Arizona Wildcats 4-2 Overall (2-1 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Arizona 43 – Stanford 38

Next Week’s Opponent: UCLA

Enough offense for you?

Despite giving up over 30 points for the third straight game, Saturday’s shootout victory over Stanford shot Arizona into the BCS top 25 (#22). With quality in-conference wins over Stanford and Oregon State as well as only two losses (the heart breaker in Washington and to undefeated Iowa), the respect seems justified. Speaking of that Iowa game, how badly do you want to see a do-over with Nick Foles as the starter?

Since Foles has taken over as the starter, the Wildcats have scored 113 points and have amassed 1402 yards of total
offense; good for 37.7 points and 467.33 yards per game.

Hard to find anything about the offense not to love in Saturday’s game. Nick Foles had an unbelievable day, throwing for 415 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Juron Criner had 12 catches for 152 yards, Terrell Turner had nine catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, and David Douglas had 92 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches. David Roberts and Keola Antolin both snagged five catches each as well.

Arizona didn’t run often, but when they did, good things happened. Greg Nwoko rushed three times for 45 yards, capped off by a 43-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter, and Nic Grigsby rushed seven times for 89 yards, also capped off by a huge (57-yard) touchdown in the 4th.

On defense, things were quite different. The defense gave up a miserable 584 total yards, including 434 passing yards. They also gave up 123 yards and two touchdowns to Gerhart on the ground before his injury. Bright spots include getting the stop on 4th and 1 late in the game (you have to be thrilled as a Wildcats fan that Gerhart wasn’t available), and of course the 79-yard pick-6 by Robert Golden to put Arizona on the board early in the 1st quarter.

But for a team that can usually rely on its speedy defense, this is the second time in three games that they’ve been torched for over 400 total yards (407 against Oregon State). Yes, they ended up winning both of those games; but the difference between a good season and a fantastic one will be the defense, because the offense is clearly clicking.

The Wildcats will look to keep the good times rolling this week at home against UCLA.

Stanford Cardinal (4-2) vs. Arizona Wildcats (4-2)
Saturday, October 17, 4:30 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona -3.5

Sam’s Take (28 – 13):

Stanford was humbled in Corvallis last week, while Arizona may have been robbed of a big road win over Washington. So who has the edge in this matchup? I certainly think both teams have a lot to prove, but this is an especially meaningful game for the Wildcats. Arizona may still be fuming over the loss in Seattle, but they also have some unfortunate recent history with the Cardinal. The ‘Cats have lost two consecutive 1-point games to Stanford (21-20 in ’07, 24-23 in ’08), and they probably should have won both of them.

I believe Arizona will get a little payback at the Old Pueblo this year. Oregon State proved that speed kills against Stanford. The Beavers exploited the Cardinal defense by moving laterally, and UA is considerably faster than OSU. ‘Cats QB Nick Foles was very sharp against UW, and I expect to see just as many bubble screens and quick outs this week. The UA receivers have been fantastic lately, and they should dominate an overmatched Stanford secondary.

Toby Gerhart will get his against the UA defense, but I don’t think QB Andrew Luck will find much room in the passing game against an ultra-talented secondary. Chris Owusu may have to do the majority of his damage in the return game, because CB Devin Ross and CB Trevin Wade are going to be tough to shake.

These two teams always play each other tough and I expect another closely contested game. But unlike the last two years, this time I expect the ‘Cats to close out Jim Harbaugh’s club in the fourth quarter.

Prediction: Arizona 30 – Stanford 23

Stanford Player to Keep an Eye On: LB Shayne Skov – Skov is fast enough to track down some of the quick passes that Arizona loves to call, and he will be a key to containing the explosive UA passing game.

Arizona Player to Keep an Eye On: WR David Roberts – Roberts was spectacular last week (12 rec. 138 yards 1 TD) and he should have another big day against a vulnerable Cardinal secondary.

Dave’s Take (31 – 10):

So what do we know about the Pac-10? USC and Oregon look like the teams to beat in the conference, and Washington State looks to be firmly planted in the 10-spot. After that, it’s just a big mess from 3-9.

From what we’ve seen so far, though, these two teams seem to be pretty darn good. Both still have a long road ahead with some tough conference games, but Saturday’s game could very well help sort out the top five in the conference when it’s all said and done, and a win here would be huge for both programs.

It’s hard to pick against Stanford. Andrew Luck has been one of the conference’s most consistent quarterbacks (impressive considering the fact that he’s a redshirt freshman), Chris Owusu has emerged as a star to compliment Ryan Whalen in the WR corps, and Toby Gerhart is among the elite rushers in college football.

