Bear Down Wildcats

discussion time in our new home for next year. any other news or thoughts? preview mags are coming out around now. athlon has us #45 in their preseason rankings (oregon #6, ucla #7, stanford #12, usc #14, asu #16, washington #24, oregon state #53, utah #54, washington state #56, colorado #71, cal #76)

Well this is easy to post. Thank goodness

I think UA will really surprise some of the talking heads if whoever the QB is can get it to the lethal receiving corps.

I think we crack 9 wins this season if the QB position resolves itself.

I'm really excited to see the WR core as well

It's amazing that posts don't take 45 minutes to load!

I think 9 wins is doable. Im being a homer and hoping for 10 though.

We need to get angcat to bring his countdown over here.

gronk4heisman wrote:We need to get angcat to bring his countdown over here.

Yes we do.

Hit me Dosia...10-2 GO CATS.

How many days now? 86 85?

starting to get fired up.

i pmed angcat yesterday to come here and bring his countdown

for projecting wins I think 7 is the floor and 9 is the ceiling!

I've been thinking 8-4.

I think it all comes down to QB play. We get a guy that can complete passes at a very high percentage (65% or higher) and do it through the entire season without injury then I think we're looking at 10 wins. If he starts off guns blazing like Matt Scott did and then gets injured and tapers off then it's probably closer to 8 wins.

The biggest difference between TY's team and the last 2 years is depth at the skill position. The first 2 years we had nothing behind the starting QB. In Scott's first year we also ended up starting true frosh at the WR spot due to injuries and LY as well. Way to much depth TY at the WR position in regards to if somebody isn't cutting it and or gets dinged up for a game or two. I think a lot of folks are underestimating how big of a deal that is.

If we can complete passes at a high completion rate the running game will have plenty of opportunity to be very successful. Nobody had KaDeem slated to be the number 1 rusher in the country in 2012 and I'm not saying the same will happen TY - but I am saying that somebody could take advantage of the opportunity much like KaDeem did in 2012.

What does our O line depth look like?

I think there is a pretty wide variance in what we could expect this season - big upside but some real risks at key positions. My take - floor is 6 wins...Ceiling is 11. That includes bowl games.

Variables are QB & RB play - both have me a bit concerned, especially after watching the spring game. That said, I am bullish - because of our experienced OL and the belief that one of our many QB options will emerge. While I do not expect the same level of improvement in Year 3 as we saw in Year 2 from the D, I do think they will continue to improve - across the board.

My prediction is 9.5 wins... RichRod's first winning record in Conference play at either 5-4 or 6-3 and a bowl victory.

DL Kirifi Taula has been removed from #Arizona's roster. Taula R.Sr played all 13 games 2013 (started 1 at NT)

well that sucks. hit on the d line depth

ASUHATER! wrote:well that sucks. hit on the d line depth

This should help - and now everyone who was freaking out about the Polys not coming back can chill now:

"The Wildcats did gain some depth at that position recently. Aiulua Fanene and Saneilia Fuimaono have both officially been added to Arizona’s roster. Fanene and Fuimaono will return this season after serving a mission the past two years. Fanene was added to the roster last month. Fuimaono was added this week."

http://azstarnet.com/sports/blogs/uafoo ... f887a.html

UAEebs86 wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:well that sucks. hit on the d line depth

This should help - and now everyone who was freaking out about the Polys not coming back can chill now:

"The Wildcats did gain some depth at that position recently. Aiulua Fanene and Saneilia Fuimaono have both officially been added to Arizona’s roster. Fanene and Fuimaono will return this season after serving a mission the past two years. Fanene was added to the roster last month. Fuimaono was added this week."

http://azstarnet.com/sports/blogs/uafoo ... f887a.html

Awesome! :tup:

(we need a thumbs up thumbs down emoticon)

So many great individual player story lines with this team and all of them have something to prove. Seriously, you can go down the list especially at the skill positions & find a kid that will be playing his ass off to make a statement. Transfers, walk-ons, kids coming off injuries, players returning from missions & so on...

You add in the fact that Rich Rod is loved by the media & all that national exposure we will receive when we start shocking the world, it's going to be nutty! I just hope they continue with projecting us low when the Pac 12 media poll rolls out. You add that bit of fuel to this fire & this becomes a team no one wants to face.

