2015 Season Prediction Poll

scumdevils86 · Post by **scumdevils86** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 9:42 am

3 weeks from today and we are there! Time to put up your predictions for the W/L total this regular season and beyond. Machina started some lame thread in January but this is a real poll. I'm pumped....

Poll is only open till September 3rd so get your vote in now!

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 9:47 am

My heart tells me 10-2 and repeat south champs, but my brain tells me 9-3 with 3 losses between UCLA, @STAN, @USC, Utah, @ASU, or maybe even an @WASH or @COLO if we let our guards down.

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:15 am

UW losing the only returning starting OL it had is not a good sign. Especially for an OL that was questionable to begin with. Those of you that had us losing to UW might want to reconsider. UW has 4 returning starters on both sides of the ball.

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:38 am

dc4azcats wrote:UW losing the only returning starting OL it had is not a good sign. Especially for an OL that was questionable to begin with. Those of you that had us losing to UW might want to reconsider. UW has 4 returning starters on both sides of the ball.

Crazier things have happened. Like fumbling the ball with a minute left in the game.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:35 pm

Playing at Washington is never easy; I don't care how bad they are I still don't feel super confident in a us winning there

Gilbertcat · Post by **Gilbertcat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:48 pm

Looking at it, I think the UCLA Furd games will decide if they are a 10 win or 9 win team. After those games, I think they roll.

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:50 pm

ASUHATER! wrote:Playing at Washington is never easy; I don't care how bad they are I still don't feel super confident in a us winning there

Neither is playing at SC, Oregon, at Stanford in consecutive weeks before you play Arizona. Especially when you're already have a team with very little experience. Not to mention going SC with it's power run game, to the spread with Oregon then back to power with Stanford and then back to the spread with Arizona.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:10 pm

I think they win at UW. There's just that bit of knowing that strange things happen when these teams play, the game's at Husky Stadium, it's on Halloween... they will need to be focused and they'll get UW's best shot. Again, I think they win, just think that the AZ-UW history mandates some respect for the matchup, even if AZ is favored big.

Gilbertcat · Post by **Gilbertcat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:47 pm

UW could be 3-5 going into that game. Of course after a win against WSU, AZ could be looking ahead to USC...I still feel pretty good that it will be a win in Washington.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:58 pm

I've changed my vote from 9-3 to 12-0.

#RealFan
#RichRodWouldWantItThatWay
#HashtagsOnlyWorkOnSocialMediaYouFuckingMoron

wyo-cat · Post by **wyo-cat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 2:59 pm

Praise Rod and pass the Kool Aid.

10-2.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:13 pm

I have waffled quite a bit but I am ready.

11-1

By far this is RR best team across the board. I think this defense is going to surprise alot of people, including me. I think the secondary is much more athletic and much faster and Casteel will bring it this year. I think the DLine will be much more physical and that coupled with the experience they have will make our LB's shine.

We catch UCLA art he best time In Rosen's first conference road game. If we can't Beat them now, then when? I am just not as sold on furds defense and I think we ride the momentum of the UCLA game to a big road win.

We go into USC 8-0 and to me that is the tough one as the pressure mounts. I do think once again it comes down to the TC game and in a most epic battle, we beat the scum.

All of this of course hinges on decent health. Lets keep our fingers crossed. I hope the fans show up before they realize they missed on a season for the ages

Sid · Post by **Sid** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:04 pm

11-1

The Udub game will be a world class beating, a lot of defensive highlight material will come from that curb stomping.

I like us at Furd.

I hope to God we punch those face painting clowns from fucla in the throat! Trying really hard to attend that one, fingers crossed I can be present to watch Mora implode after the loss.....

The only one that really concerns me is SC. The force is strong in that damn horse. I have it as a loss, but I'm hopeful we can keep that animal & it's jockey in the freaking barn most of the game.....

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:27 pm

I can see us being 8-1 going into the final stretch. I think we lose to usc, Stanford and 1-2 out of @asu, @uw,@Colorado, Ucla and Utah.

dmjcat · Post by **dmjcat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:00 pm

8-4 with losses to UCLA/Stanford/USC/ASU.

We still don't match up with the power running teams (too small up front defensively) and we have the slowest set of CB's I've seen in quite some time.

The best chance for a win (UCLA/SC/Stan/ASU) will be against UCLA......which I think is the key game of the year.

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:11 pm

dmjcat wrote:8-4 with losses to UCLA/Stanford/USC/ASU.

We still don't match up with the power running teams (too small up front defensively) and we have the slowest set of CB's I've seen in quite some time.

The best chance for a win (UCLA/SC/Stan/ASU) will be against UCLA......which I think is the key game of the year.

So Denson and Neal are slow? Who knew?

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:34 pm

dmjcat wrote:8-4 with losses to UCLA/Stanford/USC/ASU.

We still don't match up with the power running teams (too small up front defensively) and we have the slowest set of CB's I've seen in quite some time.

The best chance for a win (UCLA/SC/Stan/ASU) will be against UCLA......which I think is the key game of the year.

Haha, thx. We just locked up a great season. I guess you could be right once but lets just hope you continue to be off base.

