Bear Down Wildcats

Berk at the AZ Daily Star with the early Colorado preview.

Game vs. UA: Saturday, Nov. 8.

Where: Arizona Stadium

Last year’s record: 4-8

Projections: Most national analysts are in agreement about the Buffs: They should be more competitive and a tad more talented this season, but are still a year or two away from being able to get to a bowl game. Phil Steele, the Sporting News and Lindy’s all project the Buffaloes to finish last in the Pac-12 South. But all had positive things to say about the Buffaloes, who had a three-win improvement last season. Lindy’s wrote about the Buffs: “Colorado lost six games by 20 points or more during the 2013 campaign, but it should be more competitive in MacIntyre’s second season. It’s tough to see this team winning more than four or five games unless a lot goes its way.” The Sporting News was a bit more succinct on Colorado’s bottom line: “The Buffs still need big help to get multiple wins in the Pac-12.”

Three names to know

Linebacker Addison Gillam: As a true freshman last season, Gillam may have been Colorado’s best defensive player. The 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound linebacker led the team with 107 tackles, including 6½ for a loss. He also added three sacks and an interception. The middle linebacker will serve as the leader of Colorado’s defense this year, and should be even better than last season.

Quarterback Sefo Liufau: Liufau was forced into action as a true freshman last season and managed to hold his own. He threw for 1,779 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He set true freshman school records for attempts, completions and touchdown passes.

Wide receiver Nelson Spruce: The junior served as a solid complementary piece to star Paul Richardson last season, but will now move into the No. 1 role with Richardson in the NFL. Spruce had 55 catches for 650 yards and four TDs last season.

Three numbers to know

45.9: There were a lot of dismal stats last year for the Buffaloes, but perhaps none were worse than the 45.9 points per game Colorado’s defense gave up. The Buffs ranked 122nd in the country in scoring defense.

1,346: The Buffaloes return all three of their leading rushers from a year ago — Christian Powell, Michael Adkins and Tony Jones — who combined for 1,346 yards and 10 touchdowns.

7: Colorado has been favored to win just seven of its last 37 games the past three seasons.

Different than last time

They’re more experienced.

Colorado lost just 18 players from last year’s roster, which is tied for fewest in the Pac-12. As we’ve mentioned, 57 players are back, including eight starters on offense and eight more on defense.

Moreover, Colorado returns its six leading rushers, its leading passer, four of its five leading receivers and four of its six leading tacklers from a year ago.

The experience is a good thing, no doubt, but they’ve all suffered a lot of losses in their career. They will try to start changing that this season.

Cats open as 15 point favorites. CU is getting better but hopefully this is not the week they break through

I remember their coaches comment last year about how that was a game they could win hinting that there must not be a talent differential. Guess that differential was the coaching

CU sucks

azcat49 wrote:Cats open as 15 point favorites. CU is getting better but hopefully this is not y he week they break through

I remember there coaches comment last year about how that was a game they could win hinting that there must not be a talent differential. Guess that differential was the coaching

Nobody thought Denker was good enough to beat them LY.

http://www.thepredictiontracker.com/predncaa.html

According to this guy we have a 78% chance of winning.

dc4azcats wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Cats open as 15 point favorites. CU is getting better but hopefully this is not y he week they break through

I remember there coaches comment last year about how that was a game they could win hinting that there must not be a talent differential. Guess that differential was the coaching

Nobody thought Denker was good enough to beat them LY.

Thats not completely true about Denker

dc4azcats wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Cats open as 15 point favorites. CU is getting better but hopefully this is not y he week they break through

I remember there coaches comment last year about how that was a game they could win hinting that there must not be a talent differential. Guess that differential was the coaching

Nobody thought Denker was good enough to beat them LY.

Denker ended up being the P12 offensive player of the week LY from that game. Same for Ka'Deem Carey the year before against the Buffs. Maybe go for the trifecta against CU. Would like that...

Do not take any sharp instruments into this room:

http://www.allbuffs.com/forumdisplay.ph ... sage-Board

Yikes!!

RichRod was saying about what happened at UCLA that a lot of things went wrong (drops, reads, blocking, play calling), but that it's nothing that can't be corrected. So many young guys on this team, and this was a lesson they needed to learn. UCLA can either be a setback or a building block, depending on how these guys respond. There was a little of everything they'll face the rest of the year. Colorado is going to be a tough out but this is a chance for the guys to start executing and clicking again.

Cats will beat Colorado because we're the better team, the game is at home, and the game really doesn't mean anything (other than the overall record). When we get to a game that mean something (I see you Utah) is when we'll choke.

