SB Nation - Keola Antolin

Nick Foles has "busted" hand

Smooty — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:51:37 -0000

The news out of Tucson is that Nick Foles has a "banged up" hand. Saturday, Foles played with a glove on his left hand and his middle two fingers taped together splint-style. I doubt that Foles, or Stoops, are going to give the media any more information on the subject, but it does raise a few eyebrows. Granted, Foles played well enough Saturday, and his poor stat-line seemed more a result of ASU's tough defense, rather than his inadequacies. But, Saturday is another huge game to conclude a string of "huge games" and Foles will need to play extremely well for the Cats to outscore USC. The difference in a potential Holiday Bowl or Poinsettia Bowl bid depends on it.

Continue reading after the jump

Foles' injury concerns me -- slightly. Call it a three on a scale of ten. If it was his throwing hand, I would be around an eleven. Do you think USC wants to lose a fourth conference game and drag its tail to the Poinsettia Bowl? Me neither. Foles' effectiveness will play a huge role in who wins Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.

I am more concerned with Grigsby sitting out -- again -- this Saturday. Take away Keola Antolin's 67 yard scamper on Saturday, and the rushing offense was atrocious. That will not cut it against USC. The rushing attack needs to produce to take some of the pressure off of Foles. This offense thrives on balance and the threat of run to open up passing lanes.

So, Cats fans, how concerned are you about Foles' injury? And what are your early thoughts on Saturday's game?

Poll

How worried are you about Nick Foles' injury?

Not worried at all. He played last week. He'll play this week.

26 votes

Concerned. The thought of Matt Scott taking more than 5 snaps makes me lose sleep.

22 votes

Terrified. We still have Bryson Beirne right?

0 votes

48 votes | Poll has closed

Arizona Quarterback Nick Foles Inappropriately Double Dips The Chip

TwistNHook — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:30:12 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

If at first you don't succeed, Nick, go right ahead and try again. Please. Pretty please??

Browse more photos »

Although the final score was an 8 point differential (24-16) at Saturday's Cal-Arizona game, it was really more like a 2 point game. Cal tacked on an extra TD on an exciting Shane Vereen scamper at the tail end of the game. Ironically, that gave Arizona slight hope that they could come back into the game, but that is a different post.

When you have what amounts to a 2 point differential, almost every play seems like it could have changed the balance of the game. Certainly, there were many plays where the game seemed to hang in the balance. But, in my mind, there was one play that completely and totally changed the complexion of the game. One play where the entirety of the momentum shifted from Arizona to Cal. One play that, in my mind, almost decided this game: The Double Pass penalty against Arizona QB Nick Foles on 3rd and short at the tail end of the 4th quarter.

This one stands out to me as being the key game-changing moment. After the fold, follow me through the sequence of events that was the Double Pass.

To see this play in its fullest picture, we need to start before that Arizona drive. Well before. From the ESPN Play by Play.

After a drive starting on their own 20 (touchback from Riley throwing a pick in the end zone), Arizona, aided by 2 Cal PI calls on 3rd and long situations, scores a back breaking TD:

1st and Goal at CAL 8	Nick Foles pass complete to A.J. Simmons for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.	16	15
	Two-point conversion attempt, Nick Foles pass FAILED.
	John Bonano kickoff for 58 yards returned by Jeremy Ross for 11 yards to the Cal 23.

This put Arizona up 16-15. Thankfully, they missed their 2 point conversion as we had before. That means a field goal puts Cal ahead instead of tying it. Still, plenty of time left. Just gotta put the ball into the hands of our play makers and get a time-killing, long drive. Which is kinda exactly what we did:

California at 12:26		ARIZ	CAL
1st and 10 at CAL 23	Shane Vereen rush for 10 yards to the Cal 33 for a 1ST down.	16	15
1st and 10 at CAL 33	Shane Vereen rush for 4 yards to the Cal 37.
2nd and 6 at CAL 37	Shane Vereen rush for 3 yards to the Cal 40.
3rd and 3 at CAL 40	Kevin Riley pass complete to Shane Vereen for 10 yards to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 50	Shane Vereen rush for a loss of 3 yards to the Cal 47.
2nd and 13 at CAL 47	Kevin Riley pass complete to Verran Tucker for 20 yards to the Ariz 33 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 33	Shane Vereen rush for no gain to the Ariz 33.
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 33	Shane Vereen rush for 10 yards to the Ariz 23 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 23	Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson rush for 12 yards to the Ariz 11 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 11	CALIFORNIA penalty 5 yard False Start accepted.
1st and 15 at ARIZ 16	Shane Vereen rush for 5 yards to the Ariz 11.
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 11	Shane Vereen rush for 2 yards to the Ariz 9.
3rd and 8 at ARIZ 9	Shane Vereen rush for 4 yards to the Ariz 5.
4th and 4 at ARIZ 5	Giorgio Tavecchio 22 yard field goal GOOD.	16	18
	Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 70 yards returned by Travis Cobb for 38 yards to the Ariz 38.
DRIVE TOTALS: CALIFORNIA drive: 13 plays 72 yards, 07:40 CALIFORNIA FG

Looking at this drive, a few things jump out at me. One is that there is no clear way for the ESPN Play By Play guys to signify the WIldBear position. However, at least 4 of these plays came out of the WildBear. I believe the 1st and 15 at the Arizona 16 and 2nd and 10 at the Arizona 11 came out of the WildBear. I think two of the previous ones also came out of the WildBear, although I cannot remember off the top of my head here.

At the time, I was complaining about over ruse of the WildBear. Especially since we literally ran the exact same play every time. Isi Sofele comes running across the field, doesn't take the ball, Vereen fakes a few ways, then runs up the middle for minimal gain. Considering we did manage to:

a)move the ball

b)take gobbles of time off the clock

c)put Cal in the position for a game-winning field goal

I guess it couldn't have been that bad. Then again, perhaps with a few more passes from Riley, we might have scored a TD. But the coaches seemed incredibly hesitant to call Riley's number on this drive. Especially as we got closer to the goal line. He throws 2 passes, completing both for 30 total yards. Not bad. The Tucker pass was REALLY impressive. He threaded the needle perfectly. Tucker took a huge hit, but managed to hold on.

Perhaps after Riley threw 2 goal line picks, the coaches wanted to avoid a 3rd. Playing it really, really, really, really safe. It worked, so hard to complain. Nonetheless, it is just surprising that they wouldn't call his number once after getting inside the Arizona 33!

But, there we go! Cal scores! Yay! 18-16. Cal is up. We just need a stop and to get the ball and wind down the clock. Just need a stop.

Then, this drive starts:

Arizona at 4:46		ARIZ	CAL
1st and 10 at ARIZ 38	Nick Foles pass incomplete.	16	18
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 38	Nick Foles pass complete to Delashaun Dean for 15 yards to the Cal 47 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 47	Timeout CALIFORNIA, clock 4:08.
1st and 10 at CAL 47	Keola Antolin rush for 3 yards to the Cal 44.
2nd and 7 at CAL 44	Nick Foles pass complete to David Douglas for 12 yards to the Cal 32 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 32	Keola Antolin rush for 3 yards to the Cal 29.
2nd and 7 at CAL 29	Keola Antolin rush for 4 yards to the Cal 25.

Ok, firstly, Delashaun?? We can add that to our Sean/Shaun/Shawn library of names. Marshawn. DeSean. Knowshon. LaShuan. And now Delashaun. Thank you Dean family!

Secondly, this was not exactly the stout defensive stop we were looking for. They never even made it to 3rd down. Cal fans were starting to get nervous. Arizona with that impressive Air-Raid offense. We had held it down for most of the game, but man just when it counted they were gonna hit the go-ahead FG with just a handful of seconds on the clock. This was gonna be a classic Cal stomach punch loss. Ugh.

