‘Dear Wildcats . . . ‘ : Arizona Faces No. 1 Washington With Miami Rooting Hard and Poll Voters Watching Closely

Earlier this week, Arizona Coach Dick Tomey gathered his football team on the practice field and pulled from his pocket a heartfelt letter written by the unlikeliest of Wildcat fans, injured Miami defensive end Rusty Medearis.

Medearis, an All-American candidate, suffered a season-ending--some thought career-ending--knee injury during the second half of the Hurricanes’ game against Arizona on Sept. 26 in the Orange Bowl. Miami won, 8-7, but its players were in little mood to celebrate. Even then they knew they would lose not only their No. 1 ranking, but also Medearis, the heart and soul of the team.

Angry Hurricane players accused the Wildcats of cheap shots, especially on the hit that crumpled Medearis’ left knee. Arizona players scoffed at the charges and then mocked Miami’s top ranking.

“Sorry, pal, but the Hurricanes aren’t the No. 1 team in the nation,” Arizona quarterback George Malauulu said that night.

Or this, from running back Chuck Levy: “They’re not No. 1 caliber. They didn’t stop us. We stopped ourselves.”

A lovefest, it wasn’t.

So you can imagine, then, the Wildcats’ curiosity last Wednesday as Tomey unfolded Medearis’ letter and began to read it to the team and assistant coaches.

In it, Medearis apologized for his teammates’ comments, saying they had been made out of love for him, rather than hate for Arizona. He said the hit that sidelined him had been clean and unintentional, that football is sometimes cruel that way. He said that his rehabilitation was far ahead of schedule and that he had discarded his crutches and was now riding a stationary bicycle. He said he respected the Wildcats and that he harbored no ill will.

And then, half seriously, he requested a favor.

Beat Washington.

Cheers and laughter erupted on that one.

“You can’t blame him for asking,” said free safety Tony Bouie, smiling at the memory of the letter. “They want to be No. 1.”

Of course, Arizona has its own agenda, which would be greatly helped if the 12th-ranked Wildcats (5-2-1) could upset the No. 1-ranked Huskies (8-0) at Arizona Stadium today. In fact, Levy has already devised his own ratings poll.

Before today’s game: “No. 1, Washington. No. 2, Miami. No. 3, Michigan. No. 4, Alabama.”

After today’s game: “We’ll be five after this week.”

Strong words. Then again, strong team.

In Arizona’s hands is an opportunity to send shivers down the polls and bowls. As the only team this season to play both Miami and Washington, the Wildcats could shape the outcome of the national championship.

Beat the Huskies, as Medearis has asked and Levy has predicted, and the Hurricanes would become the favorites to win it all. Play Washington close, as Arizona did against Miami, and who knows what happens.

Well, one thing happens: Arizona’s hopes for a Rose Bowl appearance are gone. The Wildcats need to beat the Huskies and then root for one of Washington’s remaining opponents, Oregon State or Washington State, to spring a tie or upset. In an irony of sorts, it was an early-season tie with lowly Oregon State and a loss to Washington State that put the Wildcats in this position of crossing their fingers.

Back then, Arizona was unsure of itself. Picked to finish in the lower division of the Pac-10 and only nine months removed from the program’s first losing season in 11 years, the Wildcats suffered from mistakes and self-doubt.

The tie with Oregon State was especially damaging. It was a conference game against a team the Wildcats could have and should have beaten.

“My expectations were very high, as high as 9-2 . . . 11-0,” Malauulu said. “Instead, we started 1-1-1.”

It was after the tie that Tomey decided to do something he had done only once in his 16-year career: He asked each one of his players to visit his office for a one-on-one chat, a ritual almost always reserved for the off-season.

Tomey repeated the same question to every player: “What are you willing to do to make it happen?”

The answer: “Anything.”

Players spilled their feelings and their frustrations. Tomey did the same, going so far as to question his own commitment. The next day, after a players-only meeting, Tomey saw a difference in his team.

