Wildcats, Stoops know how Huskies, Willingham feel

TUCSON, Ariz. – Four games into a dismal season, the Washington Huskies need only to look across the field for inspiration that a turnaround is possible.

Arizona and its coach, Mike Stoops, know all too well what this season feels like for the Huskies. Just last year, the Wildcats stumbled out of the gate with a 2-6 record, and were coming off a disappointing loss to Stanford – their third straight – when it came time to face Washington.

Then the Wildcats came to Seattle as underdogs. Another loss would have Wildcats fans up in arms that Stoops, then in his fourth year, hadn’t turned things around. Sound familiar?

Things looked bad for Arizona, which trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats fought back to win 48-41. That was the first of three straight wins that likely saved Stoops’ job, and now he has the Wildcats off to a 3-1 start this year. Fans in Arizona are now excited, and less than a year after that 2-6 start had fans calling for Stoops’ job, the expectation is that the Wildcats will make their first bowl game since going 12-1 in 1998.

“We were in a little bit of disarray last year at this time and our kids pulled together and pulled that game out from being 15 down in the fourth quarter,” Stoops said. “Sometimes you think you’re down and out and your kids are very resilient.”

Today, the Huskies, who like Arizona last year are coming off a loss to Stanford, would love to show how resilient they are by returning the favor to Arizona. Then, they hope, a road victory could become the lunching point for a turnaround.

One victory certainly won’t save the Huskies’ season, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

“We’ve just got to keep fighting,” said quarterback Ronnie Fouch, who will make his first start today. “We’ve got to put (the Stanford) loss behind us, and all we’re focused on now is Arizona and going out there and getting our first win, our first Pac-10 win, and getting things rolling from there. That’s our main focus right now.”

It should be noted that a UW turnaround seems much more unlikely than the one Arizona pulled off last season.

First off, the Wildcats had at least won a pair of games when they came to Seattle, and second, they had lost a few close games in that stretch, while the Huskies have been blown out twice and look to be worse than they were a year ago.

Finally, winning a few games and finishing 5-7, as Arizona did last season, likely won’t be enough for Willingham to keep his job.