So, after that 2nd and 7 up there, Arizona had the ball at the Cal 25 on a 3rd and 3. Tack on the 17 yards for a field goal and this is a 42 yarder. This is out of the range of the Arizona kicker, it appears:

FIELD GOALS     FGM-FGA  Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Zendejas, A.     13-16  81.2  1-1   7-8   5-6   0-1   0-0  37   1

Alex Zendejas is not a great kicker, but he's still pretty good. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what was going on. Being the Cal fan, I assumed they had the greatest kicker on the other side. We were freaking out, thinking that we had to stop them then, because it was right out of the range. Considering Forza Italia hit a 47 yarder earlier in the game, anything was possible! Zendejas previous stats in the 40s are minimal, just 0-1. His numbers in the 30s look good 5-6 So, if they get a few more yards, hit the kick, we're screwed.

BASICALLY, IT'S THE BIGGEST 3RD DOWN OF THE GAME! GOTTA GET UP, FANS!

And we did. The place was going impressively crazy. Of course, then this happened:

3rd and 3 at CAL 25		Timeout CALIFORNIA, clock 2:06.
3rd and 3 at CAL 25		Timeout ARIZONA, clock 2:06.

Ok, a bit of a set back. Cal fans had to stay up for like 5 minutes straight. But, they did. GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS! GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS! GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS!

Then, this happened:

3rd and 3 at CAL 25 Nick Foles pass complete to Nick Foles for a loss of 9 yards to the Cal 39, ARIZONA penalty 5 yard Illegal Forward Pass accepted.

Thanks to CalGBear's heady goodness, here is a YouTube video of it. It is of fairly crappy quality, but is viewable sort of:

Ok, let me break this down for those who didn't see it live and are a bit confused. Foles stands there in the pocket having all the time in the world (as he did for much of the game). He throws the ball forward, but it bounces off of a player and back to him. I couldn't tell who it hit in the blur of the game, but I was later informed from the SF Chronicle that Tyson Alualu blocked the pass:

Foles' pass was deflected by defensive lineman Tyson Alualu - and Foles caught the deflection, rolled right and threw another pass (which he completed).

Basically, Foles got Alualued! As it states there, he rolled to his right and threw a pass. The refs immediately threw every flag in their arsenal. There were like 400 flags on the field. I think at one point, the line judge covered himself in yellow paint and dove in the general direction of Foles. In the stands, people started saying "wait, can you can throw a second pass? no..no, you can't throw a second pass!!! YOU CAN'T THROW A SECOND PASS!"

The only question was how many yards and did you lose the down. The down was the key one there and as soon as the refs announced loss of down, my section erupted into a spasm of cheers. But the best was yet to come. Because they started to march the ball back. And back. And back. At the time, we thought it was a 15 yard penalty, because a 3rd and 3 turned into a 4th and 17 and we can't do math. No sir, we can't do math at all. It's not like we went to the #1 public school in America or anything!

Reviewing the play by play, it appears that it is only a 5 yard penalty. However, it is called from the spot of the foul. Which, apparently, was 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That's how 3 turns into 17. 3 plus 9 plus 4. I actually can't crunch that in my head right now, so I am going to trust the refs on this one.

That puts them into a crazy 4th down situation. At this point, the stands just went beyond crazy. Everybody started jumping up and down on the benches and screaming. I think NorCalNick nearly sprained his ankle, landing incorrectly. He is getting a MRI and could be out for 4-6 posts. And then this:

4th and 17 at CAL 39 Nick Foles pass incomplete.

He almost hit this, but a Cal defender managed to step in front of the pass at the last moment. Great defense there.

"GO BEARS!" via imgs.sfgate.com

In the span of a few game seconds, but an interminably long real-time period, Arizona went from moving down the field quickly to score the game winning TD/FG to throwing an incomplete pass on a 4th down to give Cal the ball. Of course, Cal immediately scored and missed the XP, which gave Arizona another chance to potentially tie the game. Vereen woulda been better off running around in circles than scoring that TD! ;)

Anyway, so, again, like my post about the Arizona State WildBear pass attempt, I have no overarching point here. No TEDFORD IS GREAT! or FIRE GREGORY! Just a closer look at a situation that coulda gone either way and how the momentum can shift so drastically in one play. What are your thoughts on this Double Pass penalty play? GO BEARS!

Cal 24, Arizona 16: Bears Play Spoiler. Can They Do It to The Furd?

Avinash — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:59:14 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

The Golden Bears spoiled Arizona's rosy outlook this season. Can they do the same to their hated rivals across the Bay next Saturday?

Browse more photos »

After five home duds, we finally had a winner. The Bears avenged their 2006 defeat to Arizona with a game strikingly similar in its flukiness and heartbreak.

An upset goes two ways. Cal had a lot of lucky breaks, from dropped passes, to Nick Foles missing streaking receivers downfield, to surviving two really bad Riley interceptions (one on the offensive line, one on him), to Mike Stoops and Sonny Dykes calling a curious amount of runs to Keola Antolin on 1st and 2nd down, to MVP of the game Giorgio Tavecchio playing the game of his life on special teams defense (2 big tackles), to Foles catching his own pass and throwing it again...anything else swings the other way, Arizona walks ahead to an epic showdown with Oregon unscathed. Oh well, at least they know how we felt three years ago.

But Tavecchio hit clutch field goals, the defense stepped up, Shane Vereen played the game of his life, and the Bears held on. The question now is, can they replicate that effort against their cross-Bay rivals?

CBKWit will have more detailed postgame thoughts later. But I want your guys's thoughts. Based on what you've seen of us, and what you've seen of the Furd, how do you feel about the Big Game?

Poll

How do you feel about the Big Game?

TIMBERRRRRRRRR!!!!!

117 votes

We have a good shot, Tedford will have something planned.

184 votes

Probably losing, hope Harbaugh goes to Notre Dame.

135 votes

Drop a tree trunk on me. It's gonna get ugly.

102 votes

538 votes | Poll has closed

OPPONENT PREVIEW: Arizona Wildcats

Dancing Football — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:43:09 -0000

More photos » by John Miller - AP

Earlier this season, Arizona was able to overcome David Hasselhoff singing the national anthem to defeat the Stanford Cardinal 43-38.

Browse more photos »

Head Coach: Mike Stoops

Record: 5-2 (3-1)

Offense: 30.0 PPG, 6.2 YPP

Washington State will face another talented offense this week in the Arizona Wildcats. Since Mike Stoops handed over the offense to quarterback Nick Foles, the passing game has flourished, as Foles has completed a ridiculous 72.3 percent of his passes. Take that number with a small grain of salt however, as the team does rely heavily on the screen pass and quick throws to the outside. Nevertheless, it has been much more effective with Foles in charge. Foles doesn't appear to have any specific favorite pass catcher, as four different receivers have grabbed at least 25 balls this season.

The Wildcat running game has been a big weapon for Stoops so far this season. Overall, Arizona is averaging 5.46 yards per carry and has rushed for 12 touchdowns. Junior Nic Grigsby leads the way on the ground with 535 yards rushing, five touchdowns, and a 7.54 yards per carry average. However, Grigsby and freshman running back Greg Nwoko are banged up this week and may or may not see time. Look for Keola Antolin, who is also coming back from injury recently, to get the major share of the carries. On the season he has carried 49 times for 5.20 ypc.

It should be the same old story, as Arizona should easily outclass the Cougs in terms of speed. Look for a lot of quick passes to the outside to take advantage of that and don't be surprised if the Cougar defensive line is manhandled once again in the run game.

The most interesting stat I came across? Arizona has only returned three punts ALL SEASON for a total of negative one yards. The opponents have punted 32 times.

Defense: 24.1 PPG, 5.1 YPP

On defense, the Wildcats have been decent against the run, giving up 3.58 yards per carry. Overall, they are an average unit which will most likely look above average on Saturday. Arizona forces two turnovers a game, and has eight interceptions on the year.

The leading tacklers for Arizona are senior linebacker Xavier Kelley with 47, defensive back Cam Nelson with 44 and linebacker Vina Tuihalamaka with 44. On the defensive line, junior Ricky Elmore leads the way with 5.5 sacks, and senior Earl Mitchell has 3.5 sacks to go with 2.0 tackles for loss. Overall, they've done a pretty good job putting pressure on the quarterback, garnering 2.57 sacks per game.

