UA vs USC

General Chaos · October 22nd, 2008, 12:40 PM

Huge game this week. UA will have to play out of their minds to win this one. I think the Cats offense will have moderate success against USC stellar defense. Im more concerned about the Cats D making stops this weekend. GO CATS!!!

MaoTosiFanClub · October 22nd, 2008, 01:20 PM

It would be nice if Steve Sarkisian took a page from his Oregon State 2008 and Texas 2005 playbook and decided to be tricky and cute for the first half instead of lining up the better athletes and simply beating our defense.

Other than that, Arizona like 90% of the teams in the country need a couple turnovers and some big plays to have a chance.

TJ · October 22nd, 2008, 03:02 PM

Our run defense worries me. USC has about 5 tailbacks that can start on any Pac-10 roster right now and if we can't somehow contain them, that opens up a can of worms. We are strong against the pass, but if we have to put 7-8 in the box, we're screwed.

Arizona's Finest · October 22nd, 2008, 04:10 PM

Playing with house money at this point. I am excited to see Tui's level of play in this game. I think the home crowd will allow us to keep it somewhat close but we are playing a very motivated SC team. I only wish they hadn't already lost to OSU otherwise i would be sure this is the annual Pac-10 game they lose.

Either way I am excited for this game and am happy with the cultivation of talent at the school for the future.

I am interested Mao - you have always been dead set against Stoops and any percived progress. But now - although we still lose frustrating games - we have very good young talent for the future of the program.

What are you thoughts on the Stoops era going forward?

MaoTosiFanClub · October 22nd, 2008, 05:17 PM

Depends on how he finishes the season. I don't like Stoops because:

1. He loses games he has no business losing
2. Never can get over the hump
3. Can't beat his rival

If those things change this year I may have a new outlook on him but we still got a long way to go. The guy can recruit, no question about it but then again so could Steve Lavin. Whether Stoops has evolved into a program builder and maintainer is still to be determined (although as of now I'd vote 'no').

I will say I'd be very happy to eat crow on this topic.

This Saturday will tell us a lot of things about the program going forward. Getting blown out simply means we're just another notch on USC's belt with Oregon, ASU, Cal, etc. of pretenders who falsely thought they were ready to join USC on the first tier of Pac-10 schools. Holding our own gives us legitimacy as a decent squad in 2008. Somehow pulling out the W gives us credibility in recruiting almost anyone on the West Coast come January. It truly is a program-defining game and I'm ecstatic that I'll be in the house no matter the outcome.

Skkorpion · October 24th, 2008, 11:11 AM

We get to see this game on the tube. I'll watch. Go Cats.

TJ · October 25th, 2008, 09:58 AM

Im leaving for Tucson in about 2 hours to go to the game. GO CATS!!!!

arthurracoon · October 25th, 2008, 09:49 PM

Well...the offense did nothing.

And that last return just got my hopes up.

Arizona's Finest · October 25th, 2008, 09:55 PM

Without Keolin we lost all ability to move the ball.

That is the best defense I have seen in college football in a long time and I think if they do get to the NC game in Miami they are going to beat up on whatever team they play.

Future looks bright in Tucson though.

Chaplin · October 25th, 2008, 10:33 PM

We only lost by a single touchdown. Holding USC to 17 points is pretty good for our defense as well. The FSN commentators were ALL OVER USC's jock the entire game, and in the end they had to go out of their way to just say Arizona was a good team. It's to be expected of course.

It may not have mattered, but there were 3 blatant non-calls that actually were quite surprising, based on just how blatant they were--2 pass interference and a CLEAR personal foul. All 3 were in the 1st half, so it might not have mattered, but the officials needed to do a lot better in this game. I won't say there was a Southern Cal bias, but those 3 missed calls leave a lot to think about.

Lefty · October 26th, 2008, 07:35 AM

I am definitely proud of how the Cats played last night. I think Stoops has finally turned the corner.

I could only imagine how the game could of went differently if the Cats did not get that personal foul on the one yeard line. Instead of 7, they only got 3.