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• What if they held a homecoming and nobody came home?

Saturday's game began with at least 12,000 empty seats, and you could almost hear the crickets chirp. The southeast corner of the stadium, near the marching band, was sparse at best. Only the middle section of the upper deck was filled above the first 10 rows or so. Even Zona Zoo, usually pretty loyal, featured empty sections on the end.

Regardless of the outcome, one has to wonder — have the fans lost interest?

At an announced 51,727 fans, it was the second-smallest home crowd of the year, edging out the Washington State game by about 800 more fans.

The rare 12:30 p.m. start time could be one reason for the showing. Also, the UA became the sole beer distributor for tailgating Saturday, selling beer tickets on the mall to curb underage drinking. Maybe that kept some students away.

• Kenny Upton didn't win a fortune, but his tailgating setup just got better.

The Tucson firefighter missed a target 28 yards away at halftime that would have netted him $100,000. By hitting a giant cell phone in the end zone with a football — part of an Alltel Wireless promotion — he would have won free cell phone service for 20,000 fans.

As is, he won $10,000 — $5,000 for himself and $5,000 to split among his "circle" of 10 friends.

The 42-year-old father of two will probably put the money toward tailgating supplies. "The more bling you can have out there, the better," he said.

• Softball catcher Callista Balko was not named Homecoming queen after being named a finalist by the Bobcats Senior Honorary and Mortar Board Senior Honorary scholarship committees.

Only three UA athletes have ever won the honor. Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose — now the senior associate athletic director — won as a softball player in 1978. In 1996, track athlete DeeDee Buzzi was named queen.

Last year, swimmer Adam Ritter was crowned king.

• At halftime, the Wildcats honored seven individuals and six teams as part of their 32nd Hall of Fame class.

They honored six athletes who attended school from 1998-2002 — volleyball player Dana Burkholder, cross country and track stars Tara Chaplin and Brianna Glenn, softball pitcher Jennie Finch and swimmers Roland Schoeman and Sara Tolar.

Jerry Stitt, who played baseball at the UA from 1964-68 and later coached the team, also was honored.

The UA also inducted six national title teams — the 2007 softball team plus five NCAA national champion women's swimming relay teams. The teams were from 1998 (200, 400 and 800 freestyle), 1999 (400 freestyle) and 2000 (800 freestyle).

"You better go down or we're gonna cause a riot out here."

— Referee Brian O'Cain, to UA quarterback Willie Tuitama, after a fight nearly broke out while Tuitama was taking a knee at the end of the game