The Wildcat defense is an experienced group. Against UCLA last Saturday, they started seven seniors, two juniors and two sophomores. It will probably be the case once again where men are greater than boys.

One more fun fact that I came across: The leader tacklers for both Arizona and Washington State are named Xavier.

The Wildcats are in trouble if: The defense gives up too many yards in the passing game to the Cougs. The Washington State defense tackles well, limiting the effectiveness of the quick passes and bubble screens. Arizona turns the ball over at least six times. If all that happens, we could have a close game on our hands!

From the other side ...

For this week's interview with the opponent, Nuss caught up with his old coworker at CBSSportsLine.com, Anthony Gimino. AG has covered the Wildcats off an on -- mostly on -- for the last 20 or so years, and has a blog at TucsonCitizen.com called AG's Wildcat Report. He also is a bigshot editor for Lindy's college football and college basketball magazines, so we suppose that means you should listen to what he has to say.

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation is his take on the patience it takes to build a winner when the program is more or less destroyed. Wildcats fans know a thing or two about that ...

And as a reminder, you can subscribe to us on iTunes (why wouldn't you want to carry our pretty little voices with you everywhere you go?) or go to our podcast site here for other subscribing options.

Spaulding Roundup: Expecting The Bruin Defense To Be Under Siege In Arizona

Nestor — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:18:49 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

Ayers and co. will need to be consistent and disciplined so that they are making plays like this throughout the entire game (and not collapsing during back breaking big plays).

Browse more photos »

Earlier this season leading up to both of our road games I wrote how the pressure was mostly on the opposing coaches (Kiffin and Harbaugh). I am not sure if that dynamic is going to be in play tomorrow in Arizona. Mike Stoops fresh off a bowl victory and 8 win season, seems to be humming along this year in Arizona towards another bowl season. After somewhat of a slow start this year (on offense) he (thanks to Sonny Dykes' spread scheme) seems to have put together the most explosive offense in the Pac-10. So I don't think there is going to be any sense of pressure on Stoops or the Arizona program.

If you were to look at the matchup tomorrow, I don't see any angle that is favorable to UCLA. This has the marking of one of those games during which Bruins have gotten humiliated and embarrassed in their recent history. I am fully bracing for a destruction in the mold of the humiliating losses against Oregon State in 99 and the epic meltdown against Arizona in 05. From what I have read so far this looks like a bad matchup for UCLA defense, which I think is going to be under siege and under relentless attack all day tomorrow from Foles and co.

The LA Times has a report on the preparation of Bruin defense as they get ready to take on the best offense of the conference (ranked 14th in the country):

"This is probably the best group of receivers we'll see all year," UCLA free safety Rahim Moore said. "The quarterback is putting up big numbers. . . . This is a big challenge. It is going to determine how much we love football and how much we want to win."

Foles, a transfer from Michigan State, initially played behind sophomore Matt Scott.

"Nick was a little behind schematically," Arizona Coach Mike Stoops said. "He was not able to be as free as he can" during training camp. In the end, Stoops said, "We based the decision more on Matt's athleticism."

That changed after the Iowa game. The Wildcats (4-2 overall, 2-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play) had only 501 yards passing the first three games -- and more than doubled that in three games since.

For the Bruins (3-3, 0-3), defense hasn't been their strong suit. They have given up an average of 228 yards rushing in losses to Stanford, Oregon and California. Extra tackling drills were part of practice this week.

"We got to get back to taking better angles to the ball, and also just playing fundamentally sound and disciplined," Moore said.

We will see whether the extra tackling drills paid off and whether the coaches have done a better job of preparing our guys so that they can find themselves in best positions to make plays tomorrow. BTW, I think it's interesting how the Arizona coaches are indicating that Foles wasn't starting from the get go because he wasn't necessarily having great practices when he transferred over from MSU. Just goes with the theory of some atheletes are better gamers than practice players. Something to keep in mind while we have the Brehaut/Prince story unfolding in the coming weeks/months.

Going back to our defense, I think the key is going to not let Foles get comfortable. I hope Coach Bullough doesn't have the defense sit back in their base D to start the game and let Foles pick them apart with their short passing game, letting them kill our defense with thousand cuts. Again, not asking that he will need to come out with a dramatically different scheme. However, it would be nice if we see some different looks here and there, throwing the Wildcats a little off guard, and sending in pressure from places they are not expecting. More on that topic and other notes after the jump.

Their OL have done a great job of protecting Foles all season giving up. Interestingly it's an OL that has gone through a number of lineup shakeups throughout the whole season. According to Ryan Finley in the Arizona Daily Star, the Wildcats have had to throw out "more than a half-dozen different lineup combinations through its first six games." The results speak for themselves as the Wildcats feature the most explosive offense in the Pac-10, while allowing its QB to get sacked on only 4 occasions (pretty amazing number).

"They've been a really solid group for us," UA coach Mike Stoops said. "They're fundamentally very sound. We've seen a ton of blitzes, and they've picked them all up for the most part."

Just two starters, center Colin Baxter and right tackle Adam Grant, have started every game at their rightful positions. Injuries and illness have forced the rest of the line to shuffle each week.

The versatile Hall moved to right guard after Vaughn Dotsy suffered a concussion in Week 2, then shifted to left guard last week when Diaz got sick. Hall has also played tight end in running sets.

Diaz started the season at left tackle but moved to left guard when starter Conan Amituanai tore knee ligaments against Washington in Week 5.

Phil Garcia, fully recovered from two knee surgeries, came off the bench against Oregon State in Week 4, and started at left tackle. Blake Kerley, the Wildcats starting center for the first half of the 2008 season, entered Saturday's game as a guard in a goal-line package.

Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh said he's never been around a deeper group.

As mentioned up top, this OL has only given up 4 sacks. They are only getting better and now the Arizona offense looks potentially even more explosive given the fact that they just got back their starting RB Grigsby, who is another one of those small explosive backs that tend to present matchup nightmares for overly aggressive Bruin D. Grigsby is averaging more than 8 yards per carry and was the key difference in Arizona's shootout win against Stanford, when he darted out for 50+ yard TD run with less than 3 mins left in the game. Grigsby has capable backups in freshman Greg Nwoko (a big 6-6, 220 back from Texas) and Keola Antolin, both of who averaging over 4.5 ypc every time they rush the ball.

In other words, this offensive line has anchored an extremely balanced Arizona offense which is going to come at the Bruin defense from all directions. I am not seeing any potential weak points in their lineup. The only way I can see the Bruin defense having a shot is if they are somehow able to disrupt the rhyhm of Nick Foles early on, who at least statistically hasn't taken on the caliber of Bruin pass defense until this season. However, after how our DBs (including ATV) was burned by Kevin Riley last weekend, I am not seeing a lot of signs of hope from that crew as well. Perhaps they will show a dramatic turnaround and come out with a sense of moxy and confidence (while playing disciplined and smart football) we haven't seen Tennessee. Having a hard time being optimistic about our chances at this point for obvious reasons given what we have seen in recent weeks.

Perhaps it will be our offense that will continue to build on the baby step (forward) from last weekend and keep their offense off the field. CRN as usual struck positives notes in a mid-season report article in the OC Register:

"I feel like our offense is continuing to progress and I'm always continuing to get more comfortable," Prince said. "The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get. I feel like we're slowly progressing and that's a positive."

One thing that is important for the Bruins, as they work their way into the second half of the season, is that they have not given up on themselves. Their goal is to win enough games to play in a bowl game this season and they're essentially halfway there.

"I'm not pressing the panic button even though I know there are a lot of naysayers who would like me to," Neuheisel said earlier this week. "That doesn't mean we're not going to practice with great urgency and it doesn't mean we're not going to keep focusing on details.

"I understand people would like it to happen immediately, in a quicker time period. All I know is I believe in the course we're on."