Denson and Neal are not slow. They might have slow hips or poor technique which maybe is what you meant, but speed wise they are more than adequate.

I do agree I fear power teams and I think UCLA will morphe into a power run team but we can load up now with more bodies and stay fresh. Our backers along with our line has great experience and that should help us in our scheme.

We dropped almost 50 on Furd in RR first year and I think our offense will be electric. Furd's defense will take a step back IMO but that will be a tough game, as will USC and ASSU.

dmjcat · Post by **dmjcat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:41 pm

dc4azcats wrote:
dmjcat wrote:8-4 with losses to UCLA/Stanford/USC/ASU.

We still don't match up with the power running teams (too small up front defensively) and we have the slowest set of CB's I've seen in quite some time.

The best chance for a win (UCLA/SC/Stan/ASU) will be against UCLA......which I think is the key game of the year.
So Denson and Neal are slow? Who knew?

Evidently not you. Denson and McCall are expected to be the starters by the way. Even with Mcknight (who was the fastest CB we had last year) the UA allowed 281.2 passing yards per game, fourth-most in the Pac-12 and eighth-most nationally. The Wildcats ranked 102nd out of 125 teams in pass efficiency. Thats hardly encouraging.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:58 pm

Both Scheer and Berk are predicting Denson and Neal as the starters.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:04 pm

The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ

dmjcat · Post by **dmjcat** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:22 pm

azcat49 wrote:The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ

Points all taken but the bottom line is that we really haven't made any significant upgrades to our personnel in our weakest areas. We lose Pettinato on the DL who is being replaced by Bruno (probably a small dropoff). Zellers was pretty much dominated at the line by the UCLA/USC's of the world. We finished the year 11th out 12 in the PAC? (if I remember correctly) against the run and I already posted our #'s against the pass (also bad) where we lost our best DB (Mcknight).

Hopefully Solomon can put up some Mariota like numbers and raise his passing completion percentage to 68% instead of 58%......which can negate some of our defensive shortcomings. I'm also concerned about the OL, especially Tagaloa at LT who had a history at Cal of giving up sack after sack. Dykes eventually demoted Tagaloa to 2nd team just to keep Goff from getting killed.

Speaking of getting killed I hope that RRod changes his tendencies and puts more 2nd teamers on the field (especially at QB where we do not have a proven backup) sooner when the score permits. The 12 games in a row is going to be a killer (especially down the stretch). The only real way to offset the wear and tear is to put more players on the field and preserve the health of the starters where possible. It seemed that Solomon almost never came off the field last year, even when we were way up.

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:02 pm

Everything I have been hearing says that the secondary is much faster this year. Ask the receivers. The question won't be if they're fast enough, because they are. The question is how they'll play the position.

The D-line is much bigger this year. Even Zellers has added bulk. I'm not worried about them. In the 3-3-5 these guys need to eat up blockers and open things up for the blitzers. Watch the camp reports - while short, the bits you do see show D-linemen not getting pushed around.

Also, RichRod is very keenly aware of the situation with the schedule and he talks about it a lot. This year he's got a backup QB that he has more faith in and a lot more depth all over the place.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:06 pm

Part of the stats defensively has to do with the up tempo we play. I would think we probable played more plays on defense than any other team. MAybe yards per play would be a better barometer. I have no idea where we would stack up using that metric.

One thing for sure in the past, we were small and we had little depth. I think that changes and I just got done watching the preview and Curtis Conway and Parker both said we finally look like a PAC team size wise. With no bye we will be forced to play more and that should help the program even this year.

I do think we see Randell get more run but I also think Baker runs for close to 1000 yards because he will get 15 carries a game with Wilson getting 20. If our offense is as good as I think it will be our defensive stats will be much improved.

scumdevils86 · Post by **scumdevils86** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:09 pm

scumdevils86 · Post by **scumdevils86** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:09 pm

Feels so much better than when I was in the boards in 2004.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:23 pm

Well the line has not moved from the -140 over 7.5 so we all believe more than the linesmakers, although they are juicing the over

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:51 pm

dmjcat wrote:
azcat49 wrote:The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ
Points all taken but the bottom line is that we really haven't made any significant upgrades to our personnel in our weakest areas. We lose Pettinato on the DL who is being replaced by Bruno (probably a small dropoff). Zellers was pretty much dominated at the line by the UCLA/USC's of the world. We finished the year 11th out 12 in the PAC? (if I remember correctly) against the run and I already posted our #'s against the pass (also bad) where we lost our best DB (Mcknight).

Hopefully Solomon can put up some Mariota like numbers and raise his passing completion percentage to 68% instead of 58%......which can negate some of our defensive shortcomings. I'm also concerned about the OL, especially Tagaloa at LT who had a history at Cal of giving up sack after sack. Dykes eventually demoted Tagaloa to 2nd team just to keep Goff from getting killed.

Speaking of getting killed I hope that RRod changes his tendencies and puts more 2nd teamers on the field (especially at QB where we do not have a proven backup) sooner when the score permits. The 12 games in a row is going to be a killer (especially down the stretch). The only real way to offset the wear and tear is to put more players on the field and preserve the health of the starters where possible. It seemed that Solomon almost never came off the field last year, even when we were way up.

