UA-Washington State highlights
Here is a package from KGUN Channel 9. Travis Cobb’s 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to begin the game was selected the No. 6 Play of the Day on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
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November 7th, 2009 at 10:38 PM
It looked to me like the coaches tried to throw downfield more today. There were few (if any) of the receiver screens that were a huge part of the last four games. It was hard to tell from the FCS broadcast (someday all TV will be HD, no???) if the receivers were covered or if Foles was indecisive, but he had to scramble and improvise quite a bit. Maybe someone who was there can comment on that.
I also wish that Stoops had let Zendejas try a 47 yard field goal or two on our two 4th down attempts from the 30. We did not need more touchdowns or offensive plays and I can’t recall the last long field goal he had to attempt. Seems like most of his field goals this year were on stalled red zone drives. I’m sure the coaches see him attempt long field goals all the time in practice, but it would be good to see it in a game. We may need a long field goal some day. On the positive side, all his extra points and short field goals looked solid this week.
Great Pac-10 week. UO lost. Cal lost. USC looked worse than ASU in a horrid game. ASU lost. Can’t ask for more than that.
November 8th, 2009 at 1:20 AM
I know we have a murderer’s row type schedule coming up, but I’m actually glad those tough games are backlogged.
Consider: we always knew that Oregon and USC were going to be tough games, potentially both losses. I think we’re better than Cal and frankly, I think we should and will beat Cal. But who would want to play Stanford or Oregon State right now? Both of those teams are looking better all the time. We could have played Oregon and USC first, lost both of those, and still have dangerous OSU and Stanford coming up. This way is much better, builds skills and confidence, and for the first time in 10 years, we have a realistic shot of going to the Rose Bowl.
The only bummer is that Oregon losing today removes them from the national championship picture, which means we can’t get into the Rose Bowl with second place in the Pac-10.
As Al Davis said before he turned into a sea monster: Just win, baby.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:56 AM
Man… it’s too bad the replay officials screwed us twice in Washington. We won that game and it show in the record books.
Gimino…. we may not NEED to beat Cal but we should. It looks to me like they are falling apart.
I can’t wait for the Oregon home game. That’s going to be bananas.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:51 AM
yes, cal does appear to be falling apart as of late, but that is what makes this next game so scary. there backs are against the wall, and we are coming in to there place. i think they will be pumped to knock the next kid (us) off the top of the pyramid. i think we should win, but it is going to be a very tough, close game. can’t wait.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Oklahoma out of AP the poll and Arizona is #18.
Did anyone, anywhere even think that there was the slightest possibility that this could happen this year?
November 8th, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Arizona at No. 18 is its highest AP ranking since after the loss at Penn State to start the 1999 season. UA was still 15th after that.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:34 AM
totally agree vegasallen. i can’t believe this team actually has a chance to compete for a rose bowl berth. i know we have some seriously tough games to pull off for that to happen, but it is so much fun to see our team contend again. the washington game is also becoming tougher to swallow now that we are in this position, but maybe that game will continue to push us harder and harder with each coming game.
and here is one more thought: i think it will be easier to travel to cal and beat them than our trip to tempe to play asu. you know asu will love playing the role of “spoiler” — keeping the only pac-10 team from ever getting to the rose bowl.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:11 PM
“Why UA doesn’t need to win at Cal next Saturday…”
Hey Anthony and Javier, do you think we can keep this a secret a little while longer?
Seriously though, shouldn’t the talk, the thinking be centered on getting well, getting prepared and getting focused for the California Bears of Berkeley?
In Berkeley.
I mean, it worked so well last week.
Let’s do it again, fellas.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Did anyone seriously think this would happen this year?
No.
Where as I’m thrilled as all-absolute-get-out, I still want to take an issue with the current AP rankings. I would think that if a team is tied for first (give or take a .5 game) in what is generally recognized as the second best conference in the nation…then being number 18 is actually an insult.
So why not rank Arizona a bit higher. Can we make a deal that if we play UCF, then we get to be second in the nation?
At least the BCS computers figured out Texas weak schedule and dropped them down to third. Rightfully so in my humble opinion.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:43 PM
azgood,
I think the team should be focused on getting well, getting prepared and getting focused on Cal. Team = one game at a game. It’s OK for the rest of us to look at the big picture.