Well I am hoping we will see some signs of hope on Saturday. Again, don't care much for moral victories and I will certainly not be celebrating if the Bruins don't get humiliated (that would be pathetic). However, I'd like to see our offense come out with a mindset in which they are in a relentless attack mode, not settling for FGs, and sending their defensive team-mates a clear signal that they are going to do what they can to have their backs in the desert. I am not sure if it will be enough to break the expected siege but offensive production might be the only chance we have tomorrow to break through with an improbable win.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: UCLA Needs To Open Up & Execute On Offense Early On Against Arizona

Nestor — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:57:53 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Mike Stoops' Arizona Wildcats are flying high with an explosive offense (ranked number 1 in Pac-10) this season

Browse more photos »

Let's try our best to take our mind off this past weekend's game and look ahead to Saturday's match up against Arizona. Arizona is coming into this game on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum after stunning Stanford in an offensive shoot out last weekend in Tuscon. They are flying high and at least on offense clicking on all cylinders with brand new quarterback in sophomore Nick Foles. jthirtyfour already broke down the Arizona offense to get us started for this game week.

Right now UCLA is probably somewhere around a 9 to 9 1/2 point underdog against the Wildcats. Given what we have seen from the teams in recent weeks (note I am not a betting person) seems like smart money would be on the Wildcats to blow the Bruins out of the desert. I just don't think we have a defensive scheme that is dynamic enough or a personnel that is coached up to be disciplined enough to shut down Arizona. If we are going to even have a chance to win this game on Saturday, I think Neuheisel and Chow will have to trust their offense and open it up early instead of waiting to fall behind again due to usual defensive ineptness in the first few series. They will need to break away from the mindset of "managing" their way to a victory and instead think about being aggressive and attack early and often on offense.

Let's start with quick recap of the series history between these two teams:

SERIES WITH ARIZONA -- UCLA owns a 19-12-2 advatage in the series with Arizona, which dates back to 1927. The Wildcats own a 9-8 record in games played in Arizona and have won the last two played in Tucson. Arizona has also captured the last two meetings in the series, winning 31-10 last season in the Rose Bowl and 34-27 in the 2007 campaign. UCLA's last win in the series came in the 2006 season by a 27-7 score. The Bruins' last win at Arizona came in 2003, a 24-21 verdict. Coach Neuheisel is 4-1 overall, 0-1 while head coach at UCLA, versus the Wildcats.

A year ago, the Bruins played the Wildcats in their Pac-10 opener (game 3 - Sept. 20, 2008) in the Rose Bowl. Arizona jumped out to a 17-7 lead before a Kai Forbath field goal sent the teams to the dressing rooms with UA up 17-10. After a scoreless third quarter, the visitors tacked on 14 more points on a scoring pass and a touchdown run to come away with a 31-10 win. UCLA managed 196 yards of total offense in the contest. Arizona passed for 222 yards and ran for 111 more.

The second half collapse against Arizona at the Rose Bowl last year kind of reminds me of the collapses we have had in last two games during when we played opponents tough most of the game only to completly implode within small stretches when the team fell apart on all facets of the game.

Let me see if I can find any signs of hope going through the Arizona team stats for 2009 season. Not surprisingly the Wildcats have the number 1 passing offense and the 1 overall offense (560.33 yards per game) in the conference. The only vulnerability I see (on surface at least) is their scoring defense is ranked 8th (giving up 26 pts per game) in the Pac-10. They have gotten lit up in their last three games giving up 32 pts to Oregon State, 36 points (in a heartbreaking loss in Seattle) to Washington, and then giving up 38 points to Stanford this past weekend.

I am really not sure whether our defense has the ability to stop Arizona (more on our D after the fold). The question I have is whether our offense can set the tone early on against Wildcats making it a game. Yes, all this season we have talked about our defense setting the tone early. Well I think it's clear that they are probably not capable of it (I really hope I am wrong). The way the Chuck Bullough defense seems to be set up, it seems incapable of coming out and shutting down its opponent early on giving our team any sense of momentum (the only exception seems to be Oregon, even then you can't count too much into that performance given all the injuries Ducks were nursing in that game). More after the jump.

Going back to our defense ATV has more reflections on what has gone wrong this year:

"The past couple of weeks there has been a recurring theme -- we are just not playing sound, fundamental football," Verner said. "I mean tackling and playing within the structure of the defense."

Verner admitted his own culpability. He was beaten deep on a 43-yard touchdown pass by Cal. "I was expecting something different and took myself out of the play," he said.

Verner added, "A lot of our scheme is making sure everyone does what they are supposed to do, because if even one piece is off then the whole play explodes." That, Verner said, comes down to practice.

"It's a cliche, but practice makes perfect," he said. "Some guys in practice are like, 'Oh man, I just want to get this done.' No. You use practice as a learning tool and get ready for the game. There are no excuses."

Verner said the seniors on the defense would deliver that message before today's practice, with linebacker Reggie Carter taking the lead.

"Reggie keeps telling us, 'You never know when you won't be able to play this game anymore, so don't go through the motions,' " Verner said. "We have to drill that into their heads and drill that into their hearts."

That's nice and all but remember the team apparently called a "player only" meeting after the Oregon game too. So I don't care much about rhetoric like this in the paper. I think the main problem with this team defense is not necessarily bad tackling (although no doubt it needs to get better and crisper) or needing to show more aggression (I think we have seen plenty of it). I think the main problem with this defense is a lack of discipline and staying with its assignments.

Time and time again we are seeing in tapes our front 7 finding overshooting their targets and finding themselves helplessly out of the position. It has been happening with regularity since the Tennessee game. I believe that is on the coaches. That is not only on Chuck Bullough and the defensive coaches, I sure hope CRN also takes responsibility for it, if this situation doesn't improve in the next 6 games. To his credit it looks like CRN has identified the key defensive issues himself:

On what ails the defense:
"It's not one thing. It's a combination of a lot of things. The big play was the haunting thing in this game. One of the big plays came when we missed an assignment and we didn't follow our guy in motion so we were a man short. One of them we kind of guessed on a route rather than played a route. One of them was a bad angle and a guy out of control in a run scheme where Best goes 93 yards. Those are the little things I'm talking about. Practice will be a giant array of those little things."

On what's gone wrong the past three games defensively:
"We talked about the Stanford game having more missed assignments than in any of the previous three games. We work hard to shore that up and I thought we played pretty darn good defense against Oregon. The Oregon was a four minute spell with a kick return and an interception return that gave them 14 points."

Again taking bad angles and missing assignments shouldn't be happening 6 games into the season. I am not sure if the problem at this point is so systematic that it can be fixed before next Saturday. At the very least, I hope to see some modicum of changes of improvement against Arizona in Tucson. As for the Zona offense, here are some of the tactics the Wildcats have been successfully using on offense this season:

1. Running the no-huddle offense. Arizona switched to a hurry-up attack on the final drive of the first half, and responded by going 89 yards in 2 minutes 39 seconds. Wildcats' players called the drive, which was capped by Foles' 11-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Turner, the turning point in the game. The score cut Stanford's halftime lead to 28-20, with Arizona due to receive the second-half kickoff.

Arizona ran the no-huddle attack the rest of the way with great success. The Wildcats' game-deciding drive covered 92 yards in 2:30.

"I love playing up-tempo," Foles said. "I love it, the guys love it. " [...]

2. Resting their tailbacks. Injuries to Nicolas Grigsby and Keola Antolin threatened to derail the Wildcats' season.

Foles' ability to make plays has allowed the UA to be productive on offense without overtaxing its banged-up backs.

Arizona ran the ball just 14 times against Stanford, but still managed to get long touchdown runs from both
Grigsby and Greg Nwoko. The Wildcats are still using their running backs, but they're using them smarter.

3. Spreading the ball. Coaches trust Foles to change plays at the line of scrimmage and go through his progressions once the ball is snapped. The results: A spread-the-wealth attitude on offense that the Wildcats never really enjoyed with Willie Tuitama under center. Foles has had a new favorite target in each of his three starts: Nwoko (Oregon State), David Roberts (Washington) and Juron Criner (Stanford).

"He throws a good deep ball," Dykes said. "He gives those guys chances to make plays."

