Bear Down Wildcats

azpenguin wrote:UC Davis went Air Raid on the Wolf Pack and their QB went 32-47, albeit with a 5 yard average. Arizona's receivers are bigger and faster than a low-level FCS team's and Solomon is a better quarterback, plus a very potent 1-2 punch at RB. If the defense gets a few stops then this one is over by mid-third quarter. Reno has been known to be a dangerous place to play, so there's that. But I think this game being on the road will actually be a plus for the Cats, since RR does a good job of turning the early season roadies into a chance to get the team focused without the distractions at home.

chiefzona wrote:The defense always adjusts at halftime. That's the way Casteel plays it.

PHXCATS wrote:Wow it is going to be very warm there on Saturday

azgreg wrote:

azpenguin wrote:

Blair Willis tweeted that with the pick six and 8 PBUs that Arizona got their hands on 20 percent of UTSA's pass attempts. Also, don't forget that the defense chilled in a teensy tiny little bit by scoring twice.

So I'm not saying everything is fine and dandy, because the defense has work to do. But when you look at everything, I'm not going to be ragging too hard on them. I'll wait to see what we've got when the dust settles on the injury situation. Let's see what we get Saturday.

catinfl wrote:Bored in between class so here's my run-down on the game:

Nevada runs a pretty similar offense. RR said he partnered with them at a few satellite camps this summer so the coaches are familiar. They have some talent in the front seven with Ian Seau (Junior's son maybe) and 6 out of 7 of them are seniors, but the secondary is iffy at best. They didn't cause any turnovers last week and if they don't get any turnovers they're not gonna win plain and simple. So the key to the offense is run and run well to keep them honest. They're gonna blitz and try to make Solomon make some bad decisions to cover up the problems in the secondary. I really hope Tagoloa is back.
Keys To the Offense:
Run the Ball to open up the passing game.
Protect Solomon
Get the Ball in space. We have some really dynamic playmakers and with Grant back we shouldn't miss a beat on offense

Their Offense with Fajardno was pretty good. After having Kapernick and fajardo for the last eight years they have a new QB. Tyler Stewart can not run as well as the other two and is mostly a passing guy. Nevada has always been good at rushing the ball and they have a senior Don Jackson as the starting tailback. He rushed for about 1,000 yards last year. Their Offensive line is very young and they only have one senior. The offense in general is very young. With Tellas Jones and Fotu back and a week to plan to live life without Scooby I think Casteel should be ready.
Keys for the Defense:
Sack the QB- we only had a couple sacks last week and without are best pass rusher in Scooby it won't get any easier. We can't leave time for him to pick apart the defense
Set the Tone- I really don't want to deal with what we had to last year in a game where I almost died from a near loss. Please set the tone and stop them and let the offense get a good lead.
Summon the Ghost of Bondurant- I want more turnovers that only the ghost of bondurant can supply. Like the Parks fumble.

ghostwhitehorse wrote: Ian Seau is Juniors' nephew. Also good enough to be on the Nagurski List. . .

Saint James wrote:

azpenguin wrote:UC Davis went Air Raid on the Wolf Pack and their QB went 32-47, albeit with a 5 yard average. Arizona's receivers are bigger and faster than a low-level FCS team's and Solomon is a better quarterback, plus a very potent 1-2 punch at RB. If the defense gets a few stops then this one is over by mid-third quarter. Reno has been known to be a dangerous place to play, so there's that. But I think this game being on the road will actually be a plus for the Cats, since RR does a good job of turning the early season roadies into a chance to get the team focused without the distractions at home.

Didn't we hear the same thing before the UTSA game? It seems to me that our defense needs to prove itself which it hasn't done. I'm losing faith that this 3-3-5 will come around except when playing Oregon.

Puerco wrote:

Saint James wrote:

azpenguin wrote:UC Davis went Air Raid on the Wolf Pack and their QB went 32-47, albeit with a 5 yard average. Arizona's receivers are bigger and faster than a low-level FCS team's and Solomon is a better quarterback, plus a very potent 1-2 punch at RB. If the defense gets a few stops then this one is over by mid-third quarter. Reno has been known to be a dangerous place to play, so there's that. But I think this game being on the road will actually be a plus for the Cats, since RR does a good job of turning the early season roadies into a chance to get the team focused without the distractions at home.

Didn't we hear the same thing before the UTSA game? It seems to me that our defense needs to prove itself which it hasn't done. I'm losing faith that this 3-3-5 will come around except when playing Oregon.

UA's defense held UTSA to 14 net points. I'm more worried about the offense getting on track.

