Huskies, Wildcats square off in Tucson

The Arizona Wildcats say they won't overlook winless Washington when the Huskies visit Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Saturday.

The Wildcats insist they learned a lesson in a 36-28 loss at New Mexico, which has only one other victory.

"It's just a new era," safety Nate Ness said. "We really are levelheaded. After that loss, it humbled us, and we're hungry."

As the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Pac-10) bid to end the Pac-10's longest bowl drought - nine years and counting - they need to win the games they're supposed to win.

The game against Washington (0-4, 0-2) falls into that category.

But there are no gimmes for the Wildcats, home or away. Each of the last two years, they've dropped a home game to a team on its way to ninth place in the Pac-10.

Last year it was Stanford. In 2006, Washington came to Tucson and handed them a 21-10 loss that ended up costing Arizona a bowl bid.

A victory on Saturday would leave the Wildcats two-thirds of the way to bowl eligibility with seven games remaining.

"This is a good football team and I am excited about the opportunities and where we are at," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "We are in a good spot. I like the way our team is handling things."

The Huskies are a different story.

They have been blown out by then-No. 21 Oregon and then-No. 3 Oklahoma. They had a heartbreaking one-point loss to then-No. 15 Brigham Young and also lost to Stanford by a touchdown last weekend in Seattle.

The Huskies have had to endure growing speculation about coach Tyrone Willingham's future. As if that weren't stressful enough, they've lost star quarterback Jake Locker to a broken right thumb.

Locker had surgery Monday to stabilize his thumb, which he broke in the second quarter of last Saturday's 35-28 loss to Stanford. Redshirt freshman Ronnie Fouch has taken over at quarterback until Locker is ready to return, perhaps in six to eight weeks. Locker has offered to play another position while his thumb heals.

"You hate losing Jake," Willingham said. "At the same time, you go forward with the next guy and I have very high expectations of Ronnie and what I expect him to do with our football team."

Fouch completed 13 of 27 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown against Stanford, and he was not intercepted. Saturday's game will be his first start. He's played in one other road game, performing mop-up duty in a 44-10 loss at Oregon on Aug. 30.

The Huskies say they'll rally around Fouch, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound product of Redlands, Calif.

"It hurts to see your starting QB go down and it hurts not to get a victory," receiver D'Andre Goodwin said. "You've got to get over it because we've got eight games left. You have to get over it and move on to the next game."

The Wildcats aren't sure what to expect from Fouch, who doesn't have Locker's mobility. There isn't a lot of game film available on a quarterback who has only thrown 47 passes.

"I would imagine they would come in with a pretty open game plan like they have nothing to lose," Stoops said. "That can be very dangerous if you are not prepared."

Fouch will face a big challenge in his first college start.

Arizona ranks second nationally in total defense, allowing 221.7 yards per game. The Wildcats also have the nation's second-ranked pass defense, having allowed only two touchdown passes while intercepting five passes.

The Wildcats say they have a different attitude on defense than they did a year ago.

"The guys we have now are so much hungrier and just want to play and have fun," Arizona linebacker Ronnie Palmer said. "Last year we had a lot of seniors and (were) getting a little old as a team. We were not winning so there was a lot of bickering. We have not seen that this year."