At this point, I don't expect our defense to shut down or dominate the Arizona defense. Not sure we have a dynamic scheme or a personnel disciplined enough to keep them bottled up for 60 mintues. However, it would be considered an accomplishment if they can keep those guys under 30 points in the desert.

As for UCLA on the offense, there is no secret at this points. We have to take advantage of opportunities in the red zone and get it done. That means catch the balls drilled between numbers, not missing open receivers and running with some passion to pick up the tough yardage. From the OC Register:

The previous week against Oregon, UCLA found itself inside the red zone twice. Quarterback Kevin Prince was stopped at the 1 on fourth down in the first quarter, and backup quarterback Richard Brehaut threw an incompletion on fourth down from the Oregon 10 in the fourth quarter.

"It just hasn't clicked yet," Prince said of the Bruins' red-zone inefficiency. "Those things will come. We're just going to keep on working, and those plays will come in the red zone."

The Bruins spend enough time working on their red-zone offense at practice but haven't figured out a way to produce the same success in the games.

"We're just going to do our normal deal and we're just going to have to execute better, especially in the red zone," Prince said. "There is always talk about doing things and once you get in the game, some things work and some things don't."

I think it will have to come down to our offense and I really hope going into this game Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow contemplate opening things up early. Perhaps I am wrong but I don't think this is going to be one of those games in which we are going to be able to "manage" our way into a victory. In other words FGs for TDs are not going to get it done. It's pretty clear at this point that we don't have a defense that will win ball games for us (unless they are taking on another QB like Crompton, which is not going to happen rest of this season).

So, it will be up to our offense - Prince and co - to build on the improvements from last weekend and open it up early. More on our offense's inability to close the deal from the Daily News:

Perhaps there is nobody to blame, because every group has played a part in the inefficiency. The offensive line has failed to get enough push at times and made costly penalties at others. The running back corps has not made that extra burst into the end zone. The wide receivers have dropped passes in the end zone. The quarterbacks have overthrown open wide receivers.

"You do two things: No. 1 you look and see what you're capable of doing," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said at Monday's weekly news conference. "But you have to see it demonstrated. We have memories of great red-zone offenses. But then you have to ask your individuals who play those positions, can they execute them?"

Hopefully the answer is more positive next weekend. It will certainly enable to feel lot more positive about the program after three brutal Saturdays.

GO BRUINS.

Inside the Pac-10, Week 6: Big Plays

Avinash — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:00:41 -0000

In my mind, the three marquee conference matchups came down to those cliched big plays. Small individual moments helped decisively swing each of them one way or the other.

So I didn't take much from the results of these ones about how everyone stacks up, other than, "These last seven games for Cal are going to be real tough."

Washington 36, Arizona 33

Mike Stoops bewilders me. Every now and then his Wildcats lose a game they shouldn't. This is one of them. Although I hardly blame him for the defeat, he did make some questionable decisions down the stretch.

1) Kicking a field goal up 9 (two score game) facing a 4th and 3 at the 7 with 4:45 left. Here's the issue. You kick the field goal, you're up 12 (still only two scores, albeit two touchdowns). If you go for it and make the first down, you have the opportunity to go for the touchdown to make it a two touchdown, two two-point-conversion game to tie (or if you make it and go for two, it's a three possession game).

Even if you don't make it, you leave Jake Locker and the Huskies offense to go 93 yards for a touchdown that would only cut the lead to two, and they'd almost certainly need an onside kick or might've burned a timeout here and there. As it is, the Wildcats curiously poor kickoff team let a return go back to the 45 yard line, and it takes Locker 80 seconds to put them in the end zone and make it a one score game.

2) Coming out and passing on 1st down with 2:50 left. Why. WHY? WHY??? Even if you run three freaking dive plays with Nwoko, you burn those two timeouts Washington have. Worst case scenario, you give the Huskies about two minutes to go, needing to drive a likely 60-70 yards with no timeouts. Even with Locker back there that's a tall order.

Yeah, that was a terribly fluky play, but Arizona shouldn't have been throwing in the first place. While I'm not saying Stoops was the reason they lost (he wasn't), he probably could've made the final decision easier for his Wildcats to escape undefeated in the Pac-10, and likely a ranked team

As for the game itself? Great one, all the way around. Between that fantastic rocking Husky crowd, and Locker and Nick Foles tearing the defenses apart, it was a sweet West Coast shootout. Interestingly, the quarterbacks are a stark contrast in style and method. Locker had about a dozen great long throws that have become his trademark. Although he still struggles with anything intermediate (52% completion rate won't get it done most days), his play-making ability is unparalleled in the Pac-10 (who else can scamper for a 56 yard TD rush?) and keeps his Huskies in ballgames they would probably lose otherwise.

Foles, by contrast, is Willie Tuitama, version 2.0. 39 of 53??? Through his two starts in conference he's now averaging a 72% rate. Although the Huskies defense couldn't stop paraplegics from throwing on them (they were giving up a 63% completion rate and 9 passing yards per attempt BEFORE this game), that's mighty impressive.

It's safe to say a lot of Pac-10 quarterbacks are passing Kevin Riley by these past few weeks. What will be his response in LA?

Despite the clutch QB play from both sides, these offenses have huge weaknesses, notably in the run game. Running backs from both sides were able to combine for barely 100 yards, which just isn't enough to beat stingier defenses. Foles was able to guide the Wildcats down the field several times but the red zone offense stalled from there, settling for four field goals on seven tries. The Huskies scored their touchdowns by evading the red zone entirely, relying on Locker's arm to get them there.

While the Huskies can get by with Locker doing some of the pounding on the ground, I'm not sure what the Wildcats can do. They probably need Keola Antolin back, because neither Nic Grigsby nor Greg Nwoko were able to penetrate a Husky defense giving up 178 rushing yards a game and 5.4 rushing yards per carry. Next week's game hosting the Furd will be critical, with the loser pretty much out of the Pac-10 race (neither of those teams is sweeping the Oregon-Cal-USC trifecta).

Reactions to Arizona-Washington

John Berkowitz, UW Dawg Pound: "The Wildcats dominated time of possesion 39:19 to only 20:15 for Washington. The Wildcats outgained the Huskies 461 to 256 yards! Jake Locker was only 12-23 with one interception for a total of 140 yards. He did run for a season high of 92 yards. Jake was responsible for over 90% of the Washington offense tonight. What was key for Jake and Washington was a 56 yard TD run in the first quarter plus three TD passes and the pass for that important two point conversion."

Scott Cushing, Seattle PI: "All night long, and I mean ALL NIGHT LONG, Arizona ran that wide-receiver screen play. First to one side, then the other. Play after play after play. And why not? It kept working. Desmond Trufant broke it up once, but it worked to perfection every other time. It's almost as if Seattle was Zaire for one night; UW as Ali Arizona as Foreman and that screen pass was the rope-a-dope. I don't know how else to explain it. It's as if Holt and the defense were baiting Foles into throwing that one errant pass at just the wrong (or right) time because they knew that that the ball would bounce off of Delashaun Dean's heel right into Mason Foster's waiting arms and he would sprint untouched into the endzone. How else do you explain it? They must have known it would happen.

I'm only half kidding, but it's amazing that they decided to, at that time, during that play, blow it up. They knew it was coming and smothered the play, confusing Foles, who had been nearly perfect all night, into making a terrible pass."

Bobby Stover, Arizona Daily Wildcat: "It was (the coaching staff’s) fault for leaving the option on," head coach Mike Stoops said. "Nick was doing what he was supposed to do and it just falls on us as coaches for make a tactical error late in the game...I’m disappointed we didn’t win but I’m not disappointed in the way our kids played tonight...We probably played good enough to win. It just came down to finishing and then that freak play. But that’s just part of college football and the swings of the game."

Oregon 24, UCLA 10

What the hell do I make of this game? Just like Oregon State-Washington, everything changed on one play.

The Bruins had a great chance to knock the Ducks off the pedestal and gagged it away. In terms of offense, it was Oregon 10, UCLA 3 (and even then, that Duck score came off a midfield fumble by Kevin Prince, so it's hard to say). Both sides had a mind-numbing pick-six, and Kevin Craft wasn't even involved.

