By Anthony Gimino
FOXSportsArizona.com
TUCSON -- The Arizona Wildcats have reached the halfway point of their season at 5-1 overall, ranked 15th in the AP poll.
But it's an uneasy time. Starting quarterback Nick Foles is out indefinitely with a knee injury, and while Mike Stoops said Foles will return this season, no one knows for sure exactly when that will be.
While the first half of the season was challenging -- including Iowa -- the second half of the schedule is ever more so, with Stanford, USC, Oregon and Arizona State in the final month.
And there's this little nugget from history: The last time Arizona was 5-1 was the 2000 season ... and then the schedule turned tougher, the Wildcats lost some painfully close games, and they ended up losing their final five games, costing coach Dick Tomey his job.
That's just a reminder that, as is usually the case at this point of the year, anything could happen. The Wildcats' season could range anywhere from historical splendor to heart-stabbing disappointment.
Let's take a look at the first half of the season:
Quarterback Nick Foles. This is somewhat bittersweet, given his knee injury. Through the first five games and about 20 minutes against Washington State, Foles gave Arizona something it has rarely had in the Pac-10 years -- the advantage at quarterback.
He led the team on late game-winning touchdown drive against Iowa. He led the team on a late game-winning touchdown drive against Cal.
He led the team on a late touchdown drive against Oregon State, too, but the Wildcats trailed by too many points that time.
Foles is second in the country in accuracy, having completed 75.3 percent of his passes (143 of 190).
Beyond the numbers, Foles' intangibles also have made a big difference.
"Just his leadership, his character," receiver Juron Criner said, asked about what he will miss with Foles out of the lineup. "Just his presence makes a whole difference."
Leaving It All On The Field Award
Senior offensive tackle Adam Grant admits he has a particular problem of, let's say, keeping his lunch down during games. In the first half of the Iowa game, he threw up on Iowa defensive lineman Karl Klug.
"He was pretty pissed about it. I don't think he rushed as hard to my side after that," Grant said. "He had a new jersey after halftime."
Grant said it was the third time he had thrown up during a game.
"I get so excited at times I just end up blowing chunks and keep going," he said.
Top play
Facing third-and-goal from the Iowa 4-yard line late in the game, Foles dropped back and targeted slot receiver Bug Wright, slanting into the middle of the end zone.
Foles fired through traffic, and the timing had to be perfect.
"Foles got that arm," Wright said, "and he gunned it in there."
Wright, who earlier had muffed a punt and had just dropped a pass in the end zone on the previous play, held on for the touchdown.
"It went through like three guys to get to Bug," Foles said of the pass, "and he made a good catch."
That gave Arizona a 34-27 lead, which held up when the defense came up with three consecutive sacks on Iowa's final drive. The victory provided the fuel Arizona needed to eventually reach the top 10 and to become part of the national discussion.
Best quote
"I love ya'll. Let's go do this." -- Foles, on what he told his teammates before leading them on the game-winning drive against Iowa.
Most surprising player
Lots of choose from, all on defense.
Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Justin Washington beat out more experienced players for the starting job and has four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. He is doubtful for this week's game against Washington, however, because of a knee sprain.
Collectively, the linebacker corps has been the team's biggest surprise, with sophomore Jake Fischer, and junior college transfers Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo each playing well as first-time starters at Arizona.
Picking just one, let's go with Vassallo.
He leads the team with 40 tackles and has become a vocal leader who provides a kick in the behind whenever it is needed.
"Paul is a very outspoken man," Earls said. "Paul gets offensive really easily, so he is usually the first one to go off."
Biggest disappointment
Arizona's offense figured to be more balanced, able to go seamlessly from a spread attack to a two-back power running formation.
That latter part hasn't developed as fully as the coaches had hoped, with the Wildcats 90th nationally in rushing (120.67 yards per game) and averaging just less than 4 yards per carry.
"Just not playing as well offensively as we would like," Stoops said.
"Moving the ball decent at times, but just not finishing drives, not getting the points I think we're going to need as we move forward throughout the final six games. ... We thought (offense) would be a strength, but it's not what we thought it would be."