“They hadn’t lost hope,” Tomey said. “They believed that it could turn around. It was so important at that time that everyone accept responsibility for things. That way, everyone could become part of the solution. At that time, we needed to do something over, above and beyond the normal thing about our circumstances.”

Since then, the Wildcats have lost to Miami and beaten UCLA, Stanford, California and New Mexico State. They would have defeated the Hurricanes, too, but a 51-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game barely missed.

“We deserved to win,” Tomey said. “We had 151 yards of penalties and half of them we can’t find on film. That’s incredible. When it was close late in the third quarter, early fourth quarter, we got penalized on five successive plays.”

As disheartening as the defeat was, Arizona somehow benefited from it. Even in defeat, the Wildcats’ national reputation and exposure grew. So did their self-esteem.

“It brought us to a new level,” Tomey said. “We overcame such adversity: long trip, muggy, crowd, great team, penalties . . . a lot of stuff. The neat thing is it didn’t faze anybody. Nobody quit believing we could win.”

Added Levy: “It was a loss. One guy said, ‘There aren’t any moral victories.’ But in a way, it was.”

Arizona isn’t a fancy team. Its passing offense ranks ninth in the Pac-10. Its total offense ranks only one spot better. Its leading receiver has only 22 catches. Its leading rusher will be hard-pressed to reach 1,000 yards. Its quarterback completed only three passes against Stanford and yet, the Wildcats won, 21-6.

What has carried Arizona is its defense. Glance at the NCAA rankings and there the Wildcats are. First in rushing defense, 54.9 yards allowed per game. Fourth in total defense, 246 yards per game. Tied for second with Washington in scoring defense, 9.3 points per game. Fifth in turnover margin--Arizona has caused 20 turnovers, but committed only nine.

The Wildcats have yet to give up a first-half touchdown and have given up only two touchdowns rushing all season.

“I think the thing that makes our defense successful is we’re able to stop the run,” said Bouie, whose four interceptions tie him for first in the Pac-10. “We went up against Miami and held them to, what, less than 10 yards? (Actually, a net two yards). We played UCLA, which at that time was a high-powered offense, and stopped them cold. We stopped (Stanford running back Glyn) Milburn cold. Stopped (Cal running back) Russell White cold.”

Bouie will get no argument from his teammates.

“I’m glad we don’t have to play them,” said Levy, who considers the Arizona defense the best he has seen this year--and that includes Miami.

“(The Hurricanes) were all talk,” Levy said. “Talk is cheap.”

Washington is a different story. The Huskies have beaten Arizona by a combined 108-10 in the last two years. Malauulu tells the story of dropping back to pass, releasing the ball and then getting hit so hard by Washington defensive tackle Steve Emtman that he was tempted to check himself for broken bones.

As Emtman made his way back to the Husky huddle, he paused and glanced back at Malauulu.

“I’ll be back,” Emtman said.

“I know,” said a shaken Malauulu.

Emtman is gone to the NFL, but the aura of the Washington defense remains. And did anyone mention the Huskies’ 22-game winning streak? Or that quarterback Mark Brunell and running back Napoleon Kaufman have the Huskies averaging about 30 points per game?

“Not to take anything away from their offense, but I think their defense makes more plays than their offense,” Bouie said.

Forget all of that, said Arizona’s newest follower. Please.

“They’re a great team,” Miami’s Medearis said of the Wildcats, speaking by phone after a Thursday workout in the Hurricane weight room. “I just hope they play as well against (Washington) as they did against us. They could beat Washington.”

The Wildcats know it, too. They also know that in a strange way, Medearis is with them. And not only because he could add another national championship ring to his collection should Washington lose. He is there because of that letter.

“It made me feel good,” Wildcat linebacker Sean Harris said. “He’s a good guy. He has a lot of character. I’d like to thank him. I would like to go out and win this game for him.”

If it happens, the Wildcats can expect a deluge of thank-you notes with Miami postmarks. And who knows, with a little luck Arizona might soon receive another piece of correspondence. One from Pasadena.