No Bye Week

[ANGCatFan]

Gabe Encinas with a soft overview of the season. No new info, just another reminder we need to beat ucla.

[ANGCatFan]

Can someone explain to me how this even happened I think that is a major potential issue for us and never heard a team not having one

Someone said it was due to the traditional PAC rivalries with Notre Dame and such scheduling, and every team has to rotate through not getting a buy week.

Here is another article on bye weeks for this season from espn.

Joining Arizona with 12 straight weeks of games will be Massachusetts, Florida International and North Texas.

The only other power 5 conference team besides Arizona that does not get a bye week is Colorado. They chose to add a 13th game and play Hawaii on their bye week. This did not have to happen, something that is not mentioned in the espn article. We are getting screwed because of P12 concessions to the California schools.

I'm bringing this subject back up because the reason we play 12 straight games gets forgotten. USC and Stanford have to play Norte Dame outside of the normal first 3 games, so someone else in the P12 has to get screwed in a short year.

When we went to 12 teams the other 8 teams gave in and allowed the California schools to play each other every year so they could maintain their (recruiting) traditional rivalries.

I think it is time for a re-negotiation. Stanford and USC get special scheduling consideration for Norte Dame. Stanford, USC, ucla, and Cal get to play each other every year. In the future, when there is a short season, one of the 4 schools and preferably Stanford or USC has to take the 12 week no bye season.

15 Days. Beat ucla! Throat stomp ASSu!

[HaCats]

wholeheartedly agree Ang, it makes my freaking blood boil.

[ANGCatFan]

Javier Morales, AST, looks at the 12 straight games and the 1980 team who also didn't have an off week.

[MrBug708]

Another article on it (unless it was posted previously)
http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/07/numb ... ll-season/

I guess if you make the PAC-12 title game, you'll get your bye. But the Notre Dame game does mess with teams. When Notre Dame comes out here, UCLA loses it's game vs USC that week and it gets bumped up a week and the last two times, we've played Stanford in that spot.

[catgrad97]

If it hadn't been clear enough already, there is one standard in college football for Notre Dame and another one for everyone else.

The only other power 5 conference team besides Arizona that does not get a bye week is Colorado. They chose to add a 13th game and play Hawaii on their bye week. This did not have to happen, something that is not mentioned in the espn article. We are getting screwed because of P12 concessions to the California schools.

I'm bringing this subject back up because the reason we play 12 straight games gets forgotten. USC and Stanford have to play Norte Dame outside of the normal first 3 games, so someone else in the P12 has to get screwed in a short year.

When we went to 12 teams the other 8 teams gave in and allowed the California schools to play each other every year so they could maintain their (recruiting) traditional rivalries.

I think it is time for a re-negotiation. Stanford and USC get special scheduling consideration for Norte Dame. Stanford, USC, ucla, and Cal get to play each other every year. In the future, when there is a short season, one of the 4 schools and preferably Stanford or USC has to take the 12 week no bye season.

Between this, the embarrassing revenue sharing lag compared to the rest of the Power Five and the ongoing basketball ref fiasco, I could definitely see such preferential treatment driving Arizona out of the Pac-12 by the end of the decade.

Frankly, with its low membership, I'm surprised the Big 12 hasn't bandied the idea about with Byrne already.

[ASUHATER!]

I doubt both of those things very much. The big 12 is looking east and north, not west. We'd probably not been make their top 5 of potential schools

[azgreg]

Arizona says no bye week, no problem

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id ... o-problems

When Arizona safety Will Parks described his rigorous offseason training regimen three months ago, he was set on establishing a shatterproof mentality.

"I want to be like a machine," Parks said. "Kobe is a machine. LeBron is a machine. All those dudes -- Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson -- they're machines."

Now, as Parks' combination of boxing, weightlifting and sprints in the 110-degree desert heat wraps up and Arizona's Sept. 3 season opener approaches, it's time to find out if he and the Wildcats have indeed attained that desired machine status. They have a harsh test in front of them that'll help us find out: 12 weeks and 12 games, with no byes in between.

"Twelve straight games is tough -- you'd like to have a break in there -- but it's what we have to deal with," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I'm not happy about it, but that's how it goes."

