Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/426611
ByJohnMarshall TheAssociatedPress TUCSON, ARIZ. Rich Rodriguez inherited a program in disarray when he became Arizona's coach in 2011. The players were woe- fully out of shape, apathy had re- placed the winning mindset and the downward spiral was quick- ening. A massive rebuilding job, without question. But with a dose of discipline, patience and a dynamic offensive system, the eighth-ranked Wild- cats have turned the program around faster than even Rodri- guez expected, earning a spot in Friday's Pac-12 Championship game against No. 3 Oregon. "I didn't know if this would happen in year three," Rodriguez said after the Wildcats beat rival Arizona State last Friday. "But I knew it could happen, otherwise I wouldn't have come here. This is the perfect environment to build one of the best programs in the country. We aren't there yet, but we're on our way." It's been a rapid climb. Despite a lack of depth, partic- ularly on defense, Rodriguez led the Wildcats to eight wins and a bowl victory in his first season. Arizona duplicated the feat last season. Still, with everything the Wildcats had accomplished un- der Rodriguez, expectations for this season remained flat; Ari- zona was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 South behind UCLA, USC and Arizona State. COLLEGE FOOTBALL No.8Arizonaonthe riseinnationalscene WildcatsjumpfivespotstoNo.7inlatest playoff rankings going into Pac-12 title game RICKSCUTERI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Arizona running back Nick Wilson (28) scores a touchdown during the second half Friday against Arizona State in Tucson, Ariz. RICK SCUTERI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Arizona was a program in disarray when Rich Rodriguez took over as coach. Three years later, the eighth-ranked Wildcats won the Pac-12South and play for a conference championship. By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press WINDERMERE,FLA. Tiger Woods is making his latest comeback in golf with an eye to the past. Equipped with a new teacher and a stronger body, Woods said Tuesday he is working on a swing that incorporates previous moves that date as far back as his amateur days. He referred to it as "new, but old," and the 14- time major champion will start testing it this week against an 18- man field of elite players at the Hero World Challenge. How old were some of those videotapes he watched of his pre- vious swing? "Actually, it's pretty inter- esting trying to find a VHS re- corder," Woods said. "I have a lot of tape like that. Fortunately, my mom is of age where she has that still in the house. So that was very beneficial to look at some of the old tapes." Otherwise, it's another new beginning. This is the fifth time Woods has returned from injury — the back, this time — over the last five years. The breaks have ranged from four weeks to four months. He last competed on Aug. 9 when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, end- ing the shortest season of his ca- GOLF Woodsreturningwithaneyetothepast 14-time major champion testing new swing this week at Hero World Challenge in Florida JEFF ROBERSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE The last time Tiger Woods was seen at a golf tournament was at the PGA Championship when he missed the cut. He returns this week at the Hero World Challenge in Windermere, Fla. Staff Reports CORNING The Corning Cardinals opened their boys soccer season Monday with a 12-2 thumping of visiting Las Plumas. The Cardinals outscored the Thunderbirds 6-1 in both halves. Eric Figueroa scored three goals and provided an assist to lead Corning. Cristian Loera and Felipe Arballo each scored twice. Jesus Serrano, Raul Arent, Elias Lopez, Esli Rodriguez and Alan Serrano also tallied goals for the Cardinals. Arent had two assists and Cris- tian Lince and Salvador Mora each had one. D'Angelo Rico made one save in net. Corning was scheduled to play Orland on Tuesday and host Chico on Dec. 8. Girlssoccer CORNING 1, LAS PLUMAS 1 The Lady Cardinals opened their sea- son with a 1-1 tie against visiting Las Plumas. The Lady Thunderbirds equal- ized in the second half. Freshman Stephanie Zagal scored for Corning. Norma Madera and Eva Islas split time in goal for Corning, combining for 11 saves. The Lady Cardinals were scheduled to play Orland on Tues- day and travel to a tournament in Oroville on Friday. SOCCER Corning opens year with 12-2 blowout Lady Cardinals tie Las Plumas in home match By Ralph D. Russo The Associated Press TCU moved up to No. 3 in the fi- nal College Football Playoff rank- ings before the teams are selected to play in the national semifinals, becoming the latest team to jump past undefeated Florida State. The Seminoles are fourth, still in position to reach the playoff if it can win Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against No. 11 Georgia Tech. Alabama is No. 1 and Oregon is second for the third straight week. The Crimson Tide plays 16th-ranked Missouri in the Southeastern Conference cham- pionship game, and Oregon faces Arizona in the Pac-12 title game. The Wildcats' five-spot jump to seventh sets up a possible play-in game in Santa Clara on Friday night. The Wildcats already have beaten Oregon in Eugene and could make another big jump by doing so again. TCU finishes its regular sea- son at home Saturday against Iowa State, which is winless in the Big 12. It would seem the top four would be fairly well set as long as each wins this weekend, but committee chairman Jeff Long, the athletic director at Arkan- sas, said it would be premature to project out because the com- mittee doesn't. "We're waiting for teams to complete their body of work," he said. Ohio State, which lost its Heis- man Trophy-contending quarter- back J.T. Barrett to a broken an- kle last week, is fifth, and Baylor, which beat TCU earlier in the sea- COLLEGE FOOTBALL TCU jumps Florida State into third in playoff ranks Dale Scott figures he'll hear plenty of foul language from angry hitters next season. Such is life for a Major League Baseball umpire. "They'll still yell at me when a 3-2slider doesn't break their way." BASEBALL MLB umpire Scott comes out as gay man FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 The Red Bluff Lady Spartans open their season at home at 6p.m. tonight against Shasta. The Red Bluff boys will be at Shasta at 6p.m. Mercy is scheduled to host Biggs at 3:15p.m. SOCCER Lady Spartans host Shasta in opener The annual Block LM Tour- nament kicks off today in Los Molinos. Mercy will play CORE Butte at 5:30p.m. Los Molinos is scheduled to play Hamilton in another tourna- ment game. BLOCK LM TOURNAMENT Los Molinos hosts boys basketball tournament Lebanese authorities detained a woman and young boy believed to be the wife and son of the Islamic State group leader, and were questioning the woman and conducting DNA tests on the child. POSSIBLE BARGAINING CHIP Wife of IS leader detained in Lebanon FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 WOODS PAGE 2 RANKINGS PAGE 2 ARIZONA PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, December 3, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1