USC @Arizona discussion thread

[Merkin]

2 TD dog. Machina?

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/football/ ... B2Mzo7iIWg

[TheCatInTheHat]

USC's very talented, and they got a game under their belt. For us, we can analyze them, while they're stuck with last year's video of our team. We have the comfort of playing at home, albeit with no fans. I doubt they have any more bumps and bruises than we have from practice, so I'd call that a wash. Our team will have to play with a lot of energy without making stupid first game mistakes. Oddsmakers put us as a 2 TD underdog at home and don't think we'll be able to score much on USC's defense. It'll be an interesting test.

[Carcassdragger]

65-0 USC.

[ASUHATER!]

I'll go with 52-17 USC

[DrWildcat]

Hopefully we get to play this game.

I'm thinking 45-21 USC.

[dmjcat]

i think we beat the spread: USC 38 AZ 27

Too many negative Nancys here. If Rhoads has any success with the defense we can do better than expected.

[TheCatInTheHat]

One projected score I saw from the pros was 29-13, with USC covering, although they picked a higher O/U than that. But, predictions are like...well, you know the rest.

[Chicat]

I just hope it's not Covid - 2, UA - 0

[EastCoastCat]

SC really didn't look that good to be honest and their coaching/play calls were highly questionable.

I know they have much more talent then we do but I don't see a blow-out.

33-21 Trojans.

[AzCatFan2]

USC has talent galore, but Helton and staff are average at best. Like it or not, ASu and Antonio Pierce gave us the blueprint to slow USC down. Play soft cover two and make USC methodically march down the field. And eventually, they will make a mistake or get impatient. Of course, if your D is on the field for 90+ plays, that's going to wear on them, so the O needs to control the ball and finish drives. ASu settled for a few FGs, and also couldn't throw the ball downfield. Lack of big play receivers with ASu's best sidelined with a rib injury certainly didn't help the Devils.

We have game film on USC, are playing at home, and will be eager to hit anyone with a different jersey. We have a puncher's chance in this game if we can run the ball and avoid turnovers. I think it will be closer than what the experts say. I say USC 38 - AZ 31.

[TheCatInTheHat]

Not surprisingly, the depth chart for USC is identical to the one for Utah. It's been a typical M.O. for Sumlin to release an initial one, and then only change it with basically season-ending injuries. One change is that Jamarye Joiner, who was suspended for the Utah game, is back in good graces. Unknown if Josh McCauley is available, although I'd say that's doubtful with the knee. So, without linking the .pdf, here are the starters (sans McCauley):

2 WR Boobie Curry 6-2 205
10 SLOT Jamarye Joiner 6-1 215
81 TE Bryce Wolma 6-4 240
77 LT Jordan Morgan 6-5 310
78 LG Donavan Laie 6-5 325
63 C Steven Bailey 6-3 315
66 RG Robert Congel 6-4 320 -or- 56 Josh Donovan 6-5 315
74 RT Payton Fears 6-5 315
5 WR Brian Casteel 6-0 185
0 RB Gary Brightwell 6-1 220
17 QB Grant Gunnell 6-6 230

52 DE Aaron Blackwell 6-3 295
51 NT Roy Lopez 6-2 320
92 DT Kyon Barrs 6-2 305
19 SLB Kwabena Watson 6-2 230
48 MLB Derick Mourning 6-3 230
8 WLB Anthony Pandy 6-1 220
49 BUCK Jalen Harris 6-5 260
4 CB Christian Roland-Wallace 5-11 200
21 S Jaxen Turner 6-1 200
3 S Jarrius Wallace 6-1 185 -or- 24 Rhedi Short 6-1 195
1 CB Lorenzo Burns 6-11 175

43 PK Lucas Havrisik 6-2 185
19 P Kyle Ostendorp 6-1 215
32 H Jacob Meeker-Hackett 6-0 205
64 LS Seth MacKellar 5-11 205
6 PR Michael WIley 5-11 200
11 KR Tayvian Cunningham 5-10 175

[Spaceman Spiff]

49-24, USC. Our defensive talent level is just nonexistent.

[dmjcat]

UA-USC preview from UA athletics:

https://arizonawildcats.com/news/2020/1 ... eason.aspx

[UAEebs86]

Would love to be wrong on this one.

[TheCatInTheHat]

With the cancellation of the Cal at ASU game and the Utah at UCLA game, Cal will now play at UCLA at 10 am Sunday on FS1.

[UAdevil]

Urban Meyer on the Fox pregame show said USC by 20+. Likely...

[ASUHATER!]