The only bright spot on other side was the re-emergence of the Oregon run game. Redshirt freshmen LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner (who scored the kickoff return) could be supplanting Best and Vereen as the most potent Pac-10 running back duo. No offense to Blount, who is a physical horse, but he lacks the speed and agility of these two guys to make moves into the holes and cut in the spread offense. James continues to impress with the spinning and the juking, and Barner has pure velocity that can terrorize any defense he faces. Nate Costa wasn't really impressive, although he did make two nice throws on 3rd down on one second half drive, including the touchdown.

However, on defense? These guys are solid. Not sure what happened that morphed Nick Aliotti into Buddy Ryan, but his units are coming out firing. The pass rush schemes are sweet to watch--delayed blitzes with the linebacker looking like he's dropping into coverage, sending the corner from the side, sometimes pure manhandling one-on-one, etc. The UCLA offensive line was one step short, especially with Breahaut came in and Oregon sent pressure on every other play. And that goal-line stand in the first half changed the complexion of the game; Kevin Prince could never play loose enough with the Bruins either playing in a tight matchup or in comeback mode.

As for UCLA? They had a sixteen-play, eight minute drive that ended with Kai Forbath connecting on a 52 yard field goal. I'm guessing they'll be emphasizing ball control in beating Cal next week, since it doesn't seem the Bruins come by their points easily.

Kevin Prince started out the game okay and seemed to get in rhythm in the 2nd quarter against the zone defense, but had all sorts of trouble when his team fell behind, and Richard Brehaut didn't fare much better being thrown in there in the 4th quarter. The Bruins also could not run the ball, putting up around 70 yards on the ground, 22 of those by Prince. Norm Chow also had some quizzical playcalls--two successive QB sneaks at the 1 on 3rd and 4th and goal?

Logically, next week against Cal, they'll explode for 200 yards rushing, Prince will go out and complete 65 percent of his passes and he'll lead the Bruins to four scores. That's how the script goes with us this year, right?

Reactions to Oregon-UCLA

mdjohns4, Bruins Nation: "But it has become all too clear that Brehaut needs to play. If we have a quarterback making elementary mistakes (like Prince and Craft) why not have the highly recruited, Elite 11 camper that has been bred to be a quarterback learning from them when he makes them? The fact that our quarterbacks are relatively even in terms of effectiveness right now should show that the one with the potential to turn this offense into one that can make plays downfield needs to play. We don't need a "game manager." That is coach-speak for "he sucks too much to make plays himself". We've got a young team with raw talent and the potential to go to a bowl game this year, as well as prepare for the ensuing dynasty over the coming years. Coach, stick with Brehaut. Please?"

jtlight, Addicted to Quack: "I said earlier in the week that this game would tell us a lot about the Oregon defense. And, I think we saw exactly how good this defense can be. After letting the UCLA grind out a 9 first downs and 148 yards in the first half, the Oregon defense brought down the hammer in the second, scoring a touchdown, forcing 3 turnovers, and holding UCLA to 5 first downs and 73 on 2.35 yards per play. Besides one long drive in the first half, the Oregon defense did what it should have done: dominate the Bruins offense."

Chris Foster, LA Times: "[Norm Chow on the quarterbacks]: "I don't know, it's too early to call. I think Kevin Prince gives us the best chance to win. That's one man's opinion."...[Chow on the offensive struggles]: "We have a freshman at left tackle, three sophomores on the offensive line, a junior college transfer, a freshman at running back, a freshman at quarterback and two sophomores at wide receiver.""

John Hunt & Jeff Smith, the Oregonian: "Oregon's defense wasn't about to let this one get away. In these three conference games, the Ducks have yet to give up an honest touchdown. Now having outscored California, Washington State and UCLA by a combined 118-19 score, the two opponents' touchdowns have come on drives totaling one yard.

"I think people are starting to jump on the bandwagon," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "They're as good a defense as I've seen in a long time.""

Oregon State 38, Furd 28

via a.espncdn.com (Image from Don Ryan, AP)

In the other two marquee matchups, it was about unexpected plays changing the complexion. In this game, it was a surprise play not being converted that made the difference.

First play from scrimmage, Andrew Luck executes a perfect playfake that the Beavers bite on, then throws it perfectly in stride to Chris Owusu. Owusu snares it, looks like he's about to break for the score...then looks ahead a step too early before securing it. Dropped pass, opportunity lost.

If that play converts, the crowd's deflated, the Furd are up 7-0, they can establish Gerhart more thoroughly, etc. etc... Instead? We get a virtual carbon copy of Oregon-Cal (with the caveat that Oregon State isn't quite as potent, and the Furd performed much better in rallying). Jacquizz Rodgers took the role of Jeremiah Masoli, accumulated 134 yards and 3 TDs on the first three drives, putting the Beavers up by 21. Goodnight to the Furd.

On defense Oregon State bottled up Gerhart with seven or eight in the box (rarely nine, they respected Luck's ability to pass). The Beavers always looked a step ahead in the pass coverage, forcing Luck into completing 40% of his passes, including 0% in the first quarter. These are growing pains for the freshman quarterback, although it seemed like he made a valiant comeback effort late. His defense didn't do him any favor, giving up 359 yards of total offense to the Rodgers brothers, including a backbreaking 16 play, 7 minute second half drive where the duo picked up the last 56 of the 80 yards.

So Oregon State's now 2-1 in the Pac-10, 2-0 in October, rolling toward a showdown with USC at the Coliseum in two weeks. Can Mike Riley and Quizz do it again?

Reactions to Furd-Oregon State

Jake Bertalotto, Building the Dam: "Danny Langsdorf brought the Oregon State rendition of the trendy Wildcat formation out of the lab Saturday afterno on. On it's debut play, it produced sophomore tailback Jacquizz Rodgers' longest rush of his OSU career-- a 61-yard scamper that set the Beavers up for their second touchdown of the game. Jacquizz would score four touchdowns on the afternoon and account for 271 yards of total offense-- almost certainly his best game since the Beavers downed USC last season."

Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News: "But more than anything, Stanford just couldn't recover from a devastating 21-0 deficit by the second quarter. Jacquizz Rodgers, who had been held to fewer than 100 yards rushing in the three previous outings, slipped underneath defenders in the middle, or wiggled out of the grasp of tacklers in the open field. He looked capable of breaking a big gain almost every time he touched the ball. "We weren't making tackles," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said."

Arizona State 27, Washington State 14

via a.espncdn.com (Image from Dean Hare, AP)

The Sun Devils fumbled the ball six times. They turned it over six times in total. Their starting quarterback Danny Sullivan got rotated in and out of the game with Brock Osweiler (only for a series though). And they still had a 20 point lead going into the 4th quarter, with the Cougars needing a 99 yard TD pass to cut it to the respectable two touchdown margin.

Key stat #1: -54 yards rushing for Wazzu. Key stat #2: Their punter was the leading rusher (on a fake punt for 15 yards).

Sigh. Is this what the Tom Holmoe era was like at Cal?

Reactions to Arizona State-Washington State

Grady, Coug Center: "In the end, this game played out the way most of us expected. Two anemic offenses and one stellar defense giving us an ugly game, but also a closer game than we're used to seeing. As one would expect, the stellar defense won out. ASU was too much to handle, with Vontaze Burfict, Mike Nixon, and co. dominating this game from the opening snap. The Cougs faced one of the best rushing defenses in the country, and boy did it show - between numerous tackles for losses, broken plays and sacks, the Cougars ended up with negative 54 yards rushing. Negative 54."

Pitchfork Nation: "[Dennis Erickson] was nailed pretty good on the sideline by Gerell Robinson midway through the 3rd quarter. Originally, the ASU radio broadcast designated a WSU player had run into him. Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst and Doug Franz described the scene as Erickson laying on the sideline and then being directed to the bench by the team doctor. He got up and stood on the sideline for one play a few moments later, then retreated to the bench once again. However, in classic DE fashion, he basically told the doctors, in no better way, to screw off."

