TUCSON, Ariz. -- Sophomore Nick Foles will make his first start at quarterback for Arizona on Saturday at Oregon State.
Foles will replace the struggling Matt Scott, who was 4 of 14 for 50 yards with one interception in a 27-17 loss at Iowa last week.
"Finding continuity within our offense is a pretty big concern," said coach Mike Stoops, who announced the switch on Monday at his weekly campus news conference.
"We're going to see if we can get a little bit of a flow in our offense," Stoops said. "By no stretch of the imagination is this any reflection on Matt. I think Matt has done a lot of good things. We just want to give Nick a chance to start and see what Nick does with that, see if we can settle down and make some plays."
Foles, a transfer from Michigan State, played a total of four series for the Wildcats against Northern Arizona and Iowa. Foles is 12 of 19 for 99 yards, with two touchdowns.
"I know the players have confidence in me and the coaches have confidence in me," Foles said. "They wouldn't have made this decision if they didn't have confidence in me."
At 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, Foles is more of a prototypical dropback passer than Scott, who is faster and likes to run.
Scott has completed 37 of 64 passes for 402 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions. Scott is the team's second-leading rusher with 170 yards on 23 carries.
Foles is expected to add a stronger passing element to Arizona's spread offense, which has struggled without tight end Rob Gronkowski, likely out for the season because of a back injury.
Foles, who broke some of Drew Brees' passing records at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, appeared in one game for Michigan State in 2007, attempting eight passes. He sat out last season after transferring.
Stoops said Scott likely will play in the first half when the Wildcats visit Oregon State.
"We are going to give him every opportunity to re-establish himself as our quarterback, but I think Nick deserves the opportunity from what he's shown when he's gotten into games," Stoops said.
