Bear Down Wildcats

What: ASU @ Arizona football
When: Friday 12/11/20
Time: 5:00 PM MST
Where: Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ
TV: ESPN

Fuck ASU

I’ve decided to pretend this year never happened.

Indeed. Mostly because it never should have happened.

Two winless teams. What a ratings bonanza for ESPN.

Also, fuck ASU.

I've never been less enthused for this game than I am this year.

I think we suck more than them. But you never know.

We suck more, but they are likely still a little rusty from their break. It's a rivalry game. Anything can happen. But does anyone really care?

AzCatFan2 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:56 am We suck more, but they are likely still a little rusty from their break. It's a rivalry game. Anything can happen. But does anyone really care?

Now I'm not expecting it but I will care if we win. If not, I'll likely convince myself I didn't care to begin with.

azgreg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:12 am I've never been less enthused for this game than I am this year.

I know this is bad to say, but I basically don't watch our games. LSU/Bama and Clemson/VaTech were more interesting.

The only questions in our season are whether we'll go winless or maybe win one game, and whether we'll lose competitively or just get waxed like at UW. It's always nice to beat ASU, but this feels like an exhibition game in a doomed season.

On offense, everything's about their backfield, with Daniels, the freshman Trayanum, and White putting up numbers. On defense, Tyler Johnson's a bit of a monster with 4 sacks in two games, backed by 250-lb MLB Merlin Robertson, and S Evan Fields behind him gets a lot of mop-up tackles. Punter Michael Turk is a weapon, with a 49.5 punting average, and freshman DB D.J. Taylor needs to be accounted for on kickoffs.

Offense:
QB 5 Jayden Daniels 6-3 185 So (Passing: 55.2% 179.5 YPG 2 TD/1 INT Rushing: 58.5 YPG 1 TD)
RB 1 Chip Trayanum 5-11 230 Fr (Rushing: 96.0 YPG 2 TD)
RB 3 Rachaad White 6-2 195 Jr (Rushing: 64.5 YPG Receiving: 61.5 YPG 1 TD)
WR 2 L.V. Shelton-Bunkley 5-11 190 Fr (Receiving: 35.3 YPG)
WR 6 Geordon Porter 6-2 200 RS-So (Receiving 26.0 YPG)
TE Curtis Hodges 6-7 245 (12.0 YPG)
LT 74 Kellen Dietsch 6-6 300 Sr
LG 61 Dohnovan West 6-3 280 So
C 72 Cade Cota 6-3 290 Sr
RG 77 LaDarius Henderson 6-4 285 So
RT 55 Henry Hattis 6-5 300 Sr

Defense:
DE 41 Tyler Johnson 6-4 285 RS-Jr (11 Tackles 4 Sacks 1 FR)
NT 98 D.J. Davidson 6-5 320 RS-Jr (8 Tackles)
DE 90 Jermayne Lole 6-1 310 (10 Tackles)
OLB 34 Kyle Soelle 6-4 225 RS-Jr (14 Tackles)
MLB 8 Merlin Robertson 6-3 250 Jr (17 Tackles 1 INT 1 FR)
OLB 20 Darien Butler 6-0 235 Jr (11 Tackles)
CB 24 Chase Lucas 6-0 180 RS-Sr (9 Tackles)
CB 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 180 RS-Fr (12 Tackles)
S 4 Evan Fields 6-1 195 Sr (22 Tackles)
S 2 DeAndre Pierce 5-11 185 Gr (12 Tackles 1 FR)
S 6 Timarcus Davis 6-0 175 RS-Jr (6 Tackles)

Kicking:
K 5 Cristian Zendejas 5-8 185 RS-Jr (2-3 Long: 41 YDS)
K 14 Jack Luckhurst 6-3 175 RS-Fr (1-1 Long: 49 YDS)
KO 17 Logan Tyler 6-0 210 Gr (9 KO/1 TB)
P 25 Michael Turk 6-1 220 RS-Jr (49.5 YPP Long: 58 YDS)
PR 3 Rachaad White 6-2 195 Jr (1: 4 YDS)
KR 9 D.J. Tayor 5-11 195 Fr (4: 115 YDS Long: 42 YDS)