Only Cal fans care about these

Minnesota 35, Purdue 20

The Daily Gopher: "The Mulligan Offense still reared it's ugly head with some occasional plays called that made you scratch your head. But the offense committed just one penalty after the first quarter, the OL played their best game of the year and Adam Weber threw one pick but completed 4/6 with a touchdown run. He wasn't asked to do much (and he didnt') as the Gopher ground game really took over."

Wake Forest 42, Maryland 32

Testudo Times: "Outside of an 85-yard kickoff return from Torrey Smith and a minor emergence by Gary Douglas, there was basically nothing positive for Maryland. Sure, there was a slight comeback, but the game was well over at that point. Wake won 42-32, but the score isn't anywhere close to how one-sided this game was. Want to know how bad it was? Wake had 381 yards of offense...in the FIRST HALF. Maryland barely broke 100. They were on pace for 762 yards!"

Also a hilarious animated image of Debbie Yow (Maryland's AD) looking distressed on the sideline.

Arizona vs. Washington: The Week Ahead

joenewby4040 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:51:37 -0000

More photos » by Wily Low - AP

3 months ago: Arizona's backup quarterback Nick Foles (8) hands off the ball to Greg Nwoko(28) in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Northern Arizona at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. Arizona won, 34 - 17. (AP Photo/Wily Low)

Browse more photos »

Arizona's week off could not have come at a better time with a few Cats working on getting healthy including both of our tailbacks, Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin. Arizona will travel to Seattle to take on the Huskies of Washington who have to be kicking themselves for not being able to execute close to the goal line against Notre Dame. So, what should the Cats look to improve on and prepare for this week in preparation of Washington on Saturday? Let's break some of it down:

Nick Foles: Time to step it up. Oregon State was a huge coming out party. I truly think that if Foles were playing against Iowa, we would be 4-0. Regardless, Foles can't have a slump after his big debut. Dykes needs to produce plays that will give Foles some early confidence while playing in the rowdy Seattle atmosphere. Look for simple hooks and "smoke screen" for the young man to get his rhythm started. I would avoid throwing the fade, unless we are going for a TD.

Running Backs: Get healthy Grigsby. Get healthy Antolin. Arizona can only go down from the game against Oregon State. Our line dominated and all of our backs made terrific plays. Keep up the good work. Washington will have some huge linemen, who can be managed, and our OL should be competitive.

D-Line: Stoops needs to make sure Horton stays on the sideline as much as possible. Lolomana Mikaele was much better at DT and is one of the guys who can make a difference in the middle. Elmore, Mitchell, and Reed are as solid as any D-line in the conference. We are going to need to put pressure on Locker in order to win this game. Period. Chris Polk racked up 136 yards on 22 carries against Notre Dame. He can really get going if you let him.

(We need the big man to stop Polk this weekend)

Linebackers: Oregon State had these guys running around like a bunch of chickens with their necks cut off. They need to step it up, big time. Xavier Kelly and Corey Hall (played a lot at rover) looked out of place all night. Let's hope they get back on track.

Secondary: If Trevin Wade keeps playing like he is, he should be a front runner for the Thorpe Award. Locker ate up a lot of Notre Dame DB's last Saturday. He has a huge arm and can move around in the pocket enough to create his own looks on broken plays.

(Thorpe Award? If he keeps it up, he should be considered)

Offensive Play Calling: On offense, I think the Cats I formation will be the formation of choice. Chris Gronkowski will be the fullback and Grigs or Antolin will be behind him. I am looking for Foles to hit 10-15 passes under the 15 yard mark with some play action mixed in going for the big one. The one thing the Cats have been missing all season is a vertical attack down the middle (Gronk! damn). I think Simmons should get one or two passes down the seam to keep the safeties honest and hopefully open up some opportunities on the outside.

Defensive Play Calling: Locker will absolutely torch you if you give him time. Look for Stoops to bring the heat with Tuihalamaka or Xavier Kelly on blitzes and possibly dropping Mitchell or Elmore into zone coverage in the flats or 1/3ds on their side. Our Defensive line must get pressure on Locker. Arizona can't be predictable and should line up for man to man and different zone coverages to hinder the pass. Of course, if we stop the running game, we should be able to make them one dimensional and turn the tides fast.

Inside the Pac-10: Where the Best Team in California Is...

Avinash — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:30:15 -0000

Boy, when I thought the Pac-10 would be wide open, I didn't expect the doors to be knocked down this early. The two favorites already have one loss, leaving opportunities open to the remaining eight teams.

Let's start with our conference leaders....wait, ohhh noooo...

Furd 34, Washington 14

via www.awesomeless.com

I think I'm going to be sick.

We laughed about it all offseason, but Furd's O-line play and power run game behind the white stallion Toby Gerhart might be the best in the conference now. John Berkowitz of UW Dawg Pound has the report.

The defense was a total sieve as Toby Gerhart shredded the Husky defense for over 200 yards on the ground. Gerhart looked a step slow tonight and the Husky defense looked two steps slower. It was just a pathetic performace which reaked of lack of effort. Coach Holt had no answer for Stanford's smash mouth offense. There was nothing trickly here. The Cardinal line just kicked Washington's ass all night.

Stanford dominated time of possesion 44:53 to 21:09 tonight. the Cards rolled up 426 yards of total offense to only 290 for UW. Another completely pathetic stat for the UW defense is giving up 322 yards on the ground which has to be some type of a record. Jake was 16/31 with two interceptions...Andrew Luck only had to throw 14 times tonight and was 7/14 for 104 yards...but he picked up 59 additional yards on the ground.

The Furd stand alone on top of the Pac-10 right now, albeit their wins coming against Washington (yes, they beat USC, but they're no powerhouse) and Wazzu. Their next three game stretch (UCLA, at Oregon State, at Arizona) will tell us a lot about which way the Cardinal will be heading this season, and how big the Big Game this year will be.

Through four weeks, who's been the best California Pac-10 team? Vote and comment!

After the jump, we catch up on the other conference tilts.

Arizona 37, Oregon State 32

via icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com

Either Nick Foles is for real, or Oregon State's defense is in bigger trouble than we thought. Or Oregon State is doing their annual September swoon. We don't know. WE DO NOT KNOW.

What do you think about this game?

The offensive performance couldn't have gone much smoother for the Wildcats, coming off of a disjointed effort in Iowa.

QUARTERBACK: A. It’s hard to imagine Nick Foles’ first college start going any better. The Arizona Wildcats’ sophomore completed 25 of 34 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns, the best performance by a UA quarterback this season. Poised and decisive in a hostile environment, Foles was just what the Wildcats needed to pull off an upset.

RUNNING BACKS: A. The Wildcats’ backs didn’t run all over OSU, but nevertheless deserve a high grade. Freshman Greg Nwoko replaced Nicolas Grigsby (sprained shoulder) and Keola Antolin (sprained ankle) when both players went down in the fist half, and rumbled for 44 yards and a touchdown while catching four passes for 76 yards. Antolin rushed for 46 yards before getting hurt.

WIDE RECEIVERS: B. Where did David Roberts come from? The Wildcats’ sophomore led the team in catches for the second time in as many weeks, grabbing five passes for 52 yards. Juron Cirner and Delashaun Dean each had three catches and touchdown grabs. Nine different Wildcats caught passes.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B. Arizona’s retooled line was solid in its Pac-10 opener. Left tackle Phil Garcia and right guard Herman Hall looked the part of starters in their first extended playing time of the year. Foles wasn’t sacked once.

Building the Dam has their own version of Longshore-Riley brimming, with a quarterback currently starting behind center making poor decisions in the pocket, according to AndyPanda.

It is difficult to call for the replacement of [Sean] Canfield, someone everyone, myself and his backup included, really, really want to see succeed. However, the cause of the problems are not only predictable, they are the same issues that were most distressing years ago, in his first appearances.

Locking in on receivers leads to interceptions, and in both of yesterday's picks, it was apparent to everyone, including the Wildcat secondary, who the pass was going to several seconds before the ball was even released.

