THE USC Trojans Discussion & Predictions Thread

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:47 pm

Let's apply the transitive property.

Arizona beat Nevada
Nevada beat WSU
WSU beat Utah
Utah beat UCLA
UCLA beat ASU
ASU beat USC

So.....................

Berkut · Post by **Berkut** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:58 am

I think Arizona answers any lingering doubts about how real they are today.

The defense is still not dominating, but gets the stop it needs.

The offense shows that they are really something special. When USC puts 7 or more in the box, the WR's make them pay, and if they try to double any of them, RRod tears holes in their run defense. Arizona rips off 600 yard combined offense and the game isn't close after the first half.

Arizona 48, USC 28

threenumberones · Post by **threenumberones** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:17 am

So fucking pumped for this game today! Rubbers are going down like a Van Buren hooker. Can't wait!

To me the key is 3rd down stops, and that's also the biggest reason for why we beat Oregon. Have to get to the quarterback. Casteel needs to call the perfect game and I have faith that he will.

Go Cats!

ANGCatFan · Post by **ANGCatFan** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:25 am

Jason Bartel at SB Nation does a clever themed preview each week; three keys based on song titles from a band out of the opponents city. This week the band is Fitz and the Tantrums.

2. House On Fire

The sold out atmosphere at Arizona Stadium needs to be in this game for the entire 60 minutes. Yes, the game starts at 7:30 local time, which does not bode well for the fourth quarter atmosphere being as awesome as the first quarter. Stay the whole game, yell the whole game. Get that USC offense flustered and force some false start penalties. This team deserves support for an entire game. Make it happen this weekend. Fourth Ave. will still be there at midnight. Don't worry.

catgrad97 · Post by **catgrad97** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:52 am

Over/under on the number of holding penalties called on Arizona tonight?

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:10 am

Is Wilson out?

NYCat · Post by **NYCat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:20 am

Wilson & Bundage are very likely out

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:40 am

Could doubtful mean a RR scheme?

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:51 am

It is a blow if Wilson is out.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:55 am

They all picked us on gameday. Curse initiated.

NYCat · Post by **NYCat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:58 am

Corso comparing Arizona as a possible 2010 Cam Newton Auburn team

Jinx is on

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:14 am

None of this matters.

Arizona is winning this game

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:47 am

B U Z Z S A W

Gilbertcat · Post by **Gilbertcat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:47 am

Line moved a point to -2. Some money believes in the Cats.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:50 am

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:56 am

CalStateTempe wrote:Could doubtful mean a RR scheme?

That's not his style. He's not really into playing games with the injury report.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:59 am

Gilbertcat wrote:Line moved a point to -2. Some money believes in the Cats.

It's starting to move just a little. It will be interesting what the line movement will be right before game time.

I sure miss Winger's comments on this stuff.

Catstatic · Post by **Catstatic** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:02 am

Our biggest advantage is coaching. Second is depth. Third is playing at home. Keep bringing in fresh players, keep pounding, pounding and pounding on SC, make SC defend every inch of the field, fans stay loud and engaged, and my guess is Cats win by 2+ TD's.

Go Cats!!

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:07 am

Catstatic wrote:Our biggest advantage is coaching. Second is depth. Third is playing at home. Keep bringing in fresh players, keep pounding, pounding and pounding on SC, make SC defend every inch of the field, fans stay loud and engaged, and my guess is Cats win by 2+ TD's.

Go Cats!!

Sounds like a plan.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:45 am

Don't want to get too confident because I've been down that road only to get smacked back down to reality. That said, things do feel different. The coaching here is unlike it has ever been. The team has the ability to beat anyone if they play a complete game - which they still have not done this year. Oregon was a good performance but they still turned the ball over twice in the red zone and left a lot of points on the field. I'm optimistic about tonight and looking forward to a rocking stadium.

PieceOfMeat · Post by **PieceOfMeat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:48 am

So almost all the experts are picking us.
A large portion of the fanbase are picking us, thinking this team is different than historical AZ teams.
Sold out stadium.

yeah...sounds like just about the time that a typical historical soul-crushing loss would occur.

Guess I'm like Merkin, conditioned to expect it by this point

Here's hoping the Cats are as real as we all hope they are!

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:41 pm

Yeah throughout Arizona history this is where we'd go and lose some double ot game on a missed xp.