First, after the long-awaited home loss to UCLA, a Republic writer says it was unfair, and the game should never have been played. (Because ASU had the Covid restrictions and was rusty, while UCLA had been playing.) Well, would you rather ASU just cancel their season? Yeah, any team that has to cancel and/or reschedule a game in any sport due to Covid is going to have to deal with coming back after that in their next game. Do you really think, in addition to everything else, the league should try to only match up teams in absolutely identical circumstances? Good luck. And how about the ASU players who must have gone out partying to cause the problem in the first place? Any criticism for them? Meanwhile, it's convenient that ASU has such an in-the-tank media to make such assertions for them while they can stay silent and above such lowly pettiness. And, just in case the unlikely happens...we now have a pre-emptive excuse that's already out there. Care for some brie with that chardonnay?

Second, there's the Lev story on Chuck Cecil making a speech to fire up the team for the ASU game. (God knows gum-chewing, monotone speaking, hitch-in-his-giddyup Kevin Sumlin isn't going to do it.) So Cecil mentioned UArizona players getting "kidnapped" by ASU, and of course, neither Lev nor Sumlin knows anything about it, so it comes off as some embellished fish story that was made just for effect. I admire Lev's work, but I'll call him out here. How about following-up by asking Cecil (or even...ugh...Hansen) about it? The answer is, it happened way back in the 1930s. Three or four top Phoenix-area recruits came to Tucson to play football for the Wildcats. But an ASU guy "kidnapped" them (with green folding pictures of dead presidents), and drove them back to Phoenix to play for the then Arizona State College, Tempe. You can find the time frame by looking at Arizona's football results from the years following that event. No games were played against Arizona State, as the University of Arizona cancelled them until those players were no longer playing for them. It's a nice little story for rivalry week, but all we were left with was Kevin Sumlin going: "Huh?"

Somebody will no doubt point out that some of these guys may be out with injuries, but rivalry games sometimes spark miraculous recoveries. We shall see. I any event, these are the best performers this season to date. Gunnell spreads it around pretty well through the air, but the ground game has been disappointing. Defensively, they don't generate a lot of sacks or turnovers, but they've seemed more fundamentally solid. On special teams, our kicker and punter have been solid, although we haven't generated much in run-backs.

Offense:
QB 17 Grant Gunnell 6-6 230 So (Passing: 69.4% 273.5 YPG 6 TD/1 INT)
RB 0 Gary Brightwell 6-1 220 Sr (Rushing: 84.2 YPG 1 TD)
WR 86 Stanley Berryhill 5-10 180 RS-Jr (Receiving: 51.5 YPG 3 TD)
WR 11 Tayvian Cunningham 5-10 175 Sr (Receiving: 43.0 YPG 1 TD)
WR 5 Brian Casteel 6-0 185 RS-Jr (Receiving: 31.0 YPG)
WR 10 Jamarye Joiner 6-1 215 RS-So (Receiving: 24.3 YPG 1 TD)
LT 77 Jordan Morgan 6-5 310 So
LG 78 Donovan Laie 6-5 325 Jr
C 63 Steven Bailey 6-3 315 RS-Sr
RG 66 Robert Congel 6-4 320 RS-Jr
RT 74 Paiton Fears 6-5 315 Jr

Defense:
DE 90 Trevon Mason 6-5 310 Sr (18 Tackles)
NT 51 Roy Lopez 6-2 320 Sr (16 Tackles 1 Sack)
DT 92 Kyon Barrs 6-2 305 So (19 Tackles)
OLB 47 Rourke Freeburg 6-2 205 RS-Jr (19 Tackles)
ILB 8 Anthony Pandy 6-1 220 Sr (28 Tackles 2 INT 1 FR)
ILB 48 Parker Henley 5-11 225 RS-Jr(10 Tackles)
OLB 49 Jalen Harris 6-5 260 RS-Jr (15 Tackles)
CB 2 Lorenzo Burns 5-11 175 RS-Sr (23 Tackles)
CB 4 Christian Roland-Wallace 5-11 200 So (19 Tackles)
S 26 Rhedi Short 6-1 195 RS-Jr (26 Tackles)
S 21 Jaxen Turner 6-1 200 So (18 Tackles)