I can't freaking wait!

Dkenner wrote:DL Kirifi Taula has been removed from #Arizona's roster. Taula R.Sr played all 13 games 2013 (started 1 at NT)

He couldn't get past the nagging injuries.

Scallywag needs to keep posting.

ASUHATER! wrote:discussion time in our new home for next year. any other news or thoughts? preview mags are coming out around now. athlon has us #45 in their preseason rankings (oregon #6, ucla #7, stanford #12, usc #14, asu #16, washington #24, oregon state #53, utah #54, washington state #56, colorado #71, cal #76)

Athlon is a joke. We should be in the 25-35 range, but we have a lot of question marks so I see why were so far down a bit. We have one of the biggest upsides as a team

azgreg wrote:What does our O line depth look like?

Starting five will be very good. We only lost one starter and it looks like Jacob Aldasek will be taking over Putton's position at guard and he's a big guy (6'7 300). Then we got our OT in Baucus and Ebbele both 6'8 and over 300. Gurolla who should be one of the best C in the Pac-12 this year and Bundage who has been a starter since freshman year. We'll have decent depth with Maiva, Hemilla, Arouzamen, and Lawerence.

ASUHATER! wrote:well that sucks. hit on the d line depth

I actually feel fairly comfortable on both DE positions. NT is what scares me and I'm really hoping Melvin or Worthy step up, but at DE we have Pettinano, Gilbert, Allen, Griffin, Bruno, and Ware.

catinfl wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:discussion time in our new home for next year. any other news or thoughts? preview mags are coming out around now. athlon has us #45 in their preseason rankings (oregon #6, ucla #7, stanford #12, usc #14, asu #16, washington #24, oregon state #53, utah #54, washington state #56, colorado #71, cal #76)

Athlon is a joke. We should be in the 25-35 range, but we have a lot of question marks so I see why were so far down a bit. We have one of the biggest upsides as a team

Love it! Hope the staff has all of these rags printed out & displayed in the locker room.

Scallywag is the greatest poster of all time!

UAEebs86 wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:well that sucks. hit on the d line depth

This should help - and now everyone who was freaking out about the Polys not coming back can chill now:

"The Wildcats did gain some depth at that position recently. Aiulua Fanene and Saneilia Fuimaono have both officially been added to Arizona’s roster. Fanene and Fuimaono will return this season after serving a mission the past two years. Fanene was added to the roster last month. Fuimaono was added this week."

http://azstarnet.com/sports/blogs/uafoo ... f887a.html

Wait? I thought uacats and others had both of these guys going to Wazzu because that's where Salavea was? How is it possible that we keep both of these guys and we don't have a poly coach on staff? Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming season. Increase depth and talent in about every position.The position to watch for me are the cornerbacks and DL. The QB will be important but with what RR did with Denker last year, I think the position is going to be fine. I can't wait for the quick wr sweeps. Honestly, last year I didn't ever have a feeling that we can bust a big play open. It was going to be a 15-20 play drive for a TD. I don't think that will be the case this year

Who's kicking this season?

azgreg wrote:Who's kicking this season?

Not sure if serious question because we're talking about kickers, but I'm also not sure even the staff knows.

We recruited Pollack last year, who was pretty good in HS. But Rivals has that he hasn't signed yet. Not sure why.

The only K we have on the team is Skowron, with Riggleman as punter. If I recall, we had a few different walking kicking during the spring game as well.

I just saw we don't kick and always do for it on 4th.

Ted Miller shows Phil Steele's national rankings of the conference teams based on experience.

24. UCLA
31. Oregon
36. California
45. Colorado
51. Oregon State
62. USC
65. Utah
66. Washington
70. Washington State
93. Stanford
94. Arizona
108. Arizona State

What does this mean?

Well, it's more good news for UCLA. It's more reason to believe the Bruins are going to be in the thick of the Pac-12 and national mix. It also suggests that UCLA versus Oregon is a solid projection for the Pac-12 championship game in December, when a spot in the College Football Playoff could be on the line.

Arizona State is at the bottom because it only welcomes back three starters on defense. Arizona loses a lot of production on offense (RB Ka'Deem Carey and QB B.J. Denker), while Stanford is replacing RB Tyler Gaffney, four O-line starters, many of its top defensive playmakers and lacks senior experience.