Considering last season and its opening game of this one, Arizona is accustomed to playing in tight contests by now.

The No. 22 Wildcats, though, won't have all-everything linebacker Scooby Wright III for their next potential one, Saturday night's road matchup with a Nevada team that was competitive against them in 2014.

Arizona played in a game decided by 10 or fewer points for the 10th time in 14 contests Sept. 3, a 42-32 win over UTSA. The Wildcats also lost Wright, a unanimous All-American and winner of three national awards in 2014, to an injured left knee in the first half.

He is slated to miss three to four weeks following arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage.

"Scooby's thing, fortunately, is something that he got fixed and actually I think he's going to come back even stronger than he was before," coach Rich Rodriguez said. "And knowing Scooby, he will be chomping at the bit, but we will make sure, and trainers will make sure, that when he is coming back, he's coming back 100 percent ready to go."

Haden Gregory, a senior who has appeared in seven games, will try to fill Wright's sizable shoes when the Wildcats face a Nevada team they beat 35-28 in Tucson on Sept. 13.

Gregory had four tackles and two pass breakups last week.

"(Gregory is) a big kid and he's pretty athletic," Rodriguez said. "It's hard to compare a guy to Scooby because Scooby is one of the best defensive players in the country, but I thought Haden came in and made some plays, was pretty active. It was his first extended action there, so I think he will get better from that, and he's going to have to."

Wright had 14 of his 163 tackles last season against Nevada but didn't record any of his 14 sacks. The Wolf Pack gained 429 yards -- 321 through the air -- and tied the game at 21-all in the third quarter.

Arizona gained 507 yards, with Solomon completing 22 of 26 and throwing three touchdowns while Nick Wilson ran for 171 yards and two scores.

The third of Solomon's four TDs against UTSA helped the Wildcats begin pulling away after leading by one at halftime, and Jamar Allah followed with his team's second defensive touchdown.

Arizona went 4-1 on the road last season, beating two Top 25 teams, including then-No. 2 Oregon on Oct. 2.

The Wildcats make their first visit to Reno since 1924 and are 3-1-1 in the series. They beat Nevada 49-48 in the 2012 New Mexico Bowl by scoring two TDs in the final 46 seconds.

"We know their staff really well, in fact we partnered with them in some satellite summer camps this summer. We have a lot of similar philosophies and their kids play extremely hard," Rodriguez said. "We've had a few tough games with them, last year and a few years ago in the bowl game so we have a lot of respect for them."

The Wolf Pack ran for 232 yards in last week's opener, a 31-17 win over UC Davis. Don Jackson had 124 yards on 13 carries and the game's first two TDs.

Senior linebacker Bryan Lane Jr. is one of the few Wolf Pack players who played in both of those games. He seems plenty confident Nevada will be able to slow down Arizona’s vaunted offense.

“They want to spread us out and get to the perimeter and get one-on-one situations,” Lane said. “We get 11 hats to the ball and we’ll shut it down really good. They can’t run on our front four, so we’ll shut that down as well. We just have to stay poised and just rise to the occasion.”

ANGCatFan wrote:Arizona game notes.

azpenguin wrote:Probably not wise to tell a guy who ran for 171 against you last year that he's not going to be able to run on you.

ANGCatFan wrote:

dc4azcats wrote:I get being confident and stuff but keep that in your locker room.

ok I couldn't type that with a straight face

What’s Going To Happen?

The “Whiteout”. The absence of Wright. It adds up to coach Brian Polian’s biggest win in Reno. Arizona is eminently vulnerable on defense without Wright, and its O-line will struggle with Nevada linemen Ian Seau and Lenny Jones. This is one of those games in which Solomon regresses in a tough environment … and the students rush the field at the conclusion of an upset win.

Arizona vs. Nevada Prediction

Prediction: Nevada 35, Arizona 31, Line: Arizona -11.5, o/u: 62

Prediction

Arizona 34, Nevada 27: The Wolf Pack is a double-digit underdog, and that seems a little high. Nevada has played with Arizona the last couple of years and now get the banged-up Wildcats at home. It will be tough to slow down Arizona’s offense, but the Wildcats’ defense has some weaknesses. UTSA put up 32 against Arizona last week and the Wildcats are down their best defender. Nevada needs a fast start like it had last week to put some pressure on Arizona. The Wolf Pack doesn’t want to play from behind. I expect Nevada to stay tight the entire game, but Arizona’s offense should be enough to keep the Wildcats ahead as Nevada looks for its fifth win over a Top 25 team in team history.