2021 Season Thread

[dmjcat]

Tonights game had little to nothing to do with Fischs play calling.

It had everything to do with a complete lack of talent on the field (unfortunately on the UA side).

Unfortunately its not going to get better anytime soon. Even if Fisch is able to hold his current recruiting class together they won't see the field as upperclassman (assuming most redshirt as they should) until 2025. Next years team is going to be just as short of talent as this one. I have seen a few posters expecting 4-5 wins (or even 6) next year and that is absolutely insane.

The transfer portal also makes rebuilding a bottom feeder (we are the 2021 equivalent of the 1980 Oregon State program) much more difficult. The few good players we have will have the option to transfer out..........Stoops didn't have to face that when he took over a similar situation.

This rebuilding project is going to be a long, hard slog.

[Carcassdragger]

Well, another season of not coming to Tucson for a visit.

[EastCoastCat]

Well, another season of not coming to Tucson for a visit.

Not me. I'm coming in November for Homecoming along with a couple of old buddies and I'm not going to let a crappy Football team ruin it.

Renting a nice house in the Foothills, hit up some good restaurants, connect with some old friends and re-tell old war stories. Plus plenty of Alcohol and Uber rides.

Can't wait to get to Tucson.

[ASUHATER!]

Plenty of reasons to come to Tucson besides football

[ChooChooCat]

Tonights game had little to nothing to do with Fischs play calling.

It had everything to do with a complete lack of talent on the field (unfortunately on the UA side).

Unfortunately its not going to get better anytime soon. Even if Fisch is able to hold his current recruiting class together they won't see the field as upperclassman (assuming most redshirt as they should) until 2025. Next years team is going to be just as short of talent as this one. I have seen a few posters expecting 4-5 wins (or even 6) next year and that is absolutely insane.

The transfer portal also makes rebuilding a bottom feeder (we are the 2021 equivalent of the 1980 Oregon State program) much more difficult. The few good players we have will have the option to transfer out..........Stoops didn't have to face that when he took over a similar situation.

This rebuilding project is going to be a long, hard slog.

Yeah the talent sucks, you're not wrong, but did Jedd Fisch have a plan at all tonight? Was there a single adjustment made? It was obvious that Cruz was just incapable and you can argue that was because of the offensive line, but still you should pivot to a different option well before he did. He waited until SDSU put in the third stringers to make any sort of change. It was odd and I'm not sure wtf the plan is for this year at all, because it's obvious it's not attempting to win games.

Jedd can be the best salesman in the world and still fail to sell this product to a community of a million, especially when his two bosses absolutely botched the game environment completely. The best thing I can say about Arizona Football is that Jedd Fisch actually cares. Hopefully that translates to a turnaround in another 3 years or so, but nothing good is coming any time soon with this program and this athletic department.

[scumdevils86]

It's just nearly next to impossible to succeed and achieve recurring success in this game unless you find a way to win games immediately. Otherwise you stay stuck in the quagmire. See Kansas football.

[UAEebs86]

Too late idiots

[scumdevils86]

Yep. Far too late. Between the shit show there and the one on the field (and a other 90+ degree kickoff) good luck having more than 20k show up again.

[Merkin]

Too late idiots

Many comments on Facebook agree with this. Many people didn't get in until it was 21-0.Issues with concessions too.

[Longhorned]

Not sure I ever understood the enthusiasm going into this season, but the reality is exposed now.

And honestly, fuck all these Bobby Robbins hiring decisions. There's baseless hope, and then there's the reality of Fisch and Lloyd. Go Adia!

[UAEebs86]

[scumdevils86]

Ahh...nothing like gatekeeping fandom of a shitty college football team.

[AZCatGirl]

At least we have... a ghost?

[UAEebs86]

So you're telling me there's a chance?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not sure I ever understood the enthusiasm going into this season, but the reality is exposed now.

And honestly, fuck all these Bobby Robbins hiring decisions. There's baseless hope, and then there's the reality of Fisch and Lloyd. Go Adia!

I don't understand the doom and gloom on this board. I was 100% Niumatalolo or Brennan and hated the Fisch hire.

We were giving the least talented roster in P5 to a guy with no HC experience. Which is why I don't get the doom and gloom over on field performance looking like you'd think it would when a guy with no HC experience takes over the least talented roster in P5.