By the way, Arizona, you might note that while everyone is tooling on your supposedly weak nonconference schedule, including the Pac-12 blog, you Wildcats play two of the nation's most experienced teams: No. 1 UTSA and No. 30 Nevada.

ucla could be a playoff team potentially. most pundits are dismissing arizona since we lost our qb and basically all of our run production. like always, questions at who will fill in at qb and rb and the fact that our defense still doesn't have a good pass rush...but if we just find a solid replacement at qb i think we'll be fine. utsa will be a harder game than we think, but it's generally considered we have the easiest OOC in the pac 12 and one of the easiest in all of the power conferences. no reason for this team to not go 8-4 in the regular season with a shot at 9-3.

TuiTouchdown wrote:

azgreg wrote:Who's kicking this season?

Not sure if serious question because we're talking about kickers, but I'm also not sure even the staff knows.

We recruited Pollack last year, who was pretty good in HS. But Rivals has that he hasn't signed yet. Not sure why.

The only K we have on the team is Skowron, with Riggleman as punter. If I recall, we had a few different walking kicking during the spring game as well.

I just saw we don't kick and always do for it on 4th.

It shows Pollack didn't sign, because he's not going to be on scholarship this year. He's walking on and will receive a scholarship either by the Spring semester or the following season.

Here are articles from Rant sports on our running backs and from Arizona Sports with a summary of the preseason magazines on Arizona. Nothing new in either article, but I'll take any Wildcat stories in late June.

TuiTouchdown wrote:

azgreg wrote:Who's kicking this season?

Not sure if serious question because we're talking about kickers, but I'm also not sure even the staff knows.

We recruited Pollack last year, who was pretty good in HS. But Rivals has that he hasn't signed yet. Not sure why.

The only K we have on the team is Skowron, with Riggleman as punter. If I recall, we had a few different walking kicking during the spring game as well.

I just saw we don't kick and always do for it on 4th.

I am always amazed how little Stoops and RR put into ST, especially when ST probably ended Stoops' UA career a year early.

Yet how many QBs and RBs are on scholarship? It's not like RR platoons QBs. Did anyone complete a pass last year besides Denker, even in blowouts?

Merkin wrote:
I am always amazed how little Stoops and RR put into ST, especially when ST probably ended Stoops' UA career a year early.

Yet how many QBs and RBs are on scholarship? It's not like RR platoons QBs. Did anyone complete a pass last year besides Denker, even in blowouts?

I also wonder about this, as it seems both Stoops and RR basically see ST's as an afterthought - and in RR's case he's too good of a head coach for that to be an error of omission - it has to be part of his overall program strategy, which is odd.

Firstly in RR's case I have to think that because of his offensive philosophy, he doesn't expect to be in close games and doesn't want to play a field position game.

Secondly, perhaps it's a thing where it's hard to identify elite K/P talent? I mean Nick Folk was horrible early in his UofA career, and even as a senior I don't think anybody would have seen a long NFL career in his future. On the flip side (reaching back in the memory banks) John Lee from UCLA was money in college and useless in the NFL. (Part of that might have been the goalpost width differential they had back then). So, perhaps the thought process is that chasing elite K/P talent is too much of a crapshoot.

Thirdly, maybe there's an assumption that serviceable K/P talent can be had as walk-ons?

Whatever the reason, it definitely seems foolish to devalue ST's the way we have seemed to. Even if the style of play lends itself to games where ST's is not a big factor, it seems like there's always going to be 1 game a year where we need a crucial FG or punt. You would have thought the Backyard Brawl game in 2007 would have made RR put a bit more value on ST's.

On top of the lack of recruiting emphasis, neither Stoops nor RR has put any emphasis on coaching ST's either, which seems to be doubling down on a risky strategy.

Would love to hear HHM or others' take on this because from the outside, it seems almost like willful ignorance of the importance of ST's in crucial situations.

Ted Miller rates the PAC 12 offensive lines.