This one will be over by halftime.

Machina wrote:

dc4azcats wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Cats open as 15 point favorites. CU is getting better but hopefully this is not y he week they break through

I remember there coaches comment last year about how that was a game they could win hinting that there must not be a talent differential. Guess that differential was the coaching

Nobody thought Denker was good enough to beat them LY.

Thats not completely true about Denker

Why was the CU coached so pissed after this game? Same for Dykes after the Cal game and same for Whittingham after the Utah game? I know you dig Denker but coaches look at film and they saw what everybody else saw. We had a QB that could only throw going to his left, couldn't throw a deep ball, and didn't like to throw from the pocket. It wasn't a secret by any stretch of the imagination. All of these teams felt like they could control our running game and force Denker to beat them.

We had a QB that nobody wanted, and as I've said repeatedly a QB that maybe only RR alone gets 8 wins out of. I know you think I'm ragging on the guy but there's a reason why he received zero scholarship offers from anybody at any level of college football. What he accomplished last year was nothing short of incredible but the coaches mentioned above saw the same thing on film that every other college coach in America not named RR saw. They all thought there was no way they would lose to a team with Denker at QB.

Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

I'll watch it beginning to end, but this game really doesn't matter. No real rivalry with CU, and win or lose UA is destined for yet another minor bowl.

Expecting my first kid this weekend and it couldn't have happened against a better opponent. If he is born during the game, meh. I only wish I could record the game so I can watch game tape during the week following (I have DirecTV!).

Win this and they're 7-2 going into the UW game. Huskies have a strong front seven but a paper thin secondary - and that was before they kicked their best corner off the team yesterday. I like what Solomon said about Colorado: "They gave UCLA a better game than we did." Win these games, and if one of the LA schools drops a conference game then the South is back up for grabs.

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

No. I've actually skipped the last two CU games including the one in Tucson and it'sthe only game ssince moving to Tucson in 07 that I've skipped outside of ULL or whoever it was when it was Foles last game.

CU seems to always be sandwiched in the middle of the season, with not much on the line + their suckage since forever makes it hard to get excited. Plus last week's shit show....

I have old friends coming in so that's exciting.

azpenguin wrote:Win this and they're 7-2 going into the UW game. Huskies have a strong front seven but a paper thin secondary - and that was before they kicked their best corner off the team yesterday. I like what Solomon said about Colorado: "They gave UCLA a better game than we did." Win these games, and if one of the LA schools drops a conference game then the South is back up for grabs.

Need Asu to lose a conference, the LA schools are kinda irrelevant until then. A lot of scenarios but need to win the next 3 for it to even matter.

cats101 wrote:

azpenguin wrote:Win this and they're 7-2 going into the UW game. Huskies have a strong front seven but a paper thin secondary - and that was before they kicked their best corner off the team yesterday. I like what Solomon said about Colorado: "They gave UCLA a better game than we did." Win these games, and if one of the LA schools drops a conference game then the South is back up for grabs.

Need Asu to lose a conference, the LA schools are kinda irrelevant until then. A lot of scenarios but need to win the next 3 for it to even matter.

If AZ wins out and both LA schools lose a conference game, then Cats take the south by beating ASU.

Merkin wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

I'll watch it beginning to end, but this game really doesn't matter. No real rivalry with CU, and win or lose UA is destined for yet another minor bowl.

exactly. just blah all around. maybe if we had beaten usc or hadn't decided to not show up against ucla it'd be different. but even if we were 8-0 it'd be hard to get excited about colorado.

cats101 wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

No. I've actually skipped the last two CU games including the one in Tucson and it'sthe only game ssince moving to Tucson in 07 that I've skipped outside of ULL or whoever it was when it was Foles last game.

CU seems to always be sandwiched in the middle of the season, with not much on the line + their suckage since forever makes it hard to get excited. Plus last week's shit show....

I have old friends coming in so that's exciting.

Hell, I've enjoyed the last two. '12 with Ka'Deem rolling up 366, and last year with Ka'Deem and Denker running up and down on the Buffs.

azpenguin wrote:

cats101 wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

No. I've actually skipped the last two CU games including the one in Tucson and it'sthe only game ssince moving to Tucson in 07 that I've skipped outside of ULL or whoever it was when it was Foles last game.

CU seems to always be sandwiched in the middle of the season, with not much on the line + their suckage since forever makes it hard to get excited. Plus last week's shit show....

I have old friends coming in so that's exciting.

