. She gave up just five goals in 15 games as PCC rose to No. 2 in the national poll and finished tied for fifth in the nation. Amparano was a key part of Salpointe Catholic High School's state soccer championships of 2018 and 2019. ….

Pac-12 disappoints at gate

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff may wish to rethink the league’s decision to play two men’s basketball conference games in early December. Of the six games played last week, average attendance was 5,098. Stanford drew just 4,848 for a showdown against UCLA, and Oregon had just 5,379 for a win over Washington State. That’s a total capacity of 45%. You might have noticed that Utah drew just 6,495 for its win over Arizona; the Utes have closed the upper deck at the Huntsman Center until interest improves. Huntsman Center has a capacity of 15,200. ….

Ex-Lancer Evan Nelson helps Crimson

Evan Nelson, a point guard who led 30-1 Salpointe to the 2020 state championship, is making an impact in his first season as a starter at Harvard. Nelson scored 23 points in a late November win over Elon and is averaging 25 minutes per game for the 6-3 Crimson. Nelson will get exposure on ESPN2 on Dec. 22 when Harvard plays at Kansas.

My two cents: Arizona's Oumar Ballo takes freshmen under his (considerable) wing

Arizona junior center Oumar Ballo has eagerly taken on a new role as mentor for 7-foot freshman Henri Veesaar of Estonia and 6-9 Filip Borovicanin of Serbia.

"I’ve been in their shoes," Ballo told me last week. "I know how hard it is as a freshman when you’re not getting a lot of minutes and you’re away from home and dealing with a new way of life."

Ballo redshirted his first season at Gonzaga and averaged 2.5 points as a Zags sophomore.

"What I like about them is that they listen, they try hard and they don’t seem to get bored or frustrated," said Ballo. "I’m always telling them, 'Do this, do that, help out here,' and they are learning.

"At this time last year, I was only getting 12, 13 minutes a game, but by the end of the year I kind of turned things around. I think it’ll be the same for Henri. I believe in him. He knows we’re going to need him."

Beginning with Sunday’s game against Cal, Veesaar and Borovicanin figure to have four more games — against the Bears, Morgan State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Montana State — to get on the court and show if they’re ready for prime time action.