It seems like people got into the PR stuff, but the reality is this is a team with minimal talent and a guy with no HC experience who's going to have to figure it out on the fly while being overmatched in just about all his matchups.

So why is this anything other than the expected? Not particularly directed at you, LH, just the overall tenor of posting here.

[EastCoastCat]

Because we all hope deep down inside Lucy let's Charlie Brown kick that football...

Sports is always about hope. Whether it's hoping your kickass team gets to the FF or your undermanned, shitty team can somehow muster up a win.

You can rationalize, quantify with statistics, blah, blah blah. It's still humans playing the games not robots. If every outcome was guaranteed then why even follow?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Because we all hope deep down inside Lucy let's Charlie Brown kick that football...

Sports is always about hope. Whether it's hoping your kickass team gets to the FF or your undermanned, shitty team can somehow muster up a win.

You can rationalize, quantify with statistics, blah, blah blah. It's still humans playing the games not robots. If every outcome was guaranteed then why even follow?

Yeah, but in this case (and it feels weird to say as a guy who trashed the Fisch hire) it leads to being unfair to Fisch.

He's a first time HC at the helm of a team with very little talent, other than some pieces he pulled in through the portal. It seems like a rocky road is about what would be expected.

I get hope, but unrealistic hope is always a precursor to disappointment. My hope for Fisch is much more about year 2 and 3, when he hopefully has brought in some talent and learned the ropes of being a head coach. This year...I'm thinking hope needs to be measured in player development and competing, not wins and losses.

[EastCoastCat]

I've been watching Arizona Football since 1979. Unrealistic hope is embedded in my psyche at this point.

[azcat49]

Anyone think SDST will beat Utah this week? I do. In fact I think both BYU and SDST win a minimum of 9 games each with SDST having more upside than BYU.

[TheCat]

Well we lost to BYU by less than Utah so that is something. I was disappointed against SDST but we are clearly overmatched on the field. I am hoping Fisch does well as he has really fixed some broken relationships with the alums and has done alot to get things moving in a positive direction (off the field). Heeke should be held accountable for the stadium debacle. He is not a PAC-12 athletic director.

[TheCatInTheHat]

So after the fiasco with the metal detectors and the rest of it, the athletic department just sent out an e-mail to remind people to download their tickets onto their phones. Yeah, guys, I'm sure that was all of it...not understaffing, bad processes, inadequate equipment or any of that. I went to several Dodger games this summer, where it's all e-tickets, which seems to be the case everywhere. If somebody isn't ready or can't figure out how to use their damn phone, they just send them to the back of the line to try and do a better job next time. But they also had lots of people with mobile PA speakers telling people where to go and to be ready, and they were doing line management. What happened last week was inexcusable, and they're apparently going to just whistle past the graveyard, point fingers at the fans, and look for gradual marginal improvement. Heeke needs to get down on his knees apologizing for that crap. They need a major overhaul of where and how things happen, and they need to double their personnel. Considering all the factors at play, I think there's a real chance we'll have the smallest crowd for a game this week since entering the Pac.

[gronk4heisman]

I was at the game and had 6 e-tickets. The most annoying part is you need to save all 6 tickets separately and then figure out where the hell they are saved on your phone. We were lucky enough to make it to our seats by the time the game was already over 21-0. Luckily going forward they should have a lot less demand due to the product on the field and at the gate so it won't be an issue. Guess that is what they wanted. Additionally, inside they had huge lines at all the concession stands. Leads me to wonder again, WTF does Heeke do and why are we paying him? Literally everything around the athletic department outside of Adia's team is an utter joke at this point.

[TheCatInTheHat]

I put mine in the Google Pay app (which you can supposedly use even if bad connectivity) and you can scroll sideways to see one ticket after the other. You can send them there from Ticketmaster (the Las Vegas game), Paciolan (UofA's vendor), airlines, etc. They group them by the company source, so you only need to remember who you bought them from. I think they group them under the vender icon in the order of purchase. So, for me, under Paciolan, I've got the Red/Blue scrimmage, followed by the parking passes for each game, followed by the tailgate passes for each game, followed by the tickets for each game. Then, you clean it up by deleting after each event. That's for Android O/S, but there's something similar for iPhones. I've had some practice with it previously, but it's yet another foul-up by Arizona Athletics. There should have been a series of get-your-attention/this-is-no-joke e-mails with much more and better tutorials and help.

