Bleacher Report - Arizona Wildcats Football

Arizona Hoping To Make the Final Month Memorable

Alan Rubenstein — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:54:45 -0500

With three regular season games remaining, the Arizona Wildcats have a chance to make this the most memorable season in school history.

The goal remains simple, win out and secure the school's first trip to the Rose Bowl. After 32 years in the Pac-10, Arizona is the only school from the Pac-10 or Big Ten (11) to have never appeared in the nation's oldest postseason game.

Arizona contending for a Pac-10 title is rare. A win for the Wildcats this weekend sets them up for a run for the Rose. A win by Oregon could set up the winner of the Civil War game between Oregon and Oregon State earning a trip to Pasadena.

The last time Arizona was a serious contender for the Pac-10 title was 1998. The game that decided the Pac-10 title that season was when UCLA invaded Tucson on Oct. 3.

Arizona had a 28-24 lead on the Bruins with three minutes to go in the third quarter. UCLA scored 28 unanswered points in the final 18 minutes and left Tucson with a win and the game that decided the 1998 Pac-10 championship.

UCLA remained undefeated until December. If the Bruins had played in the National Championship Game at the Fiesta Bowl, Arizona would have made its first Rose Bowl appearance.

UCLA lost at Miami in an early December game that was rescheduled from September because of Hurricane threats. When the Bruins lost to the Hurricanes and Edgerrin James' 299 rushing yards, the Wildcats wound up in the Holiday Bowl.

Arizona finished off the most successful season in school history at 12-1. They beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl and finished off the season ranked No. 4 in the country.

Arizona entering November with a chance to go to the Rose Bowl is extremely rare. In 1993, the Wildcats entered their Nov. 13 game at California 5-1 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats appeared to be on its way to victory and control of the Pac-10 with a 20-0 second half lead. Arizona went down similarly to Washington this year. A second half interception return for a touchdown sealed a 24-20 victory for the Golden Bears.

Arizona finished in a three-way tie with UCLA and USC. The Bruins won the tiebreakers and headed to the Rose Bowl. A 29-0 victory over Miami was a bittersweet way for the 1993 season to end.

Those 1992 and 1998 teams were realistically the only Arizona teams that had a chance to challenge for a Rose Bowl berth late in the season.

The usual measure of success for an Arizona season is if they beat Arizona State. From 1982 until 1991, the Wildcats finished 8-0-1 against their in-state rivals.

The 1986 regular season concluded with Arizona ending the Sun Devils dream of an undefeated season. Following a victory over North Carolina in the Aloha Bowl, Arizona finished the season 10th in the coaches poll and 11th in the writers poll.

The hope for this weekend should be that Arizona has had a penchant for producing upsets at home under Mike Stoops.

Two years ago, Oregon came to Tucson with the nation's No. 2 ranking and dream of a national championship. Behind two Antoine Cason return touchdowns the Wildcats pulled off the 34-24 shocker.

Ducks fans were left to ponder what if. Ducks QB Dennis Dixon, a strong Heisman Trophy candidate went down with an injury early in the game. The Oregon offense struggled without him and their national championship dreams faded.

After the successful 1998 season, Arizona failed to make another Bowl appearance until last season. It has taken Stoops five seasons to Arizona back in position to become part of the national spotlight again. A win against Oregon will go a long way towards doing that.

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ESPN Gameday To Make First Appearance in Tucson

Alan Rubenstein — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:44:47 -0500

Arizona Football has finally arrived. ESPN College Gameday is making its first trip to Tucson for the biggest game of the 2009 Pac-Ten season.

The arrival of ESPN's College Game Day is a testament to Arizona's success this season. Gameday has not had too many opportunities to travel to Tucson. The national spotlight shining on Tucson has usually been reserved for the Basketball team.

Gameday hasn't had a reason to setup on the mall since 1998. Arizona finished second in the Pac-Ten that season with a 7-1 record. That was the last time Arizona was a serious contender for the Pac-Ten title. UCLA eventually won the conference in '98 with an 8-0 record.

UCLA defeated Arizona in Tucson 52-28 on October 3rd that season. Had the game been later in the year, Gameday might have made its inaugural appearance in the Old Pueblo.

College Gameday brings a lot of excitement to town. They have done a great job this year of traveling to non-traditional locations. Stops have included Provo, Utah (TCU@BYU), Colorado Springs, Colorado (Army@Air Force) and Fort Worth, Texas last week for Utah and TCU.

Fowler, Herbstreit, Corso and Howard always seem to stir things up, have a few surprises up their sleeves, make some interesting predictions, show some local flavor and always have a surprise guest.

In Provo, former Great BYU coach LaVell Edwards joined the crew as the guest prognosticator. When they visited Eugene earlier this year for Oregon-USC, Nike founder Phil Knight visited the set.

The speculation in Tucson is that Lute Olson will be joining them on Saturday morning. With Sean Miller and his team en route to Hawaii for the Maui classic, Olson has to be considered the front runner.