Hell, I've enjoyed the last two. '12 with Ka'Deem rolling up 366, and last year with Ka'Deem and Denker running up and down on the Buffs.

That TD pass thrown by Denker has to be the worse looking pass I have ever seen that turned into a touchdown.

congrats Bmalo

Merkin wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

I'll watch it beginning to end, but this game really doesn't matter. No real rivalry with CU, and win or lose UA is destined for yet another minor bowl.

well looks like I'm not the only one then, judging from Merk's and everyone else's responses.

I mean sure, when the game is on, I'll be watching and following until the end....but....just no anticipation. Sigh.

The Sports Guys review Ucla and preview Colorado.

They mention it in the show, Zellers is now the starting NG not only on the field, but also on the depth chart for the first time this year. Is there a smaller nose guard in D1 football?

What happened to Worthy?

I'm excited for this game. The team is still ranked top-20 and yea, it's a long shot to win the P12 South, but we can only control our games. AZ can win out. Even if the South doesn't come our way it would still be awesome to go 10-2 or 9-3 while giving ASU a beating, regardless of what bowl we're sent to. Lay an egg vers Colorado or Washington and then I'll back off the koolaid a lil bit. Not yet though, sports are crazy and unpredictable. Never give up, I know RR and the team aren't.

Merkin wrote:

azpenguin wrote:

cats101 wrote:

PieceOfMeat wrote:Could there be any less excitement for this game? I'm not hearing anyone talk about it. Hell, even on this board, not much interest in it.

No. I've actually skipped the last two CU games including the one in Tucson and it'sthe only game ssince moving to Tucson in 07 that I've skipped outside of ULL or whoever it was when it was Foles last game.

CU seems to always be sandwiched in the middle of the season, with not much on the line + their suckage since forever makes it hard to get excited. Plus last week's shit show....

I have old friends coming in so that's exciting.

Hell, I've enjoyed the last two. '12 with Ka'Deem rolling up 366, and last year with Ka'Deem and Denker running up and down on the Buffs.

That TD pass thrown by Denker has to be the worse looking pass I have ever seen that turned into a touchdown.

i was in Boulder and was intoxicated and just laughed and laughed

They moved Worthy off the nose to tackle

azcat49 wrote:They moved Worthy off the nose to tackle

Gotcha, thanks.

Cool photos. 100 years of Homecoming.

http://tucson.com/gallery/news/local/ph ... 064.html#0

Colorado excitement level.

@celebrityhottub, pretty well-known SBNation blogger, posts a weekly "This Week In Schadenfreude" that covers variety topics across conferences. This week he highlighted some poster in a Wildcats forum about the Colorado game (rest of the games except ASSU):

Same post as last year....

THE SEASON IS OVER - START PREPARING FOR ASU.

Colorado - does not matter
Washington - does not matter
Utah - does not matter

There is no need to scout them, there is no need to scheme against them. Nothing they do on the field matters. If we are 3-0 in these games or 0-3 in those games it makes NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever. I'd send entire squads of walk-ons to those games. Get our top players healthy and start tailoring everything in practice around ASU.

ASU... matters. They do nothing but get lucky, game after game. It's bull shit and had we prepared last year, we could have won, but we wasted energy on Oregon and then got demolished, dismantled, embarrassed and destroyed by ASSwipeU. Either win this game, this year or fire the entire staff. In fact I would burn football to the ground if we cannot beat the scum devils this year and stop playing while we are ahead in the record column.

HotTub added his own thoughts:

I often wish the crazy things commenters proposed came to be in the real world, and this proposal is no exception. Just imagine Rich Rodriguez losing three straight games (including one to Colorado) and only saying "it doesn't matter" after each of them. "We didn't scout them or scheme them. We intentionally benched our best players. Losing these games made no difference."

"But why, Coach?"

"All that matters is ASSwipeU."

http://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal ... de-week-10

Miller seems to be hurt a lot. Same injury?

We need Baucus back

whatisee wrote:Miller seems to be hurt a lot. Same injury?

We need Baucus back

I don't think Miller has played since the Nevada game.

whatisee wrote:Miller seems to be hurt a lot. Same injury?

We need Baucus back

Miller has been out with a shoulder injury most of the year.

I'm looking forward to this game because it is the first one since my freshman year in 99 that I will be attending. I'm also hoping to get my two boys (8&6) to love Arizona sports as much as I do. I chose this game because it seems like every time I go to a game my team loses and I just can't imagine that we lose to this rado team. Quick, someone reverse jinx to cancel out my real jinx!

Beat the Buffs!
Decimate the Devils!
Bear Down!

