HOMECOMING BLOG: Wildcats win 48-7

UPDATED 4:30 P.M. -- It was all Arizona today, as the Wildcats came away with a 48-7 homecoming win over the hapless Washington State Cougars.

Check back in a few minutes for my post-game wrap-up.

UPDATED 4:15 P.M. -- Arizona continues to dominate, as it puts together its longest (by time) scoring drive of 2009, going 97 yards in 8:07, capped by freshman Taimi Tutogi's first-career touchdown.

I've run out of ways to talk about how dominant Arizona has been today. The 48-0 lead doesn't even tell the whole story. The last time the Wildcats embarrassed an opponent like this was that 70-0 win over Idaho to kick off the 2008 season.

Arizona's held possession for more than 40 minutes this afternoon.

Just as I was typing that sentence, Jared Karstetter made a wonderful one-handed grab for a 64-yard touchdown play to spoil the shutout. Mike Turner had decent position on the ball, but Karstetter just made an excellent play. It's 48-7 with 6:23 to play.

UPDATED 3:30 P.M. -- And the hits just keep on coming. Bug Wright returns a booming Reid Forrest punt 86 yards for another special teams TD. Arizona 41, WSU 0, 13:27 left in the third quarter.

Arizona started the game with a Travis Cobb kick return for a TD, so it was deja vu all over again as Wright took it to the house. It was the fifth-longest punt return in UA history.

Arizona's special teams had been a serious problem this season, as the Cats ranked dead last in punt return yardage, having yet to replace Mike Thomas in that spot. That'll change after today.

Arizona's stellar punter, Keenyn Crier, has yet to see the field today. That's when you know you've been dominant.

Surprisingly, Nick Foles is back in action. Cross those fingers, UA fans, and hope he doesn't take a shot.

UPDATED 3:05 P.M. -- Alex Zendejas posted the final points of this first half with a 27-yard field goal and a 34-0 UA advantage.

It has been such a dominating performance, in fact, that Nick Foles' last play came at the 13:28 mark of the second quarter, and we likely won't be seeing him again.

Matt Scott took over the QB spot and led the Cats on a 14-play, 69-yard drive that stalled at the 9-yard line, but did take up 7:07 of game time.

Scott is a terrific runner and a heck of an athlete, but he just isn't accurate enough. He simply doesn't compare to Foles as a passer, and it's hard to believe that Scott won the starting QB job to start the season.

Marshall Lobbestael was in at QB for WSU for that final possession, with Tuel sidelined with what's being described as a right knee sprain. His return is uncertain.

As one might expect, Arizona has dominated this contest in every statistcal category. UA has 267 yards of total offense, compared to just 80 for WSU. Dwight Tardy has accounted for 44 of those yards -- 37 of them on one rush. WSU has been whistled for six penalties for 53 yards and has tallied only 29 passing yards.

But perhaps the most eye-opening stat (other than the 34-0 score, of course) has to be Arizona's time of possession advantage: 24:12 to 5:48.

Expect more of the same in the second half.

UPDATED 2:45 P.M. -- Just as Washington State started showing some signs of life, quarterback Jeff Tuel appears to have suffered a serious injury. Xavier Kelley chased Tuel down from behind, forcing a fumble (recovered by Ricky Elmore) and getting Tuel out of the game.

It's not clear yet how hurt Tuel is or whether he'll be able to return, but backup Marshall Lobbestael was spotted warming up on the WSU sideline.

Before that play, WSU was successfully moving the ball down the field for the first time this afternoon, thanks to tailback Dwight Tardy.

With the game seemingly in hand, Mike Stoops is going to give Matt Scott some reps. It's the right move -- an opponent like WSU will do wonders for Scott's confidence. The athletic sophomore is off to a great start, breaking off a couple of lengthy runs.

UPDATED 2:30 P.M. -- It is officially a blowout. The Wildcats needed only 16:32 to get to the point spread, as Nick Booth's one-yard touchdown run put UA ahead 31-0.

Brooks Reed, back in action for the first time since injuring his ankle against Iowa, drilled WSU QB Jeff Tuel from behind, forcing a fumble (recovered by Lolomana Mikaele) and giving UA possession on the 14-yard line.