Not that I would expect you to know, but you know why Zellers plays so much? Because he is so technically sound and knows how to use his quickness and his leverage (see the Assu game goal line stand) to make plays and tie up blockers. Bruno from what Scheer and others who have seen a lot of fall camp in person say he's a very tough guy to block and so far I haven't heard any comparisons in any way, shape or form to Pettinato. Meaning, nobody has said that Bruno can't fill his shoes and as I stated, 2 ex UA players who have been really impressed with both Bruno and Fotu because of how difficult it is to block them. But other than that you were spot on. Scheer recently put out a depth chart and when you consider that both Turituri and Scooby will probably drop down and play rush ends in obvious passing downs, I think our depth is pretty solid along the DL.

Again, according to folks who have actually watched the UA practice and scrimmage this Fall, DeAndre Miller is another guy that folks should look out for as being a guy that could have an impact. He has size and speed and is by all accounts having a great camp thus far. Scooby is still Scooby. The attention that he's going to draw and the opportunities that he will create for a guy like Miller and or Fotu is something we didn't have LY.

Then you make the statement that we didn't make any "significant upgrades to our personnel"? Seriously? I watched the Pac12 most of the night tonight because it was all Arizona games. Love Tevis but every single team abused him in pass coverage. The TE for UW and the TE for Utah? I seriously don't understand why they didn't go to the TE on each and every play as it was that big of a mismatch. A 5'8 guy trying to cover a 6'3 or taller TE is an impossible cover for a guy like Tevis. TY? All of our safeties are in the 6'0 to 6'1 range and all of them have speed so they can cover the TE or a WR if need be. What we have TY alone as far as safeties go is as significant an upgrade as there is on the team. LY we started 2 guys in Tevis and Bondy that were 5'8 and 5'9 respectively, not fast, great against the run and had a nose for the ball. Neither one was great in coverage and neither one had the speed or the size to make an impact on a blitz. I saw Grandon tackle the Utah QB on a safety blitz but that was only because he rolled out to the side that Grandon was blitzing from and even then he had to make an ankle tackle to get him down. Parks at the Spur is a leader and wanted the leadership roll which is often overlooked but is a huge key to any successful D. Tellas Jones and Magloire are battling it out for the Bandit spot and both guys are very athletic, have size and speed. Then Allah who Scheer expects could be one of the better players on our D this season. At the corners it's Neal and Denson with McCall and Morrison rotating in. There's nothing even remotely comparable to what we have TY in the secondary, compared to LY. As good as our offense is and it's really good, our D more than holds it's own every day against the offense. Our young DB's go up against size and speed each and every day in practice. I'm not making that stuff up. Two former UA players post a lot of stuff on premium about what they've observed in practice as it relates to our D and I'll take their word over yours. Both think our D could surprise TY.

I love your Stanford prediction because 3 years ago when Stanford had a much better D and a more experienced D we put up a 48 spot. Yet TY we will struggle against a Stanford D that returns 3 starters and doesn't have anybody on D that has ever played against us. A brand new secondary with no leader is going to shut down Arizona's passing attack?

Ucla and SC? On the road and we lose 17-7 to Ucla and vs SC we lose on a last second missed FG. Both schools had a significant talent gap and Ucla had a 3 year starter at QB in Hundley while Arizona started a RS frosh. TY, Arizona starts a QB that's going into his 3rd year in the program and 2nd as a starter while Ucla starts a true frosh in his first conference road game of the season. Not to mention that he will be facing a D that he's probably never seen before in the 3-3-5. He will also be at a disadvantage in that most of the guys on D have been with the program all 3 years and the options that are available TY - weren't available the last 2 years. It will be interesting to see what Casteel dials up for the true frosh in his first road game?

SC is SC and it's probably the toughest game on the schedule and winning on the road is never easy. It will be interesting to see what's at stake if anything when the two teams meet up in November.

Your post here was so much like the posts you had last season in regards to what would happen when we play Wazzu and Utah. Seriously, nice effort once again.

PieceOfMeat · Post by **PieceOfMeat** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 12:05 am

scumdevils86 wrote:9-3

This was going to be my prediction, but that 12 straight weeks of games just makes me wary of it.

So instead, 8-4. A small step back from last year, a couple of breaks/luck plays don't go our way, and the schedule beats up on us a bit.

maybe win the bowl game we go to this time.

Sage&Silver · Post by **Sage&Silver** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:20 am

azcat49 wrote:Part of the stats defensively has to do with the up tempo we play. I would think we probable played more plays on defense than any other team. MAybe yards per play would be a better barometer. I have no idea where we would stack up using that metric.

One thing for sure in the past, we were small and we had little depth. I think that changes and I just got done watching the preview and Curtis Conway and Parker both said we finally look like a PAC team size wise. With no bye we will be forced to play more and that should help the program even this year.

I do think we see Randell get more run but I also think Baker runs for close to 1000 yards because he will get 15 carries a game with Wilson getting 20. If our offense is as good as I think it will be our defensive stats will be much improved.