And one of the points of showing the math about the rest of the season is to not get too stressed about this week’s task — playing free and easy has worked for UA in previous Novembers — and for everyone to realize the hugeness of the game vs. Oregon … no matter what happens this week.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Jahvid Best will not play against Arizona next week due to thr concussion he suffered yesterday… Redford says it is for precautionary measures…
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12488033/cals-best-out-of-hospital-to-miss-at-least-one-game
November 8th, 2009 at 7:36 PM
10-4.
I see that TV and time of game from Strawberry Canyon are two things TBA.
When will we know, maestro?
Great – no, superb – work on WAAC.com and TC.com, Anthony, Javier & Co.
We know Steve, a fellow Citizen mainstay, has joined the team with you and Javier, which is a thrill a read times three for an old ‘Cat diehard like me.
But I’m wondering whatever happened to Jack Rickard, another excellent read from one of my favorite papers anywhere.
I know he was at retirement, or pretty close, when change hit us all with the paper going out of circulation.
What’s he up to now?
Any idea?
Thanks, Anthony.
Keep up the great – no, awesome – work, guys.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Redford, huh?
Not only a TV game but a made for TV movie?
If we win, I say we go big screen!
But who would play Stoops?
Ryan O’Neal?
November 8th, 2009 at 7:47 PM
http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/AJimage.jhtml?searchfor=ryan oneal
Alright, alright…maybe not.
Maybe when he – Ryan – was younger.
Maybe.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:48 PM
azgood: Tedford not Redford – it’s hard to type on an iTouch…
November 8th, 2009 at 7:52 PM
http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/AJimage.jhtml?searchfor=ryanoneal
Tell me about it.
I just blew this one by leaving the “oneal”.
Let’s try that again.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:55 PM
http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/AJimage.jhtml?searchfor=ryan oneal
I’m determined.
Can you tell?
November 8th, 2009 at 8:05 PM
Oh well.
Just type in “pictures of ryan o’neal” and Google it.
You’ll see what I mean.
Perhaps.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:22 AM
azgood- Jack Rickard retired a few years ago. I searched his name and it appears that he is no longer writing.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:13 AM
AZGOOD, Rickard occasionally writes articles on Golf in the Green Valley News…
November 9th, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Brock Huard, former U-Dub QB and now ESPN analyst, said on ESPN that Arizona is a “finesse team” which bodes well for Oregon, thus predicting that Oregon wins in Arizona next weekend.
Them’s fightin’ words!!!
I didn’t like Huard then, and I don’t like Huard now…
November 9th, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Hopefully, ESPN will get educated. A UA official told me this morning that the Worldwide Leader is sending a camera crew to Tucson this week to interview Stoops and gather info for a piece scheduled to air on GameDay.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:13 PM
My guess is that Ryan Bass would have been somewhere in the rotation by now had he not backed out on his commitment to U of A. I love how karma always seems to catch up. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2009/11/08/20091108asususpension.html
November 9th, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Huard was an overrated tool when he played, now he’s just a tool. UofA is not a finesse team. They have a finesse passing attack and a very physical running game supported by the best O line in the Pac and one of the top handful in the country. You do not finesse your way to 32 + points a game (Oregon 36 ppg). The D is easy to call finesse since there is no dominating super star. That is what makes this D so fun to root for. They play well as a unit and, even when they give up yards, they are generally in position to make plays. What is the D giving up rushing, 95 yards a game? That is finesse? Oregon gives up 136. Passing D – Oregon 187, AZ 202. Brock or Damen or whomever should do some fact checking before he pops off.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Holy crap- ESPN picked the ASU-Oregon game over UA at California. That makes no sense to me, UA and Cal are both still in the hunt for the PAC-10 title. Oh well.
Now I’m stuck with UA being on freaking Versus, which I no longer get (thanks Versus and DirecTV).
Does anyone know when the PAC-10 contract with Versus is over? I really hate them right now.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Actually, Comcast forced the issue with DirecTV.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/339072-Updated_Versus_DirecTV_Disconnect_In_Carriage_Dispute.php
DirecTV said it already pays Versus more than any other independent distributor and that the 20% hike it is seeking “for what is basically a paid programming and infomercial channel with occasional sporting events of interest is simply piggish.”
