TUCSON, Ariz. — As James Slade Jr., a freshman studying physiology, sat in the University of Arizona student section Saturday night watching another football game gone wrong, he wasn’t thinking much about the missed tackles, the wayward passes or the other shortcomings that added up to the Wildcats’ 17th consecutive defeat.
Instead, he was enchanted by the green grass, wondering how it would feel under his feet.
“That’s all I was thinking about — how great it would be to be down there,” Slade said.
And so there Slade was three nights later, among 59 hopefuls who turned up for an open tryout Tuesday to join the Wildcats in the middle of what has become another trying season.