6th in the nation for most plays defended.

I looked the numbers up in another thread this summer, but looking only at defense against FBS opponents, Arizona was ranked between 35-65 in just about all the per play and per drive stats. Not great but not abysmal like the per-game numbers indicate.

Opponent yards per pass attempt ranked outside that range, and very low nationally, but most of the conference was in the bottom 50. UA was 7th in the PAC.

Carcassdragger · Post by **Carcassdragger** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:04 am

I voted for 9-3, but am hoping for 10-2. And I'll say what a lot of us are thinking but not saying. ASSU looks to be very good and I think our guys will be beat up coming into that game. Whether we want to admit it or not, Fraud Mcwristbands is a damn good coach also. (relax, I didn't say he was better than RR). Heart says Cats but....

We'll beat UCLA and probably drop one or two other games (see above).

Sage&Silver · Post by **Sage&Silver** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:39 am

carcassdragger wrote:I voted for 9-3, but am hoping for 10-2. And I'll say what a lot of us are thinking but not saying. ASSU looks to be very good and I think our guys will be beat up coming into that game. Whether we want to admit it or not, Fraud Mcwristbands is a damn good coach also. (relax, I didn't say he was better than RR). Heart says Cats but....

We'll beat UCLA and probably drop one or two other games (see above).

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:43 am

carcassdragger wrote:I voted for 9-3, but am hoping for 10-2. And I'll say what a lot of us are thinking but not saying. ASSU looks to be very good and I think our guys will be beat up coming into that game. Whether we want to admit it or not, Fraud Mcwristbands is a damn good coach also. (relax, I didn't say he was better than RR). Heart says Cats but....

We'll beat UCLA and probably drop one or two other games (see above).

Let's see how Assu does with it's schedule.

TAM might as well be a home game for TAM
USC
@UCLA
@Utah
Oregon
UA
@Cal
note* Assu plays at Wazzu on November 7th (the week after the Oregon game). Talk about a trap game. The hangover from playing Oregon at home then you go to Pullman where it's going to be cold and rainy and it's the last place Assu wants to be.

Assu hasn't played Oregon and or Cal the last 2 seasons. They haven't beaten Oregon since '04. How many of those 7 games does Assu win? 2 or 3? Playing TAM in Texas is a rough start and you know TG wants that game in the worst way. Problem is, if you not only lose that game, but lose in a similar fashion to how UA lost to Penn State? You get 2 cup cakes then Sc and Ucla on back to back weekends. Before you know it Assu could be sitting at 2-3 with Oregon still on the schedule and you're not even halfway through the schedule - and you're playing for pride at that point.

FightWildcatsFight · Post by **FightWildcatsFight** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:53 am

dc4azcats wrote:
carcassdragger wrote:I voted for 9-3, but am hoping for 10-2. And I'll say what a lot of us are thinking but not saying. ASSU looks to be very good and I think our guys will be beat up coming into that game. Whether we want to admit it or not, Fraud Mcwristbands is a damn good coach also. (relax, I didn't say he was better than RR). Heart says Cats but....

We'll beat UCLA and probably drop one or two other games (see above).
Let's see how Assu does with it's schedule.

TAM might as well be a home game for TAM
USC
@UCLA
@Utah
Oregon
UA
@Cal
note* Assu plays at Wazzu on November 7th (the week after the Oregon game). Talk about a trap game. The hangover from playing Oregon at home then you go to Pullman where it's going to be cold and rainy and it's the last place Assu wants to be.

Assu hasn't played Oregon and or Cal the last 2 seasons. They haven't beaten Oregon since '04. How many of those 7 games does Assu win? 2 or 3? Playing TAM in Texas is a rough start and you know TG wants that game in the worst way. Problem is, if you not only lose that game, but lose in a similar fashion to how UA lost to Penn State? You get 2 cup cakes then Sc and Ucla on back to back weekends. Before you know it Assu could be sitting at 2-3 with Oregon still on the schedule and you're not even halfway through the schedule - and you're playing for pride at that point.

I think they win @TAMU but drop 3 between USC/Oregon/@Utah/UA/@Cal.

Sage&Silver · Post by **Sage&Silver** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:59 am

dc4azcats wrote:
Assu hasn't played Oregon and or Cal the last 2 seasons. They haven't beaten Oregon since '04. How many of those 7 games does Assu win? 2 or 3? Playing TAM in Texas is a rough start and you know TG wants that game in the worst way. Problem is, if you not only lose that game, but lose in a similar fashion to how UA lost to Penn State? You get 2 cup cakes then Sc and Ucla on back to back weekends. Before you know it Assu could be sitting at 2-3 with Oregon still on the schedule and you're not even halfway through the schedule - and you're playing for pride at that point.

dmjcat · Post by **dmjcat** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:05 pm

dc4azcats wrote:
dmjcat wrote:
azcat49 wrote:The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ
Points all taken but the bottom line is that we really haven't made any significant upgrades to our personnel in our weakest areas. We lose Pettinato on the DL who is being replaced by Bruno (probably a small dropoff). Zellers was pretty much dominated at the line by the UCLA/USC's of the world. We finished the year 11th out 12 in the PAC? (if I remember correctly) against the run and I already posted our #'s against the pass (also bad) where we lost our best DB (Mcknight).