Standing in the pocket too long, and not throwing the ball away rather than taking a loss, is squarely on the quarterback, not play calling or the offensive line. One sack came after the line held up for six seconds, another when they provided seven seconds to make a decision.

Georgia 20, Arizona State 17

via www.popcrunch.com

All in all, a very impressive wet T-shirt contest, but the Georgia coeds just pull off the upset...

Wait, they were playing a football game? Well then.

A.J. Green had another one of his spectacular games, not just catching almost every big pass down the stretch and bailing out Georgia's QB, but also blocking the go-ahead field goal. In terms of big picture, MaconDawg of Dawg Sports seems to have figured out his team pretty quickly.

In matters of football, as in most other matters, I am an empiricist. That is to say, I believe that the best predictor of what an individual or group will do in the near future is what that individual or group did in the recent past. Given a sufficient sample size, I find that this is a fairly reliable way of knowing how things will go in a given situation. We all need a way of looking at the world, and that is mine.

And it is because of that worldview that, as I sit here on a beautiful fall morning following an ugly late summer type of night, I am thoroughly convinced that the 2009 University of Georgia football team will continue to play close games against fair to mediocre competition whilst losing to any reasonably good football team that has made the conscious decision to play reasonably good football. Why? Because a full one-third of the way into the 2009 campaign, that's exactly what we've done.

More love for the ASU linebackers from House of Sparky, but the quarterback play continues to struggle. How impressed were you by ASU's road performance?

Linebackers: The LB's are the strongest part of this team. Burfict, Munns, and Nixon all made big plays throughout the game. Vontaze Burfict continues to show why he is the prize posession of Erickson's recruiting class. Despite running through a misplaced referee, Burfict jumped over the line to stop UGA on a critical 4th-and-1. He's a beast. The linebackers make their presence known all over the field and fought hard through the end of the game.

Quarterback: Not all the blame can go on Danny Sullivan as there were a few untimely drops from the receiving corps, but Sullivan's accuracy was plain horrendous. Sullivan couldn't seem to make a big play when we needed it and mismanaged the play clock several times. In order for this team to succeed, we need some production from the QB.

USC 27, Washington State 6

via funnytshirtguide.com

So much for losing seven starters. The USC defense is looking like it's lost maybe half a step from their 2008 monster status. How do you feel Cal's offense will fare against USC's defense?

The defense once again looked stellar. Yes, WSU scored on their final drive with 22 seconds left but that was the second unit that had a lot of youngsters out on the field who were getting some much needed game experience. You could see that SC when went into prevent defense mode...keeping everything in front of them, especially with a mobile QB. Tuel is going to be a pretty good QB for WSU but lets be honest, he wasn't going up against the first-teamers for much of his time in and the defense was providing a decent cushion. The USC defensive front got some pressure on him and sacked him numerous times he also threw one pick that Pinkard brought back up field thwarting a potential scoring drive.

It is hard not to be impressed with Perry and Casey. Those two were getting some serious penetration. Griffen looked solid as well. Fangupo was looking to have a solid game until he went down with a broken ankle. Devon Kennard is going to be a stud too. It is simply amazing that that SC continues to have such impressive talent on the defense. It is clear that Pete Carroll's strength is defense and not offense. I saw very little on defense with the first-teamers that I could be unhappy about. PC still likes to play that soft zone which gives up chunks of yards.

As for Coug Center? Wazzu played the Trojans pretty evenly for three quarters, how can they not be happy?

The Cougs were down 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. The game ended 27-6 thanks to a defense that came up with big play after big play -- including TWICE stopping USC on fourth and goal -- despite an offense that struggled for most of the game.

But it's those six points that will have us all talking all week long.

Many will wonder how it's possible to feel so good after a three touchdown loss. They don't know where we've been.

This team showed some serious heart and fight. And it served as the official coming out party of Jeff Tuel, Gino Simone and Travis Long, all of whom showed that they're not just playing out of necessity -- they're playing because they are Pac-10 level players right now.

UCLA 21, Bye Week 3

Bruins Nation believes the next week will be the biggest game for the Bruins since the Bob Toledo era.

I believe the Stanford game this weekend is the biggest conference road game UCLA is going to be playing in since the Stanford road game in 2001. I am not going to go over again on how no one here thought much of Dorrell's "10 win" aberration from 2005. We all knew that season was a total aberration where we were getting bailed out in one game after another by 2 Live Drew. We all knew in the back of our mind we were never really in real contention of the Pac-10 conference race and it got confirmed when Dorrell's incompetency was exposed in Arizona and then slaughtered in the Coloseum. We never had a chance were living off miracles.

Well for the first time since 2001, Bruins can have a shot at it. However, they will get that shot IF AND ONLY IF they can execute against a tough, superbly coached Stanford Cardinal this upcoming Saturday in Palo Alto. Last week it was Washington, that was the toast of the Pac-10. This week it will be the Oregon Ducks and Toby Gerhart and his Stanford bunch Bruins will be taking on in Palo Alto.

UCLA-Furd this Saturday, winner controls their Rose Bowl fate. What universe am I in again?

Other looks

Minnesota 35, Northwestern 24

via gophermound.com

The Gophers took care of business opening their conference schedule. And they ran the ball all over the Wildcats!

Much of the first quarter of today's game was a blur for me - though I distinctly remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach after watching Duane Bennett carry the ball into the end zone for Minnesota's first score. Let me say this as clearly as I can: MINNESOTA DOES NOT HAVE A RUSHING GAME! Prior to today's contest, they had two TDs on the ground through their first 3 games. Today, they had 3. That is just wrong. Perhaps the only thing stinkier than the 'Cats defensive play was Goldy the Gopher. (This one is coming straight from my Minnesota friends, who informed me after they had gone to take a picture with the mascot that his costume could seriously use a dry cleaning.)

The Wildcats actually managed to contain Eric Decker a bit, really only allowing Adam Weber to connect to him for two TDs and less than triple digit receiving yards. Which is, I suppose, better than what I was expecting going in. The theme for today, though, was the same as from the first quarter of the Syracuse game - missed tackles.

Rutgers 34, Maryland 13

via www.myspaceantics.com

Gag. If 42-3 was the worst rout ever for Cal fans, is 52-13 the most misleading opening season victory in Cal football history?

Turnovers, as they often do, undid all those plans, and the Terps lost their must-win, 34-13. Maryland turned the ball over a shocking five times, four of which came from Chris Turner and one of which was Da'Rel Scott's doing. Two of Rutgers' TDs came from Turner - the first was a pick six on the very first play from scrimmage, the second was a fumble in the endzone that Rutgers fell on.

...

It didn't really matter, though - turnovers were the issue, with three interceptions and two fumbles. The offense didn't look good when they didn't turn it over, either; Torrey Smith was the only reliable source of offense for Maryland, accounting for more than a third of Maryland's yardage. Turner missed a few big passes, especially later in the game, and penalties were commonplace.

Poll

Best Pac-10 team in California is...

USC (3-1)

122 votes

UCLA (3-0)

71 votes

Furd (3-1)

34 votes

Cal (3-1)

104 votes

331 votes | Poll has closed

Quick React: Arizona 37 Oregon State 32

Smooty — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:19:59 -0000

Big game for Wildcat Nation. Nick Foles asserted himself as the starting quarterback for now, and the future. The defense did what they had to do, and made big plays when necessary.

I hate to whine about the referees, but man, did they blow some serious calls today. Two reviews were ridiculously wrong: Oregon State's 2 point conversion, and Canfield's "first-down" run on 4th down in the 4th quarter. On both plays, it was clear that they did not cross the plane of the endzone, or get the first down, yet the officials on the review thought otherwise. Color me confused.

Regardless, big win by Arizona. The Pac-10 is wide open now with USC and Cal both having a conference loss, and the Trojans and Bears matching up next week. Why not Arizona? Exactly. Let's see Nick "Sunshine" Foles grow into this role. He led a great offense this week without Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin.

Great road win for Arizona. Let's build off this. Go Cats! Bear Down everybody!