Longhorned · Post by **Longhorned** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:07 pm

USC 31
Arizona 45

Gladiator Cat · Post by **Gladiator Cat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:15 pm

Really sucks the Wilson is out. USC will likely have some success against our run game with Wilson out. Love TJG, but he is injury prone.

We need a huge effort from a back-up RB tonight. Baker, maybe?

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:22 pm

Gladiator Cat wrote:Really sucks the Wilson is out. USC will likely have some success against our run game with Wilson out. Love TJG, but he is injury prone.

We need a huge effort from a back-up RB tonight. Baker, maybe?

All the more reason to see a Randall package tonight.

Gladiator Cat · Post by **Gladiator Cat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:42 pm

Maybe so, hope RR leaves nothing to chance tonight. Let it rip!

AZCatGirl · Post by **AZCatGirl** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:48 pm

Oregon killing UCLA just makes me feel even better about tonight. As long as the team stays focused we've got this.

Gilbertcat · Post by **Gilbertcat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:53 pm

Line down to -1 1/2. Lets get that to a pk

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:01 pm

At Tucson Meet Yourself and there's U of A gear EVERYWHERE. This town is ready for the team to take that next step.

prh · Post by **prh** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:21 pm

I'm in Salt Lake City and just had a Utah fan say he's cheering for us tonight. Had that happen yesterday too. Everyone, everywhere, hates USC. Let's go boys!

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:49 pm

The line is now -1 at a lot of books.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:57 pm

A nice piece by Brad Allis over at 247 Sports.

5-stars vs.OKGs

http://arizona.247sports.com/Article/5- ... s-31941711

Hey you, yeah you, in the cardinal and navy. Guess what, they did not want you. They did not think you could play for them. Did not think you could wear the maroon and gold. Did not think you could Fight On or lead them to Victory.

You were not Hollywood enough. You were not prime time enough. Players like you don't get pep talks from Snoop Dogg or Will Ferrell.

You were too short. Too small. Didn't have a position. You didn't go to the right camp or play for the right team.

You didn't have enough stars or enough hype. Recruiting services did not love you enough. No all-star games, not for you.

You couldn't get a sniff from USC.

You were an OKG. Arizona liked you. They loved you, most likely enough to offer you the spring of your junior year. They didn't care how tall you were. They weren't worried about star rankings. They have a plan and saw that you fit into that plan.

You have a chip on your shoulder, but that is okay, so do your coaches. No golden boys on this staff. Most overlooked them, just like most overlooked you.

You may not have been good enough for USC, but you are good enough for 5-0. Their five stars (and 50 scholarship players) have gotten them three wins.

But guess what? You haven't done anything yet. You have a nice win over Oregon, but you have not beaten a blue blood. A loss to USC and you are all tied with the rest of the south. A loss and the win in Eugene is nice, but seen nationally as a fluke. A loss and they get a bit of validation for overlooking you.

But a win? A win over USC still has some clout. A win proves last week was no fluke. A win keeps the momentum going. A win keeps you on first place. A win shows them they missed out.

The season is not lost on a loss and nothing, except a bowl bid, is clinched but if you win, if you and you rag tag bunch of OKGs pull off the win, an upset by the way, then you take another step closer to getting your program to the next level.

BearDown89 · Post by **BearDown89** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:03 pm

Tyrell Johnson snaps off a kick return for a TD today.

NYCat · Post by **NYCat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:13 pm

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:16 pm

Is it game time yet?

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:07 pm

It's now a pick em at some places.

OSUCat · Post by **OSUCat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:09 pm

Does that mean the sharp money went Arizona's way?

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:11 pm

OSUCat wrote:Does that mean the sharp money went Arizona's way?

Exactly

And I felt as soon as the line came out that Vegas was setting it up for the smart bettors to put money on AZ late.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:21 pm

It's now Arizona -1 at some books.

PieceOfMeat · Post by **PieceOfMeat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:13 pm

PieceOfMeat wrote: yeah...sounds like just about the time that a typical historical soul-crushing loss would occur.

OSUCat · Post by **OSUCat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:13 pm

Field goals matter. The blocked kick and the kick at the end just iced us. The 48 yarder doesn't bother me, but the other two should have been made. One play and we would be 6-0. That is it, just one play.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:20 pm

I hate SC...always have, always will.

btfd16 · Post by **btfd16** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:22 am

btfd16 · Post by **btfd16** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:34 am

Just going to quote it cause I can't embed.. Daniel Berk @DSBerk · 52m 52 minutes ago
If you're wondering if teammates have Skowron's back. I'm watching a student manager angrily go back and forth with a mad UA fan at 2:40 am.

and...

