By Anthony Gimino
FOXSportsArizona.com
TUCSON -- Arizona's strength on defense comes from senior pass-rushing ends Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed. Elmore leads the Pac-10 with eight sacks. Reed is second with 5.5.
They will have to be great to add to their total when the 13th-ranked Wildcats play at No. 10 Stanford on Saturday.
It will be strength on strength. Stanford has allowed only three sacks all season, using a veteran line, a mobile quarterback and the threat of a powerful running game to keep defenses from dirtying Andrew Luck's jersey.
"They're not a drop-back team, so they're not going to take sacks," said Arizona coach Mike Stoops. "If you blitz them, then they're going to attack with their run game. It's a fine line. You have to pick and choose."
Arizona leads the Pac-10 with 3.38 sacks per game. Success on Saturday likely won't be measured in sacks but in terms of whatever pressure and containment the Wildcats can get on Luck in an effort to disrupt the nation's fifth-best scoring team (42.38 points per game).
"I believe these are the best defensive ends in the conference, and I would probably say by far," said Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. "Even their third defensive end, No. 83 (D'Aundre) Reed, would start on any other Pac-10 team but Arizona. He's an extremely good player."
Last season, the Wildcats were intent on stopping eventual Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart and the Stanford running game. The result was that Luck took advantage of the open passing lanes to throw for 423 yards, although the Wildcats rallied from a 15-point deficit and made a late stand to come up with a 43-38 victory.
"You can't overcommit to the run," said Stoops, whose team is seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 14.38 points per game.
"They're not dummies. If you want to take away the run, they'll throw it. It's a numbers games. They know how to count. They know when they're outnumbered and they know how to gain an advantage."
ROAD WARRIORS
Arizona has won five consecutive road games, dating to last season's victory at Arizona State and including a win at USC last year. That is the team's best road streak since 1998.
This week's game at Stanford will test all of the Wildcats' resolve away from home, but Stoops figures his team is up to the challenge.
"We match up well with everybody," he said. "When you have this type of balance and this type of quarterback play, you're going to match up. We understand we match up well with these guys. They play hard like we do. It should be a great football game."
ETC.
-- Arizona leads the nation in completion percentage at 74.13 percent, a figure that would rank second all-time in the NCAA if it held up. The 2008 Texas team, led by quarterback Colt McCoy, holds the record at 76.73 percent.
-- The national spotlight will be on the Arizona-Stanford game, with the game being telecast to about 75 percent of the nation in ABC's night slot, beginning at 5 p.m. PDT.
"You don't have to say much," Stoops said of the magnitude of a game matching 7-1 teams. "Our kids understand the importance of every game."
-- Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Justin Washington, who has started five of the six games in which he's played, is expected back in the lineup Saturday after missing two games because of a sprained knee.
