Nate Ness

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UA stymied by no-TV setup

• Because the game wasn't televised, a controversial first-half pass from the 1, caught by UA receiver Delashaun Dean at the back of the end zone, wasn't reviewed.

The officials' call — that Dean caught the ball before getting a foot in the end zone — stood. Arizona's Jason Bondzio kicked a 19-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Quarterback Willie Tuitama said after the game that Dean "told me he was inbounds. … I was hoping we could challenge it."

Ex-Cat Russell back home

• Former UA football player Pete Russell, a scout for the Carolina Panthers, is in the middle of old home week in California.

He scouted the UA-Stanford game on Saturday and then headed south to examine the talent at Cal Poly, coached by former UA defensive coordinator Rich Ellerson.

Russell, who won the UA's Bronko Nagurski Award for playing both offense and defense in 1990, has scouted for the Texans, Rams and now the Panthers. He is married to Fox NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin, a Kansas grad who has since relocated to Tucson.

Russell went to his old school, Sacred Heart in San Francisco, on Friday and learned that his old Wildcat teammate, UA special teams coach Jeff Hammerschmidt, had been at his school recruiting earlier in the day.

"It was a pretty good week," said Russell. "I found an old recruiting letter in a box at home, sent by (current Stanford defensive coordinator) Ron Lynn. I took it to him before the game to remind him. He was on the Cal coaching staff back then."

Un-Ness-essary celebration

• After scoring on a 75-yard interception return in the first half, giving Arizona a 17-7 lead, senior safety Nate Ness was assessed a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebrating.

The penalty, administered on the kickoff, forced UA kicker Bondzio to kick off from his 25-yard line, into the wind. As a result, Stanford got excellent field position at its 40. It drove for a field goal at the end of the half to cut the lead to 17-10.

"It was selfish on my part," Ness said. "I was just excited after scoring my first collegiate touchdown."

Wildcat switches sides

• Two-sport UA letterman Peter Hansen was on the opposition's sideline Saturday. Hansen is in his first year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Stanford.

The 2002 UA grad (economics) grew up across the street from Stanford Stadium at Palo Alto High School. He played mostly as a special teams kick-blocker at Arizona under Dick Tomey and later became a walk-on for Lute Olson's basketball team.

By the numbers

15, 0

Red zone touchdowns scored by the UA in its first three games, contrasted with the number it had against Stanford

Volpe true to his roots

• Tucson mortgage executive Jon Volpe, a 1,000-yard rusher for Stanford in the mid-1980s, was part of a booster group of UA fans that accompanied the team to the game and flew home on the UA charter flight.

After the game, rather than visit the winning locker room of his alma mater, Volpe, a former Amphitheater High School all-state wrestler and tailback, was in Arizona's locker room for Mike Stoops' post-game chat.

"It was a win-win situation for me," said Volpe.

He said it

"Three times down there, and three field goals, just killed us."

Offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, on the UA's red-zone struggles

— Greg Hansen