SEEN & HEARD

Big Sky has sweet coverage

With all the drama about the Arizona Wildcats Sports Network and the Pac-10's long-desired conference television network, we love the way the Big Sky Conference does its sports coverage.

The Big Sky TV Web site, www.bigskytv.org, is pretty sweet. For free - all viewers have to do is register - fans can watch more than 400 live sporting events that take place on conference schools' campuses.

How great is this? The Web site airs all football, volleyball and basketball games played at Big Sky venues.

This year, more than 20,000 fans have signed up for the Web site.

Since starting up in 2006, the Web site has produced more than 1,200 games and news conferences - including playoffs in football, volleyball, soccer, track and field and basketball.

Offensive night

The Wildcats' final touchdown of the first half was historic.

It took the team 17 plays and 7 minutes 40 seconds to drive 99 yards for a 21-10 lead. The 99-yard effort was the longest scoring drive for the Wildcats since Sept. 8, 2001.

Against Idaho, Jason Johnson threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall. We can say, quite confidently, that the 99-yard mark will never be broken.

The Wildcats quickly added another monster drive to their record book -a two-play, 95-yard journey that saw Nicolas Grigsby sprint from the UA's 5-yard line to NAU's 1.

Cats are streaking

Sure, it's over two years, but it's a cause for celebration.

The Wildcats have won four straight games dating to last year's victories against Arizona State and BYU. The Wildcats had not won four straight since 2000.

Of course, UA fans know what happened next. After Dick Tomey's team defeated Washington State for the UA's fourth straight win and a 5-1 start, the team lost five straight - ending Tomey's Wildcat career.

Arizona won three in a row in 2006 and 2007.

Scoring 30-plus is good news

The Wildcats surpassed the Big Three-Oh again Saturday night - and that's usually good news.

For the 106th time since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, Arizona scored at least 30 points.

In those games, Arizona is 96-9-1. The UA is 17-1 under Mike Stoops when scoring 30 or more, the lone loss coming at Oregon last season.

Entering the game, the UA was 108-4 when scoring 40 or more points - something the Wildcats did in four home games last year.

Dazzling show

Every night should be Hispanic Heritage Night.

To celebrate, the Wildcats presented a throng of mariachis - along with the Pride of Arizona - as part of the halftime show. The folklorico dancing was as great as the music, as women in dazzling, flowing dresses twirled all over the field. From above, the image was as striking as anything we'd seen here in a long time.

The big number

50,623Saturday night's attendance was the third-largest ever for an NAU game at Arizona Stadium. The NAU-UA game drew 54,708 in 2005 and 52,638 in 2007. The largest crowd NAU has ever faced was 62,707 at Arizona State last year - but the Lumberjacks figure to surpass it with a game at Ole Miss.