Due to a later start to the season, six teams nationally will play at least 12 straight weeks without a breather. The Wildcats, whose open date technically comes on Nov. 28 and would only practically come into play if the team returns to the conference championship game, are one of them.

Colorado is the other Pac-12 team that won't get a break this year. The Buffs, however, set this up on their own volition, as they exercised an option to schedule an additional game because of a season-opening trip to Hawaii.

Arizona, then, got the short end of the stick this year, and they've spent the offseason bracing for a less-than-ideal slate. The Wildcats ripped off wins in five of their final six regular-season games after last season's open date, but they're accepting the fact that there will be no midseason break to circle the wagons, lick the wounds and right the ship this time around.

"We'll have to make a few adjustments because we've used that open week as a good chance to get some of the younger players ready and to get a good four-day rest period," Rodriguez said. "We can't do that now, so we're going to have to plan to make sure we're ready for that."

The beating heart of that plan lies with Arizona strength and conditioning director Chris Allen, who designed the Wildcats' offseason regimen with the regular season marathon in mind. Receiver David Richards has appreciated the training staff's emphasis on Fusionetics, a daily 15-20 minute program geared toward flexibility and injury prevention. He believes that physically, his team is a well-oiled machine.

"We're at the point now where not having that bye week will actually help keep us in a rhythm," Richards said. "It'll help us stay on task."

Parks agrees with that sentiment.

"In high school, we didn't have bye weeks," he said. "And most of us played both ways then too."

The Wildcats are also much more comfortable with their depth. Three years ago, Rodriguez bemoaned Arizona's "razor thin" defense, a unit that was prone to breakdowns late in games, especially on hot afternoons. Now the Wildcats feel they have the horses to roar at full throttle for 60 minutes and 12 straight weeks. When it comes to endurance, they believe they've developed a psychological edge.

"We'd even want to play some day games [in the desert heat]," Richards said with a smile. "Because other teams would break down in that heat. I know they're not used it."

All Arizona is missing is proof, and they'll have a chance to deliver that during an uninterrupted three-month stretch starting in less than two weeks.

"Twelve weeks is cool," Parks said. "We're ready for it. Give us 12 weeks. In fact, give us 13 weeks."

Only a machine could be such a glutton for punishment, right?

[Newportcat]

I started being a fan of U of A football when I started freshmen year at U of A in 1999. Other then that year when expectations were sky high, I have never felt as confident about our team entering a year. Something feels different then in years past where it just feels like we have better depth and this staff has finally got its type of players into the program. We also have returning QB, RB, WR, LB, DL, etc. We went 10-4 last year and didn't have one player drafted into the NFL so while guys like Tevis, Hill, Bondurant, Grandon, Fabian, Mickey, were good players, none were exactly NFL Quality like Scobby, Wilson, Jones, Tagaloa, Parks, Gilbert, etc. I think all those guys get drafted plus some of our younger guys like Grant, Alsadek, TuriTuri, Deandre Miller, and Denson.

For some reason though I just can not shake off this lack of a bye week being a killer to us. Seems like under Rich Rod we always have a game or two a year where we come out flat as a pancake and without a bye week I could see it this year. The games I could see that happening are

@Stanford
@USC
@Arizona State

The last one especially scares me as we should beat them this year with our talent. Those three games are my biggest worries as I see us starting 4-0 (Think we beat UCLA with their freshmen QB, actually very confident about that game). I don't us losing any of the other games on our schedule as we should be favored in all of them and this could be a special year if we can go 2-1 in the tough games above.

[Sage&Silver]

So... in his first mailbag response Ted Miller says playing 12 straight with no bye week is NOT a disadvantage for Arizona.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id ... notre-dame

[Gladiator Cat]

Ted Miller is wrong on this one and its not even close.

There is not one team that would give-up their bye week........Not one.

It is completely illogical to not think and know that a week off in the middle of the season to allow rest and recovery is not advantageous to the teams that have them.

To say otherwise is just a talking point to allow someone to argue that loves to argue just the fun of it.

10 out 10 times, RR and every other coach wants a bye week......End of story.