Dale Stewlow @dstewlow · 2h 2 hours ago
We don't even get a last chance field goal if Casey doesn't have an amazing onside kick

dmjcat · Post by **dmjcat** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:01 am

dc4azcats wrote:
dmjcat wrote:This is a hard game to call, as evidenced by the narrow Vegas point spread.

This will be the first game we have played this year against a team that has large physical players on both sides of the line. I believe our offensive line is up to the task, the defensive line I am not so sure about. I am concerned that Sarkisian might actually find a brain and try to make this game a matchup of Damian Mama (6-5 370) against our undersized walk-on at nt.......what is he,5-11 and all of 240 lbs??? The kid has a lot of heart but physics usually wins in the end. We have the smallest defensive front 7 in the PAC12 and this is the first of 4 PAC12 south opponents (USC/UCLA/asu/Utah) who will feature large, physical lines on both sides of the ball. How we handle the USC running game will be a good indication of what lays ahead.
BC ran read option all game long to the tune of 452 yards. QB had 191 on 13 or 14 carries and 2 other RB's had 89 yards each. Then Assu's QB throws for 510 on SC so I'm not sure that Arizona doesn't have some options in this game. SC shut down Stanford but who hasn't?

Arizona hasn't shut anybody down TY and I doubt we shut SC down either. I think we stick to the script of our D making some stops and the O scoring enough to win the game.

Utah has had a strong running game every time we've played them and Arizona is 2-0. They also are usually in the top 3 in rush defense until after they play us. Last year we rushed for 300 yards and Utah rushed for 172. In 2012 we rushed for 320 and Utah rushed for 132.

Care to reassess your analysis???

Unfortunately, Sarkisian does have a brain and did turn it into a Mama/Zellers matchup...........that USC left tackle (was that a mack truck?) gashed us pretty good too. I would like to think that the DL play will soon improve but the reality is it likely won't. And next year probably won't be any better, in fact it may be worse. We lose our best two DL's (Pettinato & Gilbert) and our current staffs DL recruits (Melvin, Bruno, Worthy, Allen) have thus far all proven to be busts and/or the DL coach can't develop them. Its hard to believe that Marcus Griffin is a worse option than Zellers, I have to wonder if RRod has thought about burning his redshirt.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:53 am

Tough loss for sure. Hard to imagine we left 12-28 points in the red zone. Execution killed us. Thought we did OK defensively. Got some stops and most games we should win when we give up less then 30.

Still worried about not getting more heat on the QB. Can't let WAZZU sit back there and scan the field. Surprised Anu never carried if for no other reason to keep them honest.

Never seen a fan base believe in a team so much then say it's the same old same old so quickly. Lots of season left

3goggles · Post by **3goggles** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:53 pm

azcat49 wrote:Tough loss for sure. Hard to imagine we left 12-28 points in the red zone. Execution killed us. Thought we did OK defensively. Got some stops and most games we should win when we give up less then 30.

Still worried about not getting more heat on the QB. Can't let WAZZU sit back there and scan the field. Surprised Anu never carried if for no other reason to keep them honest.

Never seen a fan base believe in a team so much then say it's the same old same old so quickly. Lots of season left

So true bro so true!

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:02 pm

azcat49 wrote:Tough loss for sure. Hard to imagine we left 12-28 points in the red zone. Execution killed us. Thought we did OK defensively. Got some stops and most games we should win when we give up less then 30.

Still worried about not getting more heat on the QB. Can't let WAZZU sit back there and scan the field. Surprised Anu never carried if for no other reason to keep them honest.

Never seen a fan base believe in a team so much then say it's the same old same old so quickly. Lots of season left

except it is the same old same old. these kind of let downs are have what defined arizona football since 1899. if it wasn't the same old same old...we'd have won.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:35 pm

Hater, when you say it with winning being the defining piece then its hard to say you are wrong.

Yet most evetyone has felt differently about this team and i think it is simply because the difference is RR. His offense gives us a chance each and every game. No doubt, we blew it, should have won. Left 12-28 points out there. But thats exactly why this is different, we didnt get owned and had no chance.

The future is bright, as is the rest of the year against a very tough sche f2f ule. Oh and BTW, I doubt USC looses the rest of the year

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