[azcat49]

I am very much tech challenged and downloading the tickets into my apple wallet was pretty simple. Not sure I even needed connectivity to get into it.

The biggest issue was the metal detectors. We had two for the whole north east entrance and there must have been at least several thousand people trying to get in.

I certainly could see why people wouldn’t buy again given the results on the field but for me if they don’t clean up the entrance part and the amenities part I am done once again

[TheCatInTheHat]

Okay, this is America, so people complain about security and talk about concentration camps, and then they turn around and complain after a tragedy because somebody didn't do something more pre-emptively. So, that's a given, but here goes anyway. Hansen did a column about the event mismanagement fiasco Saturday night, and Heeke was on his radio show and just said something like "we talked to various experts and we had to implement new security measures." Well, yeah...but it's not the what, it's the how. They had eight months to benchmark the how by TSA at airports, at theme parks, at other college and pro stadia, and even the previous week at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It comes down to real estate, personnel, equipment, and processes. In virtually all cases, there's a security screening that organizes the crowd into a second staging area prior to ticket-taking. Where it's really well done, they have lots of people explaining the processes with megaphones, tape for line management, etc. So you stick the metal detectors at the gates to temporary fencing prior to getting organized in lines for ticket taking. Yeah, you're pushing the problem further back, but you're also organizing the mob of people. Apparently there's some noise about their outsourced event management company being understaffed because of Covid. Well, there are plenty of jackasses at UArizona buzzing around in golf carts with their polos and khakis who can do some actual work, and that includes Heeke. Worst case, there's a small army of people who trim trees, fix errant bricks and concrete, repair plumbing and electrical, etc. who likely wouldn't mind getting some overtime for working pre-game before maybe going in with a couple of free tickets and a food voucher. There's always a way, and when you're getting paid to find it, that should be the expectation.

[TheCatInTheHat]

By the way, it hasn't escaped my notice that there has been NO apology to the fans, and they apparently are also not sending out the "how did we do" surveys, which I seemed to get after every live game in 2019. Just lay low, keep your head down, pretend it's just an inevitable rough patch associated with change, and try to ride it out. No. Effective change management is crucial in any organization, and particularly when you're pushing changes out onto what was already a fickle and fading customer base. Under the circumstances, it's really a shocking dereliction of duty. They can try to deflect and point fingers at the event management company they employ, but the buck stops and falls at the feet of the top person in the athletic department, and the top person at the university.

[azgreg]

Not quite an apology but at least they acknowledged the issue.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am very much tech challenged and downloading the tickets into my apple wallet was pretty simple. Not sure I even needed connectivity to get into it.

The biggest issue was the metal detectors. We had two for the whole north east entrance and there must have been at least several thousand people trying to get in.

I certainly could see why people wouldn’t buy again given the results on the field but for me if they don’t clean up the entrance part and the amenities part I am done once again

In fairness, when you get down 21-0 early on, it's good to make sure fans didn't bring weapons in.

[AzCatFan2]

Truth is, we don't know how talented, or untalented we are. Last year, only 5 games due to COVID, and by the end, the team had completely given up. This year, tons of new faces and to Fisch's credit, he has the kids playing hard. But we're not playing smart.

Yes, we're not Alabama. But neither is SDSU. When SDSU made mistakes, we had enough talent to take advantage. For example, on Berryhill's TD. Berryhill beat the corner, but the second SDSU defender was in position to make a tackle. But instead of trying to wrap Berryhill up, the SDSU tried for the big hit with his shoulder. Berryhill shrugged the attempt off, and then had clear sailing to the end zone. It was a mistake trying not to wrap up, and SDSU gave up a TD because of it.

And if you want to talk about missed tackles and not wrapping up, watch Arizona against SDSU. So many missed tackles. We were in position, but just didn't make plays. On offense, it was worse. Missed blocks, missed assignments, and a poor plan to attack the 3-3-5, with no adjustments made. The 3-3-5 isn't a new defense, and playing against it is understanding and reading blitzes. Both Cruz and Plummer are both young QBs, but the O-line and QBs looked like deers in headlights all night against the SDSU defense. And that's on Fisch and staff. Poor preparation, and no adjustments. Think RR would have had us this unprepared for SDSU's defense? RR had a few clunkers of games in Tucson, but he also knew how to attack defenses and utilize our team's best weapons.