Good bet by Urban. Outside of playing a FCS team I'd favor every team we play by 20+

[TheCatInTheHat]

I listed Arizona's starters above, so here are USC's starters:

Offense:
WR 8 Amon-Ra St. Brown (6-1, 195, Jr.)
WR 15 Drake London (6-5, 210, So.)
WR 21 Tyler Vaughns (6-2, 190, Sr.*)
TE 84 Erik Krommenhoek (6-5, 260, Sr.)
LT 75 Alijah Vera-Tucker (6-4, 310, Jr.*)
LG 72 Andrew Vorhees (6-6, 320, Jr.*)
C 62 Brett Neilon (6-2, 305, Jr.*)
RG 71 Liam Jimmons (6-4, 315, Sr.*)
RT 70 Jalen McKenzie (6-5, 315, Jr.*)
QB 9 Kedon Slovis (6-2, 200, So.)
TB 7 Stephen Carr (6-0, 215, Sr.)
FB 29 Vavae Malepeai (6-0, 220, Sr.*)

Defense:
DE 50 Nick Figueroa (6-5, 260, Jr.*)
NT 93 Marlon Tuipulotu (6-3, 305, Jr.*)
DT 96 Caleb Tremblay (6-5, 270, Sr.*)
OLB 99 Drake Jackson (6-4, 255, So.)
MLB10 Ralen Goforth (6-2, 235, So.)
OLB 1 Palaie Gaoteote IV (6-2, 250, Jr.)
NK 9 Greg Johnson (5-11, 195, Jr.*)
FS 21 Isaiah Pola-Mao (6-4, 205, Jr.*)
SS 15 Talanoa Hufanga (6-1, 215, Jr.)
CB 2 Olaijah Griffin (6-0, 175, Jr.)
CB 8 Chris Steele (6-1, 190, So.)

Kicking:
P 24 Ben Griffiths (6-5, 245, So.*)
K 48 Parker Lewis (6-3, 205, Fr.)
LS 59 Damon Johnson (6-0, 210, Sr.*)
H 24 Ben Griffiths (6-5, 245, So.*)
PR/KOR 8 Amon-Ra St. Brown (6-1, 195, Jr.)

[TheCatInTheHat]

17-13 USC at halftime. Very competitive game. Way to hang in there, Cats!

[UAdevil]

Good 1st half!

[Carcassdragger]

Not bad. Not bad at all. Damn, makes you wonder what could've been with Schooler, Fields, and Young.

[DrWildcat]

Well I was pleasantly surprised by today. I thought the team gave great effort, something I didn't feel was the case the last two years.

The defense is just short-handed but at least we got pressure on the QB every once in awhile. Ran out of gas at the end and played some terrible prevent defense.

The offense was decent. Grant looked pretty good for the most part. Probably most worried about the Oline as Grant was under a pressure pretty often.

As a side note, USC needs to get rid of Helton. Too much talent to continually be mediocre.

[UAEebs86]

[TheCatInTheHat]

Not going to go through the whole box score, but a few select items:

o We were missing starting WR Brian Casteel and reserve WRs Drew Dixon and Dyelan Miller for unknown reasons.
o C Josh McCauley managed to recover from his knee issue sufficiently to start.
o Walk-ons Rourke Freeburg and Parker Henley started at LB.
o Freshman (and placekicker-in-waiting) Tyler Loop punted, rather than Sophomore Kyle Ostendorp
o Grant Gunnell (gun-NELL, please) hit 67% of his passes for 286 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT.
o Gary Brightwell had 112 yards rushing.
o Tayvian Cunningham had 110 yards receiving, with a TD.
o USC had 498 yards to Arizona's 444.
o Arizona held USC under 200 yards rushing.
o Arizona had 8 tackles for loss.
o S Rhedi (ready) Short led the team with 9 tackles.

Washington (which didn't look overwhelming in beating Oregon St by 6) is next in Seattle. 6 pm on FoX (Channel 11 in Tucson.)

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well I was pleasantly surprised by today. I thought the team gave great effort, something I didn't feel was the case the last two years.

The defense is just short-handed but at least we got pressure on the QB every once in awhile. Ran out of gas at the end and played some terrible prevent defense.

The offense was decent. Grant looked pretty good for the most part. Probably most worried about the Oline as Grant was under a pressure pretty often.

As a side note, USC needs to get rid of Helton. Too much talent to continually be mediocre.

I was impressed with Rhoads. We were at a significant talent and depth disadvantage and held up well until exhaustion set in. For a D with walk ons dotting the rotation, that's about as good as you can ask for.

Watching Gunnell looks solid just makes me more frustrated his redshirt got burnt last year. He looks like he'll be a good QB, but the pieces around him aren't there right now.

Helton surviving at USC boggles my mind. They have national contender potential and Helton consistently delivers middle of the Pac results and somehow stays employed. Swann's extension in 2018 makes our football coach decisionmaking look solid in comparison.

[EastCoastCat]

I was impressed like most of you on our team's performance overall and especially the effort.

I know a couple of SC boosters and they are pissed Helton has survived these last 2 games because his head is certainly on the proverbial chopping block.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I was impressed like most of you on our team's performance overall and especially the effort.

I know a couple of SC boosters and they are pissed Helton has survived these last 2 games because his head is certainly on the proverbial chopping block.

I'm fairly convinced it's the 20 million buyout keeping him alive. It can't be the results.