Hopefully Solomon can put up some Mariota like numbers and raise his passing completion percentage to 68% instead of 58%......which can negate some of our defensive shortcomings. I'm also concerned about the OL, especially Tagaloa at LT who had a history at Cal of giving up sack after sack. Dykes eventually demoted Tagaloa to 2nd team just to keep Goff from getting killed.

Speaking of getting killed I hope that RRod changes his tendencies and puts more 2nd teamers on the field (especially at QB where we do not have a proven backup) sooner when the score permits. The 12 games in a row is going to be a killer (especially down the stretch). The only real way to offset the wear and tear is to put more players on the field and preserve the health of the starters where possible. It seemed that Solomon almost never came off the field last year, even when we were way up.
Not that I would expect you to know, but you know why Zellers plays so much? Because he is so technically sound and knows how to use his quickness and his leverage (see the Assu game goal line stand) to make plays and tie up blockers. Bruno from what Scheer and others who have seen a lot of fall camp in person say he's a very tough guy to block and so far I haven't heard any comparisons in any way, shape or form to Pettinato. Meaning, nobody has said that Bruno can't fill his shoes and as I stated, 2 ex UA players who have been really impressed with both Bruno and Fotu because of how difficult it is to block them. But other than that you were spot on. Scheer recently put out a depth chart and when you consider that both Turituri and Scooby will probably drop down and play rush ends in obvious passing downs, I think our depth is pretty solid along the DL.

Again, according to folks who have actually watched the UA practice and scrimmage this Fall, DeAndre Miller is another guy that folks should look out for as being a guy that could have an impact. He has size and speed and is by all accounts having a great camp thus far. Scooby is still Scooby. The attention that he's going to draw and the opportunities that he will create for a guy like Miller and or Fotu is something we didn't have LY.

Then you make the statement that we didn't make any "significant upgrades to our personnel"? Seriously? I watched the Pac12 most of the night tonight because it was all Arizona games. Love Tevis but every single team abused him in pass coverage. The TE for UW and the TE for Utah? I seriously don't understand why they didn't go to the TE on each and every play as it was that big of a mismatch. A 5'8 guy trying to cover a 6'3 or taller TE is an impossible cover for a guy like Tevis. TY? All of our safeties are in the 6'0 to 6'1 range and all of them have speed so they can cover the TE or a WR if need be. What we have TY alone as far as safeties go is as significant an upgrade as there is on the team. LY we started 2 guys in Tevis and Bondy that were 5'8 and 5'9 respectively, not fast, great against the run and had a nose for the ball. Neither one was great in coverage and neither one had the speed or the size to make an impact on a blitz. I saw Grandon tackle the Utah QB on a safety blitz but that was only because he rolled out to the side that Grandon was blitzing from and even then he had to make an ankle tackle to get him down. Parks at the Spur is a leader and wanted the leadership roll which is often overlooked but is a huge key to any successful D. Tellas Jones and Magloire are battling it out for the Bandit spot and both guys are very athletic, have size and speed. Then Allah who Scheer expects could be one of the better players on our D this season. At the corners it's Neal and Denson with McCall and Morrison rotating in. There's nothing even remotely comparable to what we have TY in the secondary, compared to LY. As good as our offense is and it's really good, our D more than holds it's own every day against the offense. Our young DB's go up against size and speed each and every day in practice. I'm not making that stuff up. Two former UA players post a lot of stuff on premium about what they've observed in practice as it relates to our D and I'll take their word over yours. Both think our D could surprise TY.

I love your Stanford prediction because 3 years ago when Stanford had a much better D and a more experienced D we put up a 48 spot. Yet TY we will struggle against a Stanford D that returns 3 starters and doesn't have anybody on D that has ever played against us. A brand new secondary with no leader is going to shut down Arizona's passing attack?

Ucla and SC? On the road and we lose 17-7 to Ucla and vs SC we lose on a last second missed FG. Both schools had a significant talent gap and Ucla had a 3 year starter at QB in Hundley while Arizona started a RS frosh. TY, Arizona starts a QB that's going into his 3rd year in the program and 2nd as a starter while Ucla starts a true frosh in his first conference road game of the season. Not to mention that he will be facing a D that he's probably never seen before in the 3-3-5. He will also be at a disadvantage in that most of the guys on D have been with the program all 3 years and the options that are available TY - weren't available the last 2 years. It will be interesting to see what Casteel dials up for the true frosh in his first road game?

SC is SC and it's probably the toughest game on the schedule and winning on the road is never easy. It will be interesting to see what's at stake if anything when the two teams meet up in November.

Your post here was so much like the posts you had last season in regards to what would happen when we play Wazzu and Utah. Seriously, nice effort once again.