GREAT SHAPE

Oregon

Arizona: The Wildcats no-name unit was highly productive last year -- yielding just 17 sacks while leading a running game that averaged 5.3 yards per carry -- and four starters are back. The unit ranks third in the conference with 104 returning starts, with four-year starting tackles Mickey Baucus and Fabbians Ebbele tallying 38 and 37 career starts apiece, respectively. Junior Lene Maiava, the line's top backup at tackle and guard last year, is a good bet to step in for right guard Chris Putton. All the 2013 backups are back as well.

Washington

GOOD SHAPE

UCLA
Arizona State
USC
Stanford
Utah
Oregon State

WE'LL SEE

Colorado
California
Washington State

Can you smell what the ROD is cooking?!?!?!?

Jarrett Mitchell, walk-on RB from Okinawa joins team:

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2014/7 ... is-college

UAEebs86 wrote:Jarrett Mitchell, walk-on RB from Okinawa joins team:

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2014/7 ... is-college

Nice guns.



Something Ka'Deem could only dream about:

where he recorded a time of 10.84 in the 100 meter dash

UAEebs86 wrote:Jarrett Mitchell, walk-on RB from Okinawa joins team:

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2014/7 ... is-college

Great story! Sounds like an OKG with speed. Glad he is a Wildcat.

Arizona made Ted Miller's mailbag today.

Chester from Tempe, Arizona, writes: What are your thoughts on Arizona's RB situation and if RichRod n Co have enough offensive firepower and options to off-set the lack of a running game threat? You would think defenses would key on the passing game now.We recently lost a former 4 Star RS Frosh RB Pierre Cormier to injury retirement.

Ted Miller: While running back is a legitimate question for Arizona, I see it as more of a question of a name -- "Who's it going to be?" -- rather than a "Will the Wildcats be able to run the ball."

Arizona is going to run the ball well in 2014 for two reasons: 1. Rich Rodriguez offenses always run the ball well; 2. The Wildcats have one of the Pac-12's best and most experienced offensive lines.

I have no idea who wins the job between Nick Wilson, Zach Green, Terris Jones-Grigsby and Jared Baker, or some combination thereof with some contribution of elusive receiver DaVonte Neal. What I suspect strongly is the program will eclipse 5.0 yards per carry and 3,000 yards rushing as a team while throwing the ball better this fall.

ANGCatFan wrote:

UAEebs86 wrote:Jarrett Mitchell, walk-on RB from Okinawa joins team:

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2014/7 ... is-college

Great story! Sounds like an OKG with speed. Glad he is a Wildcat.

He sounds like the exact kind of guy Rich Rod would love to have as a walk-on and future scholly player. Hope he catches on.

The best AZ Daily Star video report yet. Sorry, I couldn't get the embed to work.

Are you smarter than Berk? Here are the rapid fire questions he was asked about Arizona football (I don't care about the scummy questions):

Where will Arizona be picked in the PAC12 south (on media day)?

Who wins the PAC 12 south?

What bowl game will Arizona play in?

Arizona's record (not including the bowl)?

Arizona's starting QB to start the season? to end the season?

Most important game?

Good team Arizona can beat?

Bad team Arizona can lose to?

Arizona's best player?

Should Rich Rod rent or buy his home in Tucson?

Fan favorite player offense and defense?

Interested call about the QBs and UA best player. Berk must be a defensive guy.

ANGCatFan wrote:The best AZ Daily Star video report yet. Sorry, I couldn't get the embed to work.

Are you smarter than Berk? Here are the rapid fire questions he was asked about Arizona football (I don't care about the scummy questions):

Where will Arizona be picked in the PAC12 south (on media day)? 4th

Who wins the PAC 12 south? UCla

What bowl game will Arizona play in? Sun Bowl

Arizona's record (not including the bowl)? 8-4

Arizona's starting QB to start the season? to end the season? Solomon

Most important game? asu

Good team Arizona can beat? UCLA

Bad team Arizona can lose to? Wazzou

Arizona's best player? Bondurant

Should Rich Rod rent or buy his home in Tucson? Buy

Fan favorite player offense and defense? Offense:Neal Defense:scooby

^^

Sipped from my endless supply of Arizona Kool Aid this morning and here are my answers:

Where will Arizona be picked in the PAC12 south (on media day)? 4th

Who wins the PAC 12 south? UCLA

What bowl game will Arizona play in? Holiday

Arizona's record (not including the bowl)? 9-3

Arizona's starting QB to start the season? to end the season? By far the hardest question, but I'll go with Solomon for both, but I'd prefer not to guess until the open scrimmage of fall camp.