Kicking:
K/KO 43 Lucas Havrisik 6-2 185 Sr (FG: 6-7 Long: 51 YDS/KO: 19 KO/16 TB)
P 33 Tyler Loop 6-0 165 Fr (42.4 YPP Long: 55 YDS)
PR 10 Jamarye Joiner 6-1 215 RS-So (8.8 YPP)
KR Tayvian Cunningham 5-10 175 Sr (20.3 YPK)
KR 10 Jamarye Joiner 6-1 215 RS-So (16.5 YPK)

azgreg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:12 am I've never been less enthused for this game than I am this year.

Same here.

Still, it would be nice to beat ASsU.

Also, fuck ASsU.

On O, we need to be smart. No more attempts to run up the middle when we have 5 blockers and the D has 7 guys to stop the run. I don't trust Sumlin and Mazzone, but stranger things have happened.

On D, we need to make Daniels beat us by throwing to his receivers. ASu has no Harry or Aiyuk on the outside, and Daniels tends to run or check down to backs when he starts to get any pressure. Can't let him beat us with his legs or pick up 3rd and longs by dumping it down to a RB that slipped coverage and runs untouched for 15 yards.

Saw a stat the other day somewhere I thought was interesting. The last two times, and 4 of the last 5, Arizona had fewer than 4 wins going into the TC they won.

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 12:48 pm Saw a stat the other day somewhere I thought was interesting. The last two times, and 4 of the last 5, Arizona had fewer than 4 wins going into the TC they won.

We've got em right where we want em.

Here it is. I was close.

Hahaha that IS a fun fact!!

I'm starting to get a little enthused.

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:17 pm I'm starting to get a little enthused.

I'm done with Arizona football as long as Sumlin's here.

Down 14-0 with 56 seconds gone in a winless season. This is a new low on the field for a program that's seen a lot of lows.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:15 pm I'm done with Arizona football as long as Sumlin's here.

Down 14-0 with 56 seconds gone in a winless season. This is a new low on the field for a program that's seen a lot of lows.

At this point, the all time low that we thought Arizona football was in during Mackovic and the 2003 season is a fond memory. We are easily one of the 2-3 worst power conference programs out there now.

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:17 pm I'm starting to get a little enthused.

How’d that work out for you?

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:48 pm

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:17 pm I'm starting to get a little enthused.

How’d that work out for you?

We got this.

We got this.

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:56 pmWe got this.

Syphillis?

ByJoveByJingle wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 8:33 pm

azgreg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:56 pmWe got this.

Syphillis?

Syphilis would be an upgrade.

I found this funny. With 4:00 left to play, we were down 70-7 and ESPN's win % had ASU at a 99.9% chance to win.

I'm very intrigued by where the 0.1% chance for us was coming from at that point.

Fuck ESPN.

Perhaps UArizona's social media manager should follow Sumlin out of Tucson. This is the most "adding insult to injury" tweet against your own employer I've ever seen. (And FYI, they have NOT turned the comments off on this tweet.)

That is pretty much the dumbest way to use social media on a night like tonight. If you’re on Twitter and you are interested in UA sports, you already know what the score is.

Either try to be funny, or possibly hopeful and point out younger guys or walk-one who got some playing time. But better yet, just put out a “We’ll get ‘em next year” and shut the fuck up.

catgrad97 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 12:12 am Perhaps UArizona's social media manager should follow Sumlin out of Tucson. This is the most "adding insult to injury" tweet against your own employer I've ever seen. (And FYI, they have NOT turned the comments off on this tweet.)

ASSU will have a better team next year. As for us, the suckage will continue for years.

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 10:45 am ASSU will have a better team next year. As for us, the suckage will continue for years.

Yea ASU should be pretty decent next year and are on an upward trajectory but we're going to be a zero to three win team for this foreseeable future. Don't be surprised if our rivalry with ASU soon turns into Ohio State Michigan where we go years and years and years at a time without beating them