I like the professionalism of Versus’s announcers and the production quality is really good. I lay the blame on Comcast (and I’ll never miss an opportunity), some of their shenanigans rank right up there with US West in the late nineties. I particularly didn’t care for Comcast internet traffic shaping policies, but that is another story.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:46 PM
Oh yeah.
BTW…azgood
http://www.pchell.com/support/mywebsearch.shtml
November 9th, 2009 at 6:13 PM
I’m sure espn picked up the oregon game bc of blounts reinstatement. Everyone wants to see what he does whether its on the field or not..
Idk if anyone remembers we were picked 8th in the conference (when they thought we had big rob)and even though the toughest part of our schedule is ahead of us, what an amazing season it has been.bear down cats! We believe
November 9th, 2009 at 6:36 PM
Look at this way Anthony, if we beat Cal and Oregon wins we’re probably going to be the Game Day game, and that’s the one I would want us to have anyway.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:07 PM
wakahaka,
I was told by somebody at UA this morning that the school is not, at least at this time, anticipating the GameDay crew being on campus for the Oregon-UA game. ESPN might not make a call on that until Sunday night, however, so things can change.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:00 PM
Frank, ESPN’ers have also said that Oregon is a finesse team. That’s why Stanford ran right over them. I think they are a little confused…or at least choose their words poorly. I think they meant to say built for speed…defending the spread. Nothing wrong with that…you have to adapt to your surroundings. Nonetheless…shhhh…don’t tell the team…Good bulletin board material. Tell Cam he hits like a girl…hehehe
November 9th, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Interesting Anthony. I wonder what game is bigger than the Rose Bowl deciding game.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:36 PM
I don’t see a better game that week, but it won’t decide the Rose Bowl — the winner gets alone in the driver’s seat with work left to do.
ESPN has actually gone west quite a bit recently for GameDay, so maybe geography would have something to do with them not wanting to come back out this way. Heck, I don’t know the reasons … just telling you what I was told.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:40 PM
i don’t see a better game for week 12 either…
http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule/_/week/12
as the rankings stand now, it’s the only game to feature 2 ranked teams. while it doesn’t actually decide the P10, it’ll be an important factor in deciding the conference’s Rose Bowl participant. Ohio St. vs. Michigan is a big rivalry game, and OSU still has B10 hopes, but Michigan is mediocre at best and the series has not been competitive in several years. the top 5 teams have such compelling opponents as FIU (@ Florida), Chattanooga (@ Alabama), Kansas (@ Texas) and Wyoming (TCU). seems like a pretty easy choice…to a biased UA fan, of course.
not that it matters much. i think it would be great for exposure, but i also understand if not everyone is sold on the ‘Cats yet. we’ve got some work to do and all of this is a moot point if we don’t take care of business in Berkeley this weekend or Oregon gets nipped again…
November 10th, 2009 at 3:30 AM
Portland Catfan #2:
I’ll be honest, I don’t care to figure out what Huard meant, I just know what he said. “Finesse” is deragatory in football, it implies that a team cannot play smash-nose football and has to resort to gimmicks. That does not describe this AZ team. They are tough, and unlike most spread offenses, Arizona utilizes the run extensively. Maybe he could have used a different word but he didn’t. I do hope it becomes bulletin board material.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:30 AM
I just read Rivera’s piece on Hill. He really sems like he is here to be at AZ. I hope he works himself into a nice player for our team. But what I saw, and I’m not sure how nobody else did, was a very slow, flat-footed guy who doesn’t much look for his own shot. Not to mentioned two or three times he tried dribbling through traffic to turn it over. I did see a couple of nifty passes and he did have 6 defensive boards. But I am still alarmed he showed up so overweight. And his lack of aggressiveness on the offensive end is a bit concerning. As I said before, among all the freshmen, Hill is the least impressive to me and shows the least value. With his size there is promise though. But Hill needs to continue to lose weight and add muscle and that is going to require discipline. I hope he has it and wants it.