[azgreg]

Ted Miller is wrong on this one and its not even close.

There is not one team that would give-up their bye week........Not one.

It is completely illogical to not think and know that a week off in the middle of the season to allow rest and recovery is not advantageous to the teams that have them.

To say otherwise is just a talking point to allow someone to argue that loves to argue just the fun of it.

10 out 10 times, RR and every other coach wants a bye week......End of story.

Colorado did.

[Gladiator Cat]

Greg, Colorado did what?

[ASUHATER!]

Greg, Colorado did what?

They purposely gave up their bye to schedule a 13th game.

[Gladiator Cat]

OK Colorado gave up a bye week, good lord, you guys win........for punishment I'm going to go and jam a ******* razor sharp stick in my eye and forget I ever heard of the subject.

F**k bye weeks their completely worthless by all accounts so there no need for me to worry about them anymore.

[dc4azcats]

OK Colorado gave up a bye week, good lord, you guys win........for punishment I'm going to go and jam a ******* razor sharp stick in my eye and forget I ever heard of the subject.

F**k bye weeks their completely worthless by all accounts so there no need for me to worry about them anymore.

I hear what you're saying GC but sometimes this can bring a team together. It's one of those things that's not going to change TY so you either bitch about it or you use it as motivation. I think this team is using it as motivation and it's why the players don't mention it anymore. I know it pisses RR off but he's said his piece on the subject and he and the players have moved on. I think they're taking the same kind of attitude when they went up to Utah LY and the Utes were out there in short sleeves trying to intimidate the players because it was cold and rainy. All it did was fire the guys up and I think the same is true with the bye situation.

Didn't bring it up at the time but I think RR really likes this team a lot and I think he knows it can be pretty good. I say that because he cancelled that practice when I'm guessing you could count on a couple of fingers the number of times he's done that in his career? He didn't tell the coaches and the only way he does that is if HE thinks his guys are ready to go. I think a big reason for that is Anu and the other is Scooby and the D.

I keep reading about how we're going to lose a game we shouldn't and the only way that happens is if our offense has a bad day and I don't think Anu lets that happen TY. I really don't. Losing to BS in the Fiesta Bowl sucked big time but the flip side to that is we get a super motivated Anu because of what happened in that game. All the kid does is win and I think it's super important to him TY because of how the end of the season played out. Can't wait for Thursday.

I'm not saying we will go undefeated but it wouldn't surprise me if we did, but I'm saying we are not going to lose to somebody we shouldn't.

[Gladiator Cat]

Yes DC, your right. There is nothing we can do about it and me bitching isn't going to change a thing.

Sorry about my rant blast guys. Its wasn't meant for anyone here.

I just hate it when our Cats get short changed, but such as life, we'll move on and just win the darn games.

[azpenguin]

I keep reading about how we're going to lose a game we shouldn't and the only way that happens is if our offense has a bad day and I don't think Anu lets that happen TY. I really don't. Losing to BS in the Fiesta Bowl sucked big time but the flip side to that is we get a super motivated Anu because of what happened in that game. All the kid does is win and I think it's super important to him TY because of how the end of the season played out. Can't wait for Thursday.

Said it a couple of times before - immediately after the Fiesta Bowl as I was leaving the stadium, I thought to myself that the sack he took was a payment towards future success. He's had eight months to chew on that and work to get better and by all accounts he has. I remember in the spring game noticing how much better he already looked vs. last year, and it looks like he's turned it up another notch in fall camp.

He's a winner. As soon as I saw him in the 2013 fall scrimmage as a true freshman, I knew he had "it." The offense is going to cook this year.

[CalStateTempe]

No bye week is detrimental to player safety.

GB, RR, and UofA should sue the Pac-12 for all medical bills and indirect costs for our players incurred this season.

Would never happen, but it should.

[UAEebs86]

Well even if we had a bye week we might not have even hit it yet, so you can't really blame the current injuries on that.

[wyo-cat]

The top teams would never have this done to them. SC, UCLA, furd, oregon - would never get this treatment from the conference. Chaps my ass.

[ASUHATER!]

No bye week is detrimental to player safety.

GB, RR, and UofA should sue the Pac-12 for all medical bills and indirect costs for our players incurred this season.

Would never happen, but it should.

Actually it would make more sense to sue Notre Dame, Ucla, Usc, Stanford and Cal.

[CalStateTempe]

Well even if we had a bye week we might not have even hit it yet, so you can't really blame the current injuries on that.

Fair enough, but even so, the purpose of a bye week is not for "ease of scheduling", but more so for player safety.

Forgetting the past, its bullshit to think that our players have to accumulate injures and/or subclinical effects from games that could potential further injury without at least a two week break to recover.

Hell we don't even get a Friday->Thursday->Sat stretch during midseason (I am aware we "burned" our thursday game on the first game, thanks again Pac-12 scheduling)

If your going to go with "no bye" then you have to at least carve out a F-Thur->Sat stretch to give the kids a break.

[azgreg]

the purpose of a bye week is not for "ease of scheduling", but more so for player safety.

Says who?

[CalStateTempe]

No bye week is detrimental to player safety.

GB, RR, and UofA should sue the Pac-12 for all medical bills and indirect costs for our players incurred this season.

Would never happen, but it should.

Actually it would make more sense to sue Notre Dame, Ucla, Usc, Stanford and Cal.

Not necessarily. Your thinking about it from a "direct insult" perspective. I'm talking about management, in this case the Pac-12.

Management in any employer situation has the responsibility to create a workplace that is free from harm to the greatest degree possible. Yes, we are talking about football, but IMNSHO the Pac-12 is raising the potential for harm to Arizona, by not allowing the team the same number of in-season byes (n=1) as the remainder of the teams. Looking at the Pac-12 in a managerial perspective, they have opened themselves to risk.

It similar to those who work in heavy manufacturing industries. Yes, people will get injured through the nature of their work, but there are administrative controls that are (or should be) adhered to to prevent cumulative stress injury, tendonitis, CTS, etc etc etc.

In this case the administrative control should be "the bye week", which Arizona does not have the option for during their calendar season.

It's wrong and it's dangerous.

[CalStateTempe]

the purpose of a bye week is not for "ease of scheduling", but more so for player safety.

Says who?

Says me.

I recognize they were instituted to extend the NFL season, but everyone thinks that they are helpful for game-planning and injury recovery. This may the be unintended consequence of instituting bye weeks, but nevertheless its very real and we ALL look towards them.

Unfortunately the data doesn't exist, but I'm willing to bet that teams with early season byes have less late season injuries compared to teams with late season byes. In some ways it would be an easy study to do, but likely complicated by under-reporting of injuries by teams (you know, proprietary data).

I should correct my prior statement to read "the purpose of a bye week should not be for "ease of scheduling", but more so for player safety

[Tempedevil]

How would a bye week prevent Scooby's meniscus tear or foot sprain? How would it have prevented Anu's concussion? Injuries happen at any moment and without warning. A bye week will not prevent most of them.

A bye week does give an extra week to regroup, refocus, and implement new things. It does not have much to do with player safety. Scooby was not going to be any fresher than he was during the first game and he still got hurt.

[Merkin]

There is only one reason for a bye week, and that's to extend the season bringing in more money.

Don't even recall any bye weeks when I was watching college and pro games in my youth.

[CalStateTempe]

How would a bye week prevent Scooby's meniscus tear or foot sprain? How would it have prevented Anu's concussion? Injuries happen at any moment and without warning. A bye week will not prevent most of them.

A bye week does give an extra week to regroup, refocus, and implement new things. It does not have much to do with player safety. Scooby was not going to be any fresher than he was during the first game and he still got hurt.

I am not talking about the past, I am talking about the future and the risk of injury from not having "healthy" players rest in-season.

Example: Why do NFL teams rest starters at the end of the regular season if they have a playoff seed locked up? To prevent injury in the playoffs.

But whatever, I'll stop asking provocative questions, moving on. Yay no bye week! Root root root for the home team.

[CalStateTempe]

There is only one reason for a bye week, and that's to extend the season bringing in more money.

Don't even recall any bye weeks when I was watching college and pro games in my youth.

This is correct.