It might depend on how healthy Olson is and if he is able to appear on Television. Former US Olympic Softball Coach and Arizona's long time skipper Mike Candrea might be another possibility. ESPN generally comes up with someone that is going to keep the viewers attention. If Olson or Candrea decline an invitation, then two of Candrea's former players might be a possibility.

Jennie Finch is one of the most famous female athletes in the world. She won a Gold Medal for the United States in 2004 Olympics and set an NCAA record with by going 32-0 during her junior season. She has modeled swimwear for ESPN the magazine, was voted the sexiest female athlete in an online poll on ESPN.Com and hosts a segment on This Week in Baseball.

Taryne Mowatt rivals Finch for popularity in Tucson. She captured two ESPY's and helped Arizona win two Women's college World Series.

The one wildcard could be Arizona Senator John McCain. President Obama threw out the first pitch at the MLB All Star game this year, appeared on ESPN with Andy Katz announcing his NCAA Tournament bracket and has boasted of his love for the Chicago teams and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why not McCain?

The obligatory shots of campus, the surrounding area and the traditional UA Haunts could also be included.

Where should they go? The set is going to be on the Mall in front of Old Main (the oldest building on UA's campus). Some Tucson landmarks they should show include the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Sabino Canyon, Gates Pass, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, A-Mountain and the Airplane Graveyard.

Dirtbag's, Gentle Ben's, and The Bum Steer are some of the local hangouts we might see. If they only want to get a meal than the Sausage Deli, Eegees and any of the great Tucson Mexican restaurants or El Corral would be great choices to show off Tucson's local flavor.

The Steer would be a great place to show off Tucson's recreational activities (an outdoor sand volleyball court) and a great place to get some grub and imbibe.

At the end of the day, the largest question will be which mascot head will Lee Corso be wearing at the end of the telecast. The prediction of the crew are always saved until the end of the show. As an old school former coach, Corso usually seems to go with the proven commodity. Expect him to be donning the Duck head on Saturday morning. Oregon has been here before and has earned the right to be the favorite.

As the analyst on the Arizona-Oregon game, Herbstreit is not allowed to make a pick because of conflict of interest rules, since he is announcing the game Saturday night. He will give us some keys to the game and we can always read between the lines. He generally likes the team on the rise. Chris Fowler and Desmond Howard are harder to peg.

Win or lose, Gameday coming to Tucson benefits the University of Arizona and the city of Tucson. ABC and ESPN will show off the beauty of the city and the campus and the great establishments that Tucson has. The two hour show and the game will serve as a free advertisement for UofA, and the Old Pueblo showing it at its best.

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Arizona Wildcats Set to Step Out of the Shadows

Tom Phillips — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:43:56 -0500

Arizona football has been the little guy for too long.

Fans have always played the "at least we have basketball" card or had to listen to everyone talk about going to the Rose Bowl and never actually going.

After this weekend, the Wildcats will make it known that they are no longer the little brother to other Pac-10 schools and the Arizona basketball program. They will step out of those shadows and create their own.

The loss to Cal was a wake-up call for this team. In the Washington State game they were able to get by on talent, so they didn't really try. At the beginning of the Cal game, they looked to take the same approach.

Arizona looked like they thought they could breeze through another easy victory. Even though their realization came too late, they still had a chance to win it.

Besides the Iowa loss, Arizona has had a chance to win in their two losses. If it weren't for two freak plays, they might have won, too.

This team has come to realize that they can't take anything for granted. They have to play hard all the time in order to win.

They have also learned how to win close games—something past Arizona teams would let slip away.

In the Stanford game, down by 15, they came back with an impressive second half and pulled out a win. Against Oregon State, Arizona was able to hold off a late surge by the Beavers with defensive stops in order to get the win.

This is a different Wildcat team.

While Oregon and Stanford are getting all of the publicity from this past weekend, Arizona moved to the backburner.

The good news for Arizona fans is that the Cats thrive when they are the underdogs and are not given a chance to win.

Sure, College GameDay is in Tucson this Saturday, and 65 percent of the country will be watching the game (according to ABC's network coverage map). While some publicity is good, they are going to focus more on the negatives for the Cats, including losing to Cal last week and never having been to the Rose Bowl.

This is exactly what this team needs. They need to be the underdog, the odds need to be against them, and they want everyone to think they are going to lose.

The crowd is also a variable that not many people factor into this type of game. Arizona's student section, the Zona Zoo, is capable of holding 10,000 students. Expect about 12,000-14,000 rabid fans to cram into the east sideline to give the Cats the home field advantage they thrive on.

Mike Stoops has beaten a ranked opponent at home every year he has been in Tucson. More good news for the Cats: Arizona has yet to beat a ranked opponent at home this season. Oregon is ranked No.11.

Arizona will make a name for itself on the national stage. Just stay tuned Saturday night.

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Arizona Wildcats Want Red-Out Against Oregon Ducks

Michael Abbott — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:38:03 -0500

The Arizona Wildcats want the Oregon Ducks to see red.

Along with wearing their all-red jerseys, Arizona is asking all in attendance on Saturday night to wear red and be as loud as can be.

In the final home game of the season, the Wildcats look to take down the Ducks on national TV.