But it isn’t the offense I’m worried about. Stanford’s defense has looked fine for the most part this season, but it got completely shredded last week against Oregon State. Considering half of Stanford’s games to this point have come against very bad offenses (108th ranked Washington State, 118th ranked UCLA and 119th ranked San Jose State), they really only have one strong defensive effort under their belt; the home win over Washington.

Since Nick Foles has taken over at quarterback, the offense has been outstanding, averaging 35 points per game. Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin didn’t do much on the ground last week, but if they pick things up this week, the passing attack could be even more dangerous.

I expect both teams to put up points, but defense, home field advantage, and a sprinkle of revenge make Arizona the pick here.

Prediction: Arizona 30 – Stanford 27

Arizona Wildcats 4-2 Overall (2-1 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Washington 36 – Arizona 33

Next Week’s Opponent: Stanford

How did this happen? I still can’t figure out how the Wildcats lost this game. Sure, Mason Foster’s game-changing interception return for a TD may actually have been an incomplete pass (as some angles on replay have shown), but there is no excuse for blowing a 12-point lead with 4:16 left in the 4th quarter.

The final stats from Saturday’s game are painfully in favor of the ‘Cats (UA total yards: 461, UW total yards: 256). But in the end, Sonny Dykes went to the bubble screen play one time too many, and now UA will have to feel the sting of losing yet another winnable game (similar to the Stanford and New Mexico games of the previous two seasons).

As deflating as this loss is for the psyche of the team, there were also obvious positives. QB Nick Foles was tremendous even with the two interceptions (39/53 384 yards 1 TD, 2 INTs). He is clearly the right choice at QB for this offense, as he delivered the ball on time and with zip all night. For the second game in a row, Foles involved a ton of receivers in the offense (nine different players had at least a catch), and David Roberts is really starting to emerge as a big time playmaker.

I was very impressed with the route running of the UA wideouts, particularly Roberts and Terrell Turner. Even without Rob Gronkowski, this receiving unit is capable of lighting up any secondary because of the speed with which the receivers are getting off at the line of scrimmage. I expect big things from the UA passing game as the season progresses.

The running game should have made this offense dangerously balanced against U-Dub, but somehow,  Grigsby, Nwoko, and the rest of the backs were only able to manage a meager 77 yards on the ground. Sonny Dykes has to be disappointed in that total considering the ‘Cats were leading the conference in rushing heading into the UW game.

Defensively, Arizona played pretty well but still managed to give up a ton of points. Jake Locker only passed for 140 yards, but he tossed three TDs, and ran for a huge 56-yard TD on his way to 92 yards rushing. I do not doubt the talent or speed of the Wildcats D, but sometimes that isn’t enough. This unit has to get mentally tougher and prevent the big play.

Next up for UA is a revenge game with Stanford. The ‘Cats recent history with the Cardinal can only be described as painful, making this Saturday’s game at the Old Pueblo a virtual must win.

Arizona Wildcats 3-1 Overall (1-0 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Arizona 37 – Oregon State 32

Next Week’s Opponent: BYE

It’s safe to say that Sonny Dykes “AirZona” offense is back in a big way. The quarterback switch at UA couldn’t have worked any better in Corvallis, as Nick Foles was tremendous (25-34 254 yards, 3 TDs 0 INTs). Foles demonstrated Tuitama-like command of the offense, hitting 10 different receivers throughout the day.

Even with Nic Grigsby sidelined for most of the game and Keola Antolin battling injury as well, the ‘Cats offense found a way to move the ball. Third-string tailback Greg Nwoko was spectacular as a runner (9 carries for 44 yards), and receiver (4 rec. 76 yards).

Foles has re-energized the talented receiving corps, as Delashaun Dean, Terrell Turner, David Roberts and Juron Criner were all able to make plays in the passing attack Saturday.

While the UA defense gave up plenty of yards (407), the secondary still managed to come up with a couple of big interceptions. Trevin Wade continues to be a dangerous playmaker at CB (picked Canfield off in 3rd Qtr), and Devin Ross also had a big INT in the final minutes of the game.

A special kudos goes to punter Keenyn Crier. Crier is one of the best punters in America, and he proved it on numerous occasions against the Beavers. In the fourth quarter alone, Crier was able to pin OSU inside the five-yard line three times (resulting in a TD, INT, and safety for UA). A strong argument could be made that his punting won the game for the Wildcats.

It appears that Grigsby and Antolin will be healthy for the game against Washington, which should allow Dykes to employ an even more potent (and balanced) attack.

With the QB controversy now resolved, the ‘Cats seem to have found their offensive identity. If Nick Foles can build on his solid debut, Arizona will be firmly in the conference title race all season.