Most important game? Beat the Devils!

Good team Arizona can beat? Everyone

Bad team Arizona can lose to? Utah

Arizona's best player? Austin Hill

Should Rich Rod rent or buy his home in Tucson? Buy, plus get a vacation home in San Diego.

Fan favorite player offense and defense? Austin Hill, Tra'Mayne Bondurant (at least this fans favorites)

ANGCatFan wrote:Sipped from my endless supply of Arizona Kool Aid this morning and here are my answers:

Where will Arizona be picked in the PAC12 south (on media day)? 4th

Who wins the PAC 12 south? UCLA

What bowl game will Arizona play in? Holiday

Arizona's record (not including the bowl)? 9-3

Arizona's starting QB to start the season? to end the season? By far the hardest question, but I'll go with Solomon for both, but I'd prefer not to guess until the open scrimmage of fall camp.

Most important game? Beat the Devils!

Good team Arizona can beat? Everyone

Bad team Arizona can lose to? Utah

Arizona's best player? Austin Hill

Should Rich Rod rent or buy his home in Tucson? Buy, plus get a vacation home in San Diego.

Fan favorite player offense and defense? Austin Hill, Tra'Mayne Bondurant (at least this fans favorites)

Agree for the most part. My one disagreement with Berk was us losing to Wazzu again and with you to Utah. Granted we play Wazzu up there which is never easy but we also play them after a buy and in October. Utah on the other hand we play in late Nov so it could be snowing and ice cold when we get there. But I think Utah is a team that RR just happens to have their number regardless of where we play them.

The other thing I'm paying close attention to in looking at opposing teams we play TY is what do they return in the secondary and how were they against the pass LY? Utah and Wazzu as an example had 2 of the worse pass defenses in the country LY (Those who think BJ was all that just keep that stat in mind?). Denker was 26 of 38 for 200 yards LY with 1 TD in the Wazzu game. Decent stats but both Wazzu and Utah dared us to throw the ball against their crappy pass defense and we couldn't take advantage of it in either game. In the Utah game Denker was 18-30 for 168 yards. KaDeem rushed for 232 and that's a big reason why we won that game.

My point in the above is you have to take advantage of a team like Utah that gives up 267 yards a game through the air LY. Or a Wazzu who gave up 270 yards through the air. We didn't in either case and that can't be the case TY. I don't think it will if we have a QB that can complete passes all over the field and at any distance.

I get that in both cases it's a team that we could lose to but should win. I just think if pass D is your weakest link when you play Arizona then you're in some serious trouble TY.

Good teams Arizona could beat and Bad teams they could lose to is really asking what top tier team are we most likely to beat and what lower tier team are we most likely to lose to. I think we will beat Utah, but of the teams rated below us they are the team that worries me the most.

I break the teams into three groups and list them from hardest for Arizona to beat to easiest.

Team's I favor to beat Arizona
UCLA, Oregon, USC

Close Calls
Washington, Scum Devils

Team's where I favor Arizona
Utah, Wash St, Colorado, Cal, Nevada, UTSA, UNLV

I think we win all the games where we are favored (no bad losses for once) and then beat 2 teams out of the top 5 to go 9-3.

ESPN pac12 blog posts some odds today

To win the PAC 12 championship
Oregon 6/5, UCLA 4/1, Stanford 5/1, USC 5/1, Arizona State 6/1, Washington 14/1, Arizona 25/1, Washington State 25/1, Oregon State 33/1, Utah 66/1, California 100/1 and Colorado 100/1.

To win their division
North: Oregon 1/2, Stanford 3/1, Washington 6/1, Washington State 12/1, Oregon State 14/1, Cal 50/1.
South: UCLA 3/2, Arizona State 2/1, USC 2/1, Arizona 10/1, Utah 33/1, Colorado 50/1

To win the national championship
Oregon 8/1, UCLA 16/1, USC 25/1, Stanford 33/1, Arizona State 66/1, Arizona 100/1, Washington 100/1, Oregon State 200/1 and California 500/1. No bets are available for Utah, Colorado, or Washington State.