Making rookie coaching mistakes will happen to all new coaches. But at the P5 level, does a coach really have 3 to 4 years to make mistakes while building his team? Not only do the fans have little patience, the players/recruits will run out of patience as well. And what you get is what we got with Mike Stoops. Built a team capable of winning 8, but no more, and not enough depth to really keep the winning going consistently. Maybe the results will be different with FIsch? But if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put any money on it.

[Carcassdragger]

Truth is, we don't know how talented, or untalented we are. Last year, only 5 games due to COVID, and by the end, the team had completely given up. This year, tons of new faces and to Fisch's credit, he has the kids playing hard. But we're not playing smart.

Yes, we're not Alabama. But neither is SDSU. When SDSU made mistakes, we had enough talent to take advantage. For example, on Berryhill's TD. Berryhill beat the corner, but the second SDSU defender was in position to make a tackle. But instead of trying to wrap Berryhill up, the SDSU tried for the big hit with his shoulder. Berryhill shrugged the attempt off, and then had clear sailing to the end zone. It was a mistake trying not to wrap up, and SDSU gave up a TD because of it.

And if you want to talk about missed tackles and not wrapping up, watch Arizona against SDSU. So many missed tackles. We were in position, but just didn't make plays. On offense, it was worse. Missed blocks, missed assignments, and a poor plan to attack the 3-3-5, with no adjustments made. The 3-3-5 isn't a new defense, and playing against it is understanding and reading blitzes. Both Cruz and Plummer are both young QBs, but the O-line and QBs looked like deers in headlights all night against the SDSU defense. And that's on Fisch and staff. Poor preparation, and no adjustments. Think RR would have had us this unprepared for SDSU's defense? RR had a few clunkers of games in Tucson, but he also knew how to attack defenses and utilize our team's best weapons.

Making rookie coaching mistakes will happen to all new coaches. But at the P5 level, does a coach really have 3 to 4 years to make mistakes while building his team? Not only do the fans have little patience, the players/recruits will run out of patience as well. And what you get is what we got with Mike Stoops. Built a team capable of winning 8, but no more, and not enough depth to really keep the winning going consistently. Maybe the results will be different with FIsch? But if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put any money on it.

Some great points here.

RR had some real issues with recruiting defensive talent but man, could he coach offensively. What he did in a couple of games with Denker at QB was just phenomenal.

Also, regarding patience: I think Arizona fan has just about completely run out of patience and justifiably so.

[azgreg]

It's going to take more than 1 year to repair the damage Sumlin caused in 3 years.

[azcat49]

Only going to be fixed by recruiting at a high level. Stoops knew that and got it done and I think CJF knows that and is well on his way to rebuilding the roster with quality talent.

For me the only perplexing part is why they didn’t use the portal to beef up the OLine. LB was a certain priority but OLine had to be a close second in terms of need

[Merkin]

It's going to take more than 1 year to repair the damage Sumlin caused in 3 years.

Along with the last 2 RichRod years.

Both a couple of drunkards.

[84Cat]

It's going to take more than 1 year to repair the damage Sumlin caused in 3 years.

Just like after the other fired Texas coach that we hired

[AzCatFan2]

Sumlin was a disaster from day 1. But when a team gives up on its coach, it's difficult to tell just how bad the talent is. Remember, RR inherited a 4-8 team and somehow won 8 games the next year. RR knew how to get the most out his offensive talent. On D? Different story. But when we had a half decent D, we won 10 games.

And Stoops did rebuild us back from the Macko disaster, but it took five years before we had a winning season. In the four seasons before, we played hard. Almost every game. But did we play smart? Not often. How often did we have a delay of game penalty coming out of a timeout after a punt or kickoff? It lead to Canalas being fired and Sonny Dykes being hired. And even with Sonny running the O, and Mark Stoops the D, both who went on to be head coaches, the best we could do was win 8 games. Just took too long to build a winner, in my opinion, which caused a drop off in recruiting. Lead to a lack of depth, made worse when we lost our top assistants and replaced them with guys who weren't nearly as good as the coaches they replaced.