Gimino on Zellers. 6-1(in cleats), 247 and starting his 4th game as the nose guard in a 3 man front.

"I've seen all types of looks from across the line," Zellers said. "They give me the, 'What's this kid doing here?' kind of look or the, 'How big are you?' kind of look. I try to not let it get to me."

"When he was lined up against the All-American from Oregon (center Hroniss Grasu) and was holding his own -- I mean, he got whipped a little bit; who doesn't? -- but he held his own right there and we thought, 'This guy is going to be playing a lot of football for Arizona.' "

As Gene Hackman said in the Replacements on what you need to win:

Heart.

You have to have heart.

Miles and miles of heart!

Desert Swarm talks with the SB Nation reporter for Colorado about the game:

5. Give us three quick keys from Colorado's end that give the Buffs a good chance of winning in Tucson.

Control the line of scrimmage. This is true every game, but only achievable in some (no offense). if they can get the run game on one end and pressure on the other, which has happened exactly 0 times this year at the same time, this could get exciting real quick.

NO TURNOVERS. Sefo, I'm looking at you. Hold on to the football and give yourselves a chance to win. It's been a while since Liufau hasn't thrown a pick, so let's break the streak Saturday.

Pressure on defense. CU is not going to a bowl this year. There's a still a lot to compete for, but there's also a lot less to lose. I want to see Kent Baer dial up those blitzes, play press man, and make a big mistake or a big play, no middle ground. There's a much better chance at a win if Solomon is rattled and his receivers remember the hits, so play loose, have fun, and fly around the field. All in with the playcalls.

And CU will need EVERYTHING to happen for a win in Tucson.

I'm hoping for some better play calling. After UCLA, RR owned up to making some poor calls and UCLA's defense were sniffing out Anu rolling to his right almost every time. Maybe I haven't noticed but it doesn't seem like we've "opened up the playbook" much this year. I would think that it would've happened a little bit (Randall happened to get a play in there) when our backs were against the wall in the UCLA game but alas.

Gimino puts last week's loss and this year into perspective as only the best sports writer in Tucson can.

I don't want this to come off as flippant, but "stuff happens." It's fun to react to every win or loss - and, by that, I mean overreact - but pull back a bit and look at the last month or so. Going 2-2 in a four-game stretch of at Oregon, USC, at Washington State and at UCLA isn't cause for another round of "Ha! I knew Arizona would let me down."

The way I look at it - your mileage may vary - is that Rodriguez has elevated Arizona to the point where it is good enough to be in every game, which means you're frustrated when they don't win every game.

Anu Solomon looked like a freshman quarterback, the receivers dropped close to double-digit passes and the running backs too often jumped out of their lanes and into tacklers, you get a rare stinker out of the RichRod offense.

Key word: Rare.

I know the Wildcats faithful is weary of the waiting game, tired of the passing of years without that Rose Bowl invitation, but I have never seen the program in better shape than right now.

Now, Arizona has the right coach, the right facilities and the right athletic director in Greg Byrne. It's never been so good.

A bad night in Pasadena doesn't change that.

Crush Colorado!
Destroy the Devils!
Bear Down!

That's a uniform combination we've never worn

This kid's head is right where it needs to be.

I hope we get the running game going... Wilson has not looked like himself (the guy who was dragging and running over guys) since coming back from the concussion. Not sure if he is playing tentative... hope this game is a confidence boost.

Javier Morales with five off-the-beaten-path storylines of the game.

Kiyama wrote:I hope we get the running game going... Wilson has not looked like himself (the guy who was dragging and running over guys) since coming back from the concussion. Not sure if he is playing tentative... hope this game is a confidence boost.

Huh? Did I miss NW getting a concussion? I thought he had an ankle injury.

PieceOfMeat wrote:

Kiyama wrote:I hope we get the running game going... Wilson has not looked like himself (the guy who was dragging and running over guys) since coming back from the concussion. Not sure if he is playing tentative... hope this game is a confidence boost.

Huh? Did I miss NW getting a concussion? I thought he had an ankle injury.

Nick was just an ankle. TJG had to leave the USC game with concussion symptoms.

Jason Bartel's 3 keys this week are brought to you by The Fray.

3. It's Not Easy Being Skinny

To force all these turnovers that Arizona fans would like to see, the defensive line and blitzing linebackers will need to get up in Sefo Liufau's face constantly to force those bad decisions. This is never easy when your starting nose tackle, Parker Zellers, is 6-1, 247 pounds. This is the game where those skinny defensive lineman can gain some confidence heading into the crucial stretch of games to end the season.