PASADENA, Calif. – When the Arizona football team last met UCLA 11 months ago, the Wildcats’ 52-14 romping at Arizona Stadium seemed to hint at great things to come for the program under head coach Mike Stoops.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the home team was dominant again in the teams’ rematch Saturday night in the Rose Bowl, and in the Bruins’ 27-7 triumph, Arizona continued to revel in the mediocrity becoming increasingly characteristic of Stoops’ third season.
“”Our lack of consistency, probably our lack of maturity, prevents us from winning,”” Stoops said of Arizona (2-4, 0-3 Pacific 10 Conference). “”We’re trying to catch up to a lot of people, and it’s harder than a lot of people think.””
Arizona’s third straight loss was aggravated by the departure of starting quarterback Willie Tuitama, who went to the team’s locker room with 12:47 remaining in the first half after suffering his second concussion in a month.
During the first drive of Arizona’s 45-3 loss Sept. 9 at then-No. 8 Louisiana State, Tuitama received a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit by defensive end Tyson Jackson.
Tuitama suffered an apparent blow to the head when UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis hit the sophomore in the legs after a complete pass and sent him momentarily airborne. Tuitama remained on the ground for a few moments before walking off the field under his own power.
He sat hunched over on a sideline bench as redshirt senior Adam Austin entered the game. A towel was draped over his head as Tuitama answered questions from team trainers and from offensive teammates after possessions.
Stoops and many players questioned said Tuitama appeared fine on the sideline, but they didn’t elaborate. UA offensive coordinator Mike Canales also claimed to know little about the quarterback’s condition, only that he was taken to a hospital in the area.
“”I really don’t know more than that,”” he said.
Austin said he spoke to Tuitama at halftime and guessed that if he was hospitalized, it was for precautionary reasons.
“”He said, ‘Just go out there and let’s win the game,'”” Austin said. “”That’s what he told me. … He was talking fine.””
Stoops said he wasn’t sure if Tuitama would start at Stanford on Saturday. To do so, he would have to return to practice by mid-week, the same condition he set for Tuitama’s return for the Stephen F. Austin home game on Sept. 16.
Post-concussion symptoms kept Tuitama out of practice until the Thursday before that contest, and consequently, he didn’t see field action against the Lumberjacks until the start of the fourth quarter.
“”We’ll see how Willie is,”” Stoops said. “”It depends on when Willie’s out, how much he’s out.””
Not 10 minutes before Tuitama’s injury, the Bruins (4-1, 2-1) lost their second-year starting signal-caller, Ben Olson, for the game with a sprained left knee.
Redshirt sophomore Patrick Cowan entered for Olson and, despite never having thrown a pass in his