The last time the Ducks came to Tucson was in 2007. Wildcat fans should remember it well.

Broadcast on ESPN's Thursday Night Football, students and fans stormed the field and climbed the goalposts in celebration of the Wildcats 34-24 win, beating the No. 2 ranked team in the country.

Along with losing the game, Oregon effectively lost their national title hopes when star quarterback Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury.

Dixon played despite having a torn ACL that he suffered in the previous game against ASU.

The Ducks would lose their next two games before beating South Florida in the Sun Bowl.

Well, ESPN is back in Tucson for another match-up.

For the first time in school history ESPN College GameDay will be on the Arizona campus to broadcast live from the UA mall from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

Fans showing up for the broadcast can expect a large, raucous crowd clamoring to get some airtime with their hand-made signs.

Those viewers watching on TV will undoubtedly be subjected to all the camera shots of cactus ESPN can cram into two hours of football coverage.

Also, ESPN analyst Lee Corso will be donning the mascot head of the team he chooses to win the game: Wilbur Wildcat or Donald Duck.

Much is on the line for the Wildcats this go around.

A win would keep them in the hunt for a share of the Pac-10 title while a loss would put added pressure on the team to win their next two games to earn a top Pac-10 bowl game.

Oregon will be the toughest task Arizona has faced this year.

Watching games on TV, its noticeably hard for the cameraman to decipher just who has the ball on the Oregon offense. Think of how tough its got to be for a defense.

Arizona will have their hands full.

During Mike Stoop’s weekly press conference he made it clear that the Wildcats know exactly what they have to do.

“We know we’ve got to win to stay in the big picture and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on,” he said.

“Our backs are to the wall. If we want to stay in this thing we’ve got to win or our visions of a championship are over.”

Let’s hope the visions aren’t a mirage.

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Five Things We Learned This Week: Arizona-Cal

Tom Phillips — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:12:50 -0500

1. Fluke Play

Let's just get this out of the way.

Say what you want but it needs to be put this way. It never should have come down to that.

The play was one-in-a-million. Sure, Foles should have known not throw the ball a second time, but how many times does something like that come up in a game. Once in a career, maybe.

The simple fact is: Foles played his worst game as a Wildcat and it has nothing to do with him throwing the ball twice on the same down.

If you want to place blame, put it on the 58 minutes before that play happened. The 58 minutes where Arizona struggled to move the ball.

That play is not the reason for an Arizona loss in Berkeley, the first 58 minutes of the game are.

2. Red Zone Stops

Before I make this article seem like me criticizing Arizona's offense, the defense in the red zone was good.

Once they were done letting Cal get into the red zone, they did their job in making sure the ball did not go into the end zone.

They made Cal kick field goals every time they entered the red zone and safety Joe Perkins intercepted a pass in the end zone.

The two touchdowns came from outside of the red zone (28-yard touchdown pass and 62-yard touchdown run)

Stopping a team in the red zone is key for keeping points down and was a huge reason that Arizona was able to remain in this game.

3. Shut The Screen Down

Arizona has been one of the best teams in the country at running the screen.

Whether it was the running back screen or the wide receiver screen, it seemed that no one could stop what the Wildcats threw at them.

The came to a screeching stop at Cal. The Bears were the fastest, most athletic team that Arizona has played all season and it showed.

The Bears were the first that seemed to come prepared knowing that Arizona would run an exorbitant amount of screen plays to move the ball down the field.

Cal preparation made them able to stop Arizona in its tracks.

4. Worst Offensive Game of the Year

No Wildcat fan will be able to disagree with me on that statement. The last time the Wildcat offense looked that ineffective was against Iowa when Matt Scott was starting for Arizona.

The play-calling was awful. Sonny Dykes has stuck to the same script of plays for the past four games.

Screen, run up the middle, repeat.

Dykes made no adjustments during the first half when Cal was stopping the screen and Keola Antolin getting stuffed up the middle every time he ran the ball.

He also made little to no adjustment until Arizona's final two drives. For all of the praise that Sonny Dykes is getting for making this a powerhouse offense, he didn't make the changes needed in order to win the game.

5. Wildcats Struggle With Wildcat

The "Wildcat" offense that has become so popular in the past two years was effective last night against Arizona.

Cal did a great job of using the misdirection that the Wildcat causes to confuse the Arizona defense.

For the most part the Cats did a good job of letting Cal use the offense to create big plays. Most plays were only for gains of six-eight yards. There were no real big breakaways.

The six and seven-yard gains though were effective enough to ensure that Cal got down the field in order to get the points that helped lead to an Arizona loss.

For an Arizona team that has struggled against run option teams, they need to figure it out to have a chance against Oregon.

Read more Arizona Wildcats Football news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report - Arizona Wildcats Football

Arizona Hoping To Make the Final Month Memorable

ESPN Gameday To Make First Appearance in Tucson

Arizona Wildcats Set to Step Out of the Shadows

Top 10 Expected Sign Topics at Tucson's College Gameday

Arizona Wildcats Want Red-Out Against Oregon Ducks

Five Things We Learned This Week: Arizona-Cal