I see a similar pattern with Fisch. I don't think this team is completely devoid of talent. And the kids are playing hard again. But we have a small margin of error, and every coaching mistake, every penalty, and every missed opportunity will be magnified. Maybe Fisch can build a 10-game winner where Stoops failed? Time will tell, and I hope Fisch does. But early indicators so far looks like we followed Mackovic 2.0 with Stoops 2.0.

[scumdevils86]

College football has changed a lot since I was a freshman in 2004 with Stoops. He would not get 5 years to have a winning season today, even at a doormat like Arizona.

[gronk4heisman]

That time seems to have worked at another basketball school with another Stoops in Kentucky. Three straight bowls, a ten win season perennial top 40 recruiting classes and a long time losing program.

[UAEebs86]

We hired the wrong Stoops brother.

[azgreg]

By the way, it hasn't escaped my notice that there has been NO apology to the fans

Welp, here you go.

h

[Postmaster]

The concessions in upper deck north side never had more than 3 people in each line.
But they don’t honor the cheap refill of the souvenir cup. Because of outdated theories on covid transmission.

Paper straws don’t last very long.

However, I did see a State Trooper get turned away because he only had cash.
Pretty sad considering it was 9/11. Fortunately the lady behind him paid for his food.

[scumdevils86]

I struggle with understanding why people who don't work jobs who pay in cash only (usually undocumented workers or people working in stupidly illegal professions like marijuana dispensaries and sex work) use cash still. It's mind-blowing.

[Postmaster]

As far as tickets: by the time we gathered our stuff after metal detectors the people before us had already done their tickets so we walked right up and got scanned in.
We had paper tickets.

[Postmaster]

Maybe law enforcement guy doesn’t like to carry person stuff while on duty?

Some people use cash as a budgeting tool.

Personally I rarely use cash, but I carry some for small purchases, tips and such.

[Carcassdragger]

I get tired of waiting in line for people who buy small trivial items and carry no cash.

[scumdevils86]

Lol. Another point that I hear from old people (and my parents) all the time that has no basis in current reality. They insist on using cash for things less than about $20, your tips and "trivial items". It must stem from the days before debit cards were in use (so pre 1996 or so). Cards or digital wallets are always faster and more convenient than cash.

[EastCoastCat]

Lol. Another point that I hear from old people (and my parents) all the time that has no basis in current reality. They insist on using cash for things less than about $20, your tips and "trivial items". It must stem from the days before debit cards were in use (so pre 1996 or so). Cards or digital wallets are always faster and more convenient than cash.

I call bullshit not because I’m old you young know it all but it’s not always true even though I use a debit card 99% of the time.

For example, I was at Walgreens the other day purchasing a couple of small items. I waited a few seconds for the cashier to “prepare” the card reader. I then tap or insert my card, then enter my loyalty number, then it asks if I want cash back, then it asks if I want to donate, then I enter my PIN number, then you wait for approval. Finally the purchase is complete.

If I handed the cashier a $20 at the beginning the whole purchase process would have been much quicker.

Not that I worry or complain about such trivial shit…

[MountainCat]

I have the urge to get in a long line with students behind me and write a check to purchase a pack of gum…

Cash can be so much faster…. But today’s generation can take a selfie, post it on Snapchat, and get three comments back from friends before they can give change back on a five dollar bill - Even when the “cash” register tells how much to give back…

“Oh my gosh, how do I open this roll of nickels - better call the manager and get help”.

Yes in your eyes I’m old…

I feel sorry for NAU this week. I think they won’t know what hit them.

Go Cats!

[Chicat]

The Microsoft chip that was implanted in me with the Pfizer Covid vaccine allows me to blink my eyes twice to make purchases. So that’s convenient. It also does all my thinking for me, basically replacing my wife.

Go Cats!

[Merkin]

I have the urge to get in a long line with students behind me and write a check to purchase a pack of gum…

Probably should go in the venting thread, but I still now and then get behind some old lady, who after the total is reached, then pulls out her checkbook.

Lady, you can start filling out the check while the cashier rings things up, then all you need is the amount.

Not so bad is people who put in their debit card after the total is reached. You do know you can put the debit card in after the first item is scanned, right?

[scumdevils86]

The Microsoft chip that was implanted in me with the Pfizer Covid vaccine allows me to blink my eyes twice to make purchases. So that’s convenient. It also does all my thinking for me, basically replacing my wife.

Go Cats!

Maybe this is where I am at too