Three plays later, Booth punched it in from one yard out.

Nick Foles has had all day to throw nearly every time he's dropped back. Washington State can't get any pressure on him. UA is doing whatever it wants on both sides of the ball.

UPDATED 2:20 P.M. -- With the first quarter in the books, it's Arizona 24, Washington State 0. Truth be told, it's not even that close.

Alex Zendejas capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a 21-yard field goal after the lengthy drive stalled at the 4-yard line. That drive achieved its primary goal -- it ran 5:55 off the clock, and nobody got hurt (even though Nick Foles took a pretty big shot to the back on a quarterback keeper).

Staying healthy going to be the objective for the rest of this afternoon. With Nic Grigsby already ruled out with a shoulder injury and Greg Nwoko unlikely to play due to a similar ailment, the Cats want to get out of here today without any injury casualities.

Arizona held possession for 10:11 that first quarter and out-gained the Cougars 164 yards to three. THREE!

UPDATED 2:05 P.M. -- It's all Arizona today, as Keola Antolin leaps into the end zone from a yard out to put the Wildcats up 21-0 with 7:21 left in the first quarter.

I knew Washington State was bad, but I wasn't prepared for just how bad the Cougars might be today. Ricky Elmore has already sacked poor WSU QB Jeff Tuel twice, and the Cougars have yet to offer any sort of resistance against UA's offensive attack.

WSU cornerback Brandon Jones has been picked on mercilessly. He was the player who got beat on Turner's TD reception and he committed a key pass interference penalty on Delashaun Dean (who has racked up three catches for 23 yards already) to set up Antolin's TD.

There is still a lot of time left, so let's see if the Cougars can make this a game.

UPDATED 1:50 P.M. -- Arizona isn't messing around today. Nick Foles and Terrell Turner hook up for a 28-yard touchdown to put UA ahead 14-0 with 11:43 still to play in the opening quarter.

Arizona had excellent field position on that drive and wasted no time putting the ball in the end zone. Foles saw that Turner had single coverage, so he threw the ball to the right pylon and trusted Turner to go get it. Turner made a spectacular play on the ball and came down with an acrobatic grab.

Anyone worried that UA would come off the bye week flat and not take WSU seriously should feel pretty comfortable right now.

UPDATED 1:45 -- Well, that didn't take long. Thirteen seconds, to be exact. Travis Cobb takes the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to put the Cats ahead 7-0.

Cobb went untouched during his first TD return, with UA's special teams blocking the play to perfection. All season, special teams has been a serious cause for concern, with UA ranking dead last in punt returns, but that play will likely set the tone for a big UA win.

In the time it took me to type those two paragraphs, Washington State has gone three and out and will give the ball back to UA. Bug Wright was a shoestring away from breaking that return for a score, as well.

That 20-yard run is easily the Wildcats' best put return this season.

On the downside, we have way too many empty seats at Arizona Stadium, considering this is a top-20 squad playing its homecoming game. Unbelievable. Perhaps there are 3,500 UA fans stuck in traffic?

UPDATED 1:15 P.M. -- It's beginning to feel a lot like homecoming. Kickoff between Arizona and Washington State will take place in about 25 minutes, and you can tell that everyone in and around Arizona Stadium is in a great mood.

Can you blame them?

Flawless weather, school spirit, a Lute Olson appearance during the homecoming parade, a football team that controls its own destiny for a Pac-10 championship -- what more can UA fans ask for?

As long as the Wildcats play reasonably well today, they should walk through the lowly Washington Huskies, setting up the biggest four-game stretch of the Mike Stoops era.

However, the Wildcats could win 100-0 today and they still might see a dip in the computer rankings, thanks to Iowa's stunning 17-10 loss to Northwestern today. That game just goes to show you that you can't look past anyone -- even Northwestern or Washington State.

Now that Iowa is no longer undefeated, UA's strength of schedule will take a slight hit, which will cause the computers that have been so kind to Arizona all season to look on them a little less favorably.

That's college football for you.

TV coverage of today's game will be on Cox Channel 8, KWBA, with FSN-AZ running the tape-delayed game at 8:30 p.m. Check back for updates from Arizona Stadium throughout the day.