Hi DC, how was your summer??.......long time no see

I see you are still engaged in the same mindless fanboy pumping of the UA football team. Lets see where do we start?:

1) Why does Zeller start?? Because we had some lousy recruiting classes 2/3 seasons ago which has
resulted in an undersized walk on being our primary option at NT. Should Marcus Griffin
relegate Zellers to the bench I will be very encouraged

2) Pettinato, in case you don't know, was the only UA defensive lineman to garner any post
season honors. Bruno is a rookie (who also weighs less). Our undersized DL, which was the
smallest line in the PAC12 last year, is going to be even smaller this year (1st unit)

3) At CB we lost our best player (also the fastest) in Mcknight. The returnees (Denson/McCall)
are slower than Mcknight (and were also part of the bottom 1/4th of the conference pass defense
that we fielded)

4) Regarding Stanford.....let me get this straight.....we are going to beat them because we played them
close (in a loss) THREE FREAKING years ago???????? BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Reality is we have NOT upgraded at our two weakest spots on defense (1st team line and CB). Our depth
does appear to be better if only because we have more bodies. The 1st unit DL's/CB's have not
seen any serious upgrades, regardless of how you fantasize it. I might change my mind in a nanosecond
if I wake up one morning and find out that Zellers is now 3rd team because Griffin/Sani have passed
him up on the depth chart

By the way, you flap your lips at everyone who has made a prediction but I notice that you haven't had the guts to post your own predictions. Whats our record going to be Nostradamus???

azpenguin · Post by **azpenguin** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:24 pm

McKnight was not the fastest CB Arizona had last year. Denson, Neal, Holiday, and Brewer have all posted better 40 times (there isn't one out there for McCall.) If you have different information, point me to it. McKnight was the most experienced CB Arizona had last year, but not the fastest.If you don't think the secondary is faster this year, ask the receivers that go up against them every day in practice.

If there's one position group on defense I'm not worried about this year, it's the line. One of the reasons Scooby was able to rack up the sacks and TFLs was because the line did their job. The 3-3-5 line is less about getting to the QB and more about tying up blockers so that the blitzers can get into the backfield. They're bigger, stronger and deeper this year.

What does Stanford three years ago have to do with this year? In 2012 Arizona was one play against knocking them off and hung 48 on them. (What RichRod did to Stanford was a feat that did not go unnoticed among D-1 coaches.) RichRod had a patchwork roster and Shaw had the team that would go on to knock off Oregon, holding Mariota and crew to 14 points. Shaw's roster has not been drastically upgraded since then and they've taken a step or two back on offense. Arizona, however, has upgraded their roster across the board and is capable of running the Cardinal defense ragged again, while Arizona's defense is up to the task much more than the walk-on heavy defense of 2012 was.

MrBug708 · Post by **MrBug708** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:41 pm

Another year where UCLA is everyones choice for an upset

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:43 pm

MrBug708 wrote:Another year where UCLA is everyones choice for an upset

Probably will be a pick 'em game with it being in Tucson.

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 11:05 pm

dmjcat wrote:
dc4azcats wrote:
dmjcat wrote:
azcat49 wrote:The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ
Points all taken but the bottom line is that we really haven't made any significant upgrades to our personnel in our weakest areas. We lose Pettinato on the DL who is being replaced by Bruno (probably a small dropoff). Zellers was pretty much dominated at the line by the UCLA/USC's of the world. We finished the year 11th out 12 in the PAC? (if I remember correctly) against the run and I already posted our #'s against the pass (also bad) where we lost our best DB (Mcknight).

Hopefully Solomon can put up some Mariota like numbers and raise his passing completion percentage to 68% instead of 58%......which can negate some of our defensive shortcomings. I'm also concerned about the OL, especially Tagaloa at LT who had a history at Cal of giving up sack after sack. Dykes eventually demoted Tagaloa to 2nd team just to keep Goff from getting killed.

Speaking of getting killed I hope that RRod changes his tendencies and puts more 2nd teamers on the field (especially at QB where we do not have a proven backup) sooner when the score permits. The 12 games in a row is going to be a killer (especially down the stretch). The only real way to offset the wear and tear is to put more players on the field and preserve the health of the starters where possible. It seemed that Solomon almost never came off the field last year, even when we were way up.
Not that I would expect you to know, but you know why Zellers plays so much? Because he is so technically sound and knows how to use his quickness and his leverage (see the Assu game goal line stand) to make plays and tie up blockers. Bruno from what Scheer and others who have seen a lot of fall camp in person say he's a very tough guy to block and so far I haven't heard any comparisons in any way, shape or form to Pettinato. Meaning, nobody has said that Bruno can't fill his shoes and as I stated, 2 ex UA players who have been really impressed with both Bruno and Fotu because of how difficult it is to block them. But other than that you were spot on. Scheer recently put out a depth chart and when you consider that both Turituri and Scooby will probably drop down and play rush ends in obvious passing downs, I think our depth is pretty solid along the DL.

Again, according to folks who have actually watched the UA practice and scrimmage this Fall, DeAndre Miller is another guy that folks should look out for as being a guy that could have an impact. He has size and speed and is by all accounts having a great camp thus far. Scooby is still Scooby. The attention that he's going to draw and the opportunities that he will create for a guy like Miller and or Fotu is something we didn't have LY.

