Bear Down Wildcats

BearDown89 wrote:USAToday #26

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... /13827291/

This is the guy, Paul Myerberg, that dc said he liked best in terms of thorough breakdowns.

Merkin wrote:

BearDown89 wrote:USAToday #26

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... /13827291/

This is the guy, Paul Myerberg, that dc said he liked best in terms of thorough breakdowns.

Another eight-win finish this fall would give the program its first three-year stretch since 1973-75, when the Wildcats played in the Western Athletic Conference – and long live the WAC, obviously.

I hate stats like that.

1) Teams now play 12 regular season games instead of 11
2) You can play a Div IAA team now every year instead of once every 4 years
3) There are over 60 slots for bowl games now. In 1975 there was 22

Larry Smith his final 4 years at the UA had wins of 7, 7, 8 and 9. Those first 2 the Cats were still on probation and could not get an 8th win in a bowl game.

Mike Stoops his final 4 years had wins of 8, 8, 7 and 1 and everyone was cooing what a great coach he was getting 3 7+ wins in a row.

RazorsEdgeAZ wrote:CBS Writers PAC12 preview/Predictions"


Jeremy Fowler: Cayleb Jones Pac12 top newcomer
Jerry Palm: Arizona most underrated team in Pac12
Tom Fornelli: RR coach of the year and Cats finish 2nd in South
Multiple say ASU most overrated in Pac12

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... redictions

80-yard-plus drives in '13: Oregon 26, Arizona 17, UW/Cal 14, UCLA 12, USC 11, OSU/ASU 10, Stan 9, WSU/Utah 8, Colorado 7.

Drives of 10 plays or more in 2013: Az 35, Cal/ASU 33, WSU/UW/UCLA 28, OSU 26, Stan 22, Utah 21, Ore 20, Colo 18, USC 16.

3&out drives in 2013: Oreg 25, OSU 29, UW 29, UCLA 32, Ariz 33, Stan 36, ASU 37, Colo 37, WSU 37, Cal 40, USC 45, Utah 51.

Points per drive in 2013: Or 3.16, UCLA 2.71, UW 2.67, ASU 2.65, Sta 2.52, Az 2.34, OSU 2.34, SC 2.08, WSU 2.03, Ut 1.94, Co 1.62, Cal 1.5 R

Points per drive allowed in 2013: SC/Or 1.42, St 1.55, UW 1.6, UCLA 1.68, Az 1.73, Ut 1.75, ASU 1.82, WSU 2.11, OSU 2.22, Col 2.58, Cal 2.86 RT

For fun, I took a look at the teams who received zero votes in the preseason poll - somebody explain to me why Arizona didn’t get a single vote? Yes, I recognize the quarterback position isn’t settled, but word out of Tucson is that it will come together and I fully expect Rich Rod and staff to get enough out of that position to challenge some better teams. If they get consistent play from the quarterback position, then look out. Rich Rod’s in his third season and he’s a winner; 8-5 each of the past two seasons. I see 9 (or 10) wins from Arizona this year. People who have studied this stuff don’t see it this way; but have a look at the schedule. It’s never easy, but Arizona could open up with four wins - they then need to find a win or two in the middle (at Oregon, vs USC, at Washington State and at UCLA) - and then they could close with 4 wins. Again, it wouldn’t be easy but if you’re looking for a dark, dark horse (I’m talking black stallion dark), watch Arizona this season. There will be points on points on points.

catgrad97 wrote:There is no tangible reason why Arizona won't do what it has always done under RR and win at Utah.

If this is to be RR's season to lift the program up a notch--and I get a sense it might--he beats ASU and the cart doesn't fall off the horse in Pullman or Salt Lake.

That'll get the Cats 10 wins and a Holiday Bowl, at least.

jollything wrote:I just want to go all in and believe in the RR offense and a red shirt freshman, and deep receivers corp producing immediately. If it worked for BJ, why couldn't it work for anyone that gets plugged in at QB.

azpenguin wrote:I ended up watching snippets of the bowl game last night and what stood out more than anything was the game Nate Phillips had. They couldn't cover him. If the ball was remotely catchable he hauls it in. Tough as hell. The ESPN guys were calling him the best player on the field that day.

And he may be the fourth best receiver on the team this year. Pass the Kool-Aid.

Student attendance at college football games has slipped, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of figures from about 80 colleges across the U.S. Below is average student attendance per home game, by year, and the percentage change compared with the oldest year for which the college provided data.

catinfl wrote:I'm drinking the kool-aid.. I can't wait for Friday.

ASUHATER! wrote:no way the zona zoo game day attendance is that low. Those numbers would mean it's half empty every game. In 2004-2007 it was full every game with 9-10k. I'm surprised that few zona zoo passes are sold too. I remember in like 2005 or 2006 there was over 15k sold.

I mean, could a guy have any more talent around him than what the situation Solomon is being tossed into? A wide receiving core that could go deeper than nine players mixed with one of the most experienced lines in the Pac-12 could give Solomon exactly what he needs to find success immediately.

ANGCatFan wrote:Jason Nimrichter with a very good, optimistic look at Solomon and our offense from allsportstucson.com.

I mean, could a guy have any more talent around him than what the situation Solomon is being tossed into? A wide receiving core that could go deeper than nine players mixed with one of the most experienced lines in the Pac-12 could give Solomon exactly what he needs to find success immediately.

Also, I'm a big fan of the game day drawings at allsportstucson.com.

Wildcats football fans who rode the Sun Tran shuttle to and from home games will have to get used to a new routine starting with tonight’s season opener.

That’s because a private company — Via Trailways out of Tempe — expressed interest in providing shuttle service to the games. At that point a federal law kicked in, forcing Sun Tran, which is funded by the city, Regional Transportation Authority and federal government, to stop offering the service.

A caveat attached to Sun Tran’s federal funding prohibits the bus line from competing with a private service provider.

“We’re obviously disappointed that they (Via) did that. Because we wanted Sun Tran for shuttles for our fans,” said Suzy Mason, senior associate director of athletics at the UA.

“Should we have entered into an agreement with Via, what we would have had to charge to make that work is astronomical,” Mason said, though she didn’t say how much the exact cost would have been.

Still, the company’s exploratory pitch to the UA was enough to force Sun Tran out.

Last year an average 1,500 to 1,750 people rode the Sun Tran shuttle round trip at a cost of $1 to $3. The stadium seating capacity is a little more than 56,000.

“We have people who have expressed disappointment that the service is not the same as in years past. Unfortunately we’re bound by the federal law,” said Kandi Young, Sun Tran’s marketing and communication director.

The good news? There are other options, including $5 parking at the Park Avenue Garage at North Park Avenue and East Speedway, from which the existing UA CatTran is running six shuttles, with room for 35 people apiece, to the stadium.

At the end of the third quarter, CatTran service to the Park Avenue garage will resume, along with six Gray Line charter buses that can hold 52 passengers each.

Parking will be free at the Highland and Tyndall garages (see map) for cars containing four or more people, to encourage carpooling.

Sun Tran typically used between 25 and 35 buses per game depending on expected attendance. Last year, the shuttle ran from Hi Corbett Field in midtown and Arizona Pavilions in Marana.

One rider emailed Young that because the shuttle service isn’t being offered, she didn’t keep her season tickets.

But not everyone who used to take the shuttle is disappointed. Realtor Deena Toal is looking forward to taking the new streetcar.

“This is going to be great. We can jump on the trolley, go downtown, eat. Perfect. We’re excited about it,” she said.

Sun Link — the streetcar — will have six cars on its 3.9-mile, 19-stop route before the game today, with 10-minute wait times until kickoff. A Sun Tran bus will be waiting nearby in case the streetcar is overcrowded. A seventh streetcar will be available for use if needed.

“During the game we’ll have four cars on the alignment, and we’re running 15-minute headways. Postgame those four cars will stay out running 15-minute headways. We’ll have two cars at Helen and Warren along with four Sun Tran buses staged if we start getting overloaded,” said Michael Graham, the city Transportation Department’s public-relations director.

“We’ll also have our volunteer ambassadors that will be working on the alignment to assist riders on purchasing the passes, as well as ambassadors on the streetcar to assist people with boarding and validating the passes,” he said.

Streetcar passes are $4 for 24 hours. The clock starts ticking on them when they’re validated on the streetcar; for example, if you board at 4 p.m., the pass is good until 4 p.m. the next day.

“A lot of people are very concerned, and that’s why we’re doing the CatTran shuttles,” said Greg Byrne, UA vice president for athletics. “In reality there is a lot of parking close to the stadium; it’s just not all in one centralized spot.”

ANGCatFan wrote:Also, I'm a big fan of the game day drawings at allsportstucson.com.

21. Duke (1-0, 0-0) | 22. Iowa (1-0, 0-0) – DOWN 3 | 23. Arizona (1-0, 0-0) | 24. Clemson (0-1, 0-0) | 25. Louisville (1-0, 1-0) | 26. Florida (0-0, 0-0) | 27. Washington (1-0, 0-0) | 28. North Carolina (1-0, 0-0) | 29. Michigan (1-0, 0-0) | 30. Wisconsin (0-1, 0-0) – DOWN 9

No. 23 Arizona (No. 26). It was a smashing debut for quarterback Anu Solomon and the new-look Arizona offense, which could simply be too much of a handful for many teams in the Pac-12.

azgreg wrote:This guy's a dipshit.

http://www.covers.com/sports/power-rank ... nking.aspx

azgreg wrote:USA Today Poll is out.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/polls/

azgreg wrote:N Dakota St got a vote. lol

scumdevils86 wrote:

azgreg wrote:N Dakota St got a vote. lol

why not? they have won back to back to back national titles and have beat an FBS team 5 years in a row since 2010. They'd probably be a 7-8 win bowl team in FBS right now

6 Arizona Wildcats

Record: 1-0 overall, 0-0 conference

If Anu Solomon is the real deal -- and he looked pretty darn real in the win over UNLV -- then the Wildcats could be the wild card in the South Division. Arizona's cast of wide receivers is rivaled by few. If Solomon can mature incrementally and let those guys make plays for him, this team is going to score a lot of points.

azcat49 wrote:Don't see how they could put those dick chompers from Tempe at 4? Beating a winless in the conference (bigsky) team like Weber while giving up 100 yards to there top back doesn't scream top five in the conference.

Sage&Silver wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Don't see how they could put those dick chompers from Tempe at 4? Beating a winless in the conference (bigsky) team like Weber while giving up 100 yards to there top back doesn't scream top five in the conference.

Meh. That game was over by the second quarter. From the 5-10 minutes I watched, ASU was as dominant and Weber St. as hapless as you would expect. Hard to demote them for that.