Then you make the statement that we didn't make any "significant upgrades to our personnel"? Seriously? I watched the Pac12 most of the night tonight because it was all Arizona games. Love Tevis but every single team abused him in pass coverage. The TE for UW and the TE for Utah? I seriously don't understand why they didn't go to the TE on each and every play as it was that big of a mismatch. A 5'8 guy trying to cover a 6'3 or taller TE is an impossible cover for a guy like Tevis. TY? All of our safeties are in the 6'0 to 6'1 range and all of them have speed so they can cover the TE or a WR if need be. What we have TY alone as far as safeties go is as significant an upgrade as there is on the team. LY we started 2 guys in Tevis and Bondy that were 5'8 and 5'9 respectively, not fast, great against the run and had a nose for the ball. Neither one was great in coverage and neither one had the speed or the size to make an impact on a blitz. I saw Grandon tackle the Utah QB on a safety blitz but that was only because he rolled out to the side that Grandon was blitzing from and even then he had to make an ankle tackle to get him down. Parks at the Spur is a leader and wanted the leadership roll which is often overlooked but is a huge key to any successful D. Tellas Jones and Magloire are battling it out for the Bandit spot and both guys are very athletic, have size and speed. Then Allah who Scheer expects could be one of the better players on our D this season. At the corners it's Neal and Denson with McCall and Morrison rotating in. There's nothing even remotely comparable to what we have TY in the secondary, compared to LY. As good as our offense is and it's really good, our D more than holds it's own every day against the offense. Our young DB's go up against size and speed each and every day in practice. I'm not making that stuff up. Two former UA players post a lot of stuff on premium about what they've observed in practice as it relates to our D and I'll take their word over yours. Both think our D could surprise TY.

I love your Stanford prediction because 3 years ago when Stanford had a much better D and a more experienced D we put up a 48 spot. Yet TY we will struggle against a Stanford D that returns 3 starters and doesn't have anybody on D that has ever played against us. A brand new secondary with no leader is going to shut down Arizona's passing attack?

Ucla and SC? On the road and we lose 17-7 to Ucla and vs SC we lose on a last second missed FG. Both schools had a significant talent gap and Ucla had a 3 year starter at QB in Hundley while Arizona started a RS frosh. TY, Arizona starts a QB that's going into his 3rd year in the program and 2nd as a starter while Ucla starts a true frosh in his first conference road game of the season. Not to mention that he will be facing a D that he's probably never seen before in the 3-3-5. He will also be at a disadvantage in that most of the guys on D have been with the program all 3 years and the options that are available TY - weren't available the last 2 years. It will be interesting to see what Casteel dials up for the true frosh in his first road game?

SC is SC and it's probably the toughest game on the schedule and winning on the road is never easy. It will be interesting to see what's at stake if anything when the two teams meet up in November.

Your post here was so much like the posts you had last season in regards to what would happen when we play Wazzu and Utah. Seriously, nice effort once again.
Hi DC, how was your summer??.......long time no see

I see you are still engaged in the same mindless fanboy pumping of the UA football team. Lets see where do we start?:

1) Why does Zeller start?? Because we had some lousy recruiting classes 2/3 seasons ago which has
resulted in an undersized walk on being our primary option at NT. Should Marcus Griffin
relegate Zellers to the bench I will be very encouraged

2) Pettinato, in case you don't know, was the only UA defensive lineman to garner any post
season honors. Bruno is a rookie (who also weighs less). Our undersized DL, which was the
smallest line in the PAC12 last year, is going to be even smaller this year (1st unit)

3) At CB we lost our best player (also the fastest) in Mcknight. The returnees (Denson/McCall)
are slower than Mcknight (and were also part of the bottom 1/4th of the conference pass defense
that we fielded)

4) Regarding Stanford.....let me get this straight.....we are going to beat them because we played them
close (in a loss) THREE FREAKING years ago???????? BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Reality is we have NOT upgraded at our two weakest spots on defense (1st team line and CB). Our depth
does appear to be better if only because we have more bodies. The 1st unit DL's/CB's have not
seen any serious upgrades, regardless of how you fantasize it. I might change my mind in a nanosecond
if I wake up one morning and find out that Zellers is now 3rd team because Griffin/Sani have passed
him up on the depth chart

By the way, you flap your lips at everyone who has made a prediction but I notice that you haven't had the guts to post your own predictions. Whats our record going to be Nostradamus???

Here's the difference between you and me. I post what I know to be true based on what I see with my own eyes and or from what I hear from people I respect and are seeing things with their own eyes. I also frequent a premium site and I read a lot. I mention that so maybe next time you will actually do some research so you don't come off looking like you have no idea what you speak of?

Zeller starts because he plays for a coach that is a perfectionist in Coach Kirlav. Coach Kirlav plays Zeller because he's so technically sound and because of his technique he's able to make plays. Like the one in the Assu game. He also plays a lot because he understands how to LEVERAGE himself and force two blockers on him which allows a guy like Scooby to make a play. That's doing his job.

If you had bothered to read this from the Az Star:

http://tucson.com/sports/football/colle ... ?id=201408

You would see that Bruno weighs 293 TY where as Pettinato weighed 271 LY. So close. I guess you choose to ignore what I posted but any number of guys who also read the same premium site I do will tell you that two former UA football players who attend most every practice - say that Bruno is having a great camp and is very difficult to block. You get your info where??? Worthy is back up to 285 and then you have Sani Fuimaono who weighs close to 3 bills. The article doesn't mention Griffin much but maybe you can enlighten the rest of us?

As for the DB's, I think Penguin covered that and all I would add is what RR had to say about the DB's here:

http://www.arizonawildcats.com/ViewArti ... =210276800

On the secondary…
“I think the young guys in the secondary have done a pretty good job. I was worried about the inexperience coming into camp but it seems like the secondary has come along pretty well. I would say that that is one pleasant thing I have seen.”

The same 2 guys also mention how good Neal is, especially his closing speed when a ball is in the air, something that we weren't that good at last year - especially on deep balls.

As for Stanford - what's difficult for you to understand? We put up 48 on a team 3 years ago that had a much better D then it will have TY. We put up 48 and in the last 36 games Stanford has played, only Oregon has even come close and that was LY. Matt Scott threw for 491 yards in that game and a frosh named Johnny Jackson, starting his first game caught 10 passes. The same Johnny Jackson who couldn't get past the talented group of WR's that RR has assembled. Yet TY Stanford, with no starters returning in the secondary and only 3 starters overall returning - Arizona won't be able to put some points on the board? Seriously? Is Stanford a physical team? Absolutely but we get the ball too. they have to stop us and the last time we played they couldn't. Difference being that TY we won't start 4 guys that were 5'9 or less at MLB, Bandit and safety. We also won't start a bunch of walkons either. Hood, Sir Thomas Jackson and Tevis were all former Walk-ons in that game and they started for us.

Reality is you talk out of your ass and try to pass it off as fact when it's not. Like saying that Bruno doesn't weigh as much as Pettinato and McKnight was fast?

I had us going 10-2 LY and said as much. I have us going 10-2 TY even though I think SC is the only loss I see but even then I like our chances in that game.

dc4azcats · Post by **dc4azcats** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 11:12 pm

MrBug708 wrote:Another year where UCLA is everyones choice for an upset

Rosen playing his first conference road game against a D that isn't easy to understand in a week. Then add that for the first time Casteel has a bevy of guys who have been in the system now for all 3 years. It's allowing him to run some different looks that up to now we haven't shown because he didn't have the personnel to do so. No doubt Rosen is going to be a really good QB, and getting him early with looks that he hasn't seen before could be the difference in the game.

That and is Ucla bringing the black paint again or did that die when your DC left?

Puerco · Post by **Puerco** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 4:05 am

Sage&Silver wrote:
azcat49 wrote:Part of the stats defensively has to do with the up tempo we play. I would think we probable played more plays on defense than any other team. MAybe yards per play would be a better barometer. I have no idea where we would stack up using that metric.

One thing for sure in the past, we were small and we had little depth. I think that changes and I just got done watching the preview and Curtis Conway and Parker both said we finally look like a PAC team size wise. With no bye we will be forced to play more and that should help the program even this year.

I do think we see Randell get more run but I also think Baker runs for close to 1000 yards because he will get 15 carries a game with Wilson getting 20. If our offense is as good as I think it will be our defensive stats will be much improved.
6th in the nation for most plays defended.

I looked the numbers up in another thread this summer, but looking only at defense against FBS opponents, Arizona was ranked between 35-65 in just about all the per play and per drive stats. Not great but not abysmal like the per-game numbers indicate.

Opponent yards per pass attempt ranked outside that range, and very low nationally, but most of the conference was in the bottom 50. UA was 7th in the PAC.

We gave up 4.1 yards per rushing play, which was #46 in the country.

We gave up 7.4 yards per passing play, which was #90 in the country.

https://www.teamrankings.com/college-fo ... ss-attempt

Puerco · Post by **Puerco** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 4:16 am

This does not look like a particularly small group. Not huge, but we're not going to be facing 'Death by Pounds', if I can repurpose an old basketball phrase.

Sharif Williams NT 313
Aiulua Fanene DL 303
Marcus Griffin DL 302
Luca Bruno DL 296
Sani Fuimaono DL 288
Jeff Worthy NT 287
Anthony Fotu DL 274
Calvin Allen DL 266
Reggie Gilbert DL 262
Finton Connolly DL 251
Parker Zellers DL 247
Justin Belknap DL 242
Roc Russell DL 230
Jack Banda DL 228

Worth noting that the 7 biggest guys will all see plenty of time. Zellers is likely to be the only truly under sized guy who sees a lot of minutes.

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 5:40 am

MrBug708 wrote:Another year where UCLA is everyones choice for an upset

Got to beat them sometime right Bug? Might as well be this year.

ANGCatFan · Post by **ANGCatFan** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 6:19 am

Bug - What are you hearing about Rosen? The latest Podcast of Champions said he has been more inconsistent then in the spring. Their Scout rep is reporting an even battle between Rosen and Neuheisel.

azcat49 · Post by **azcat49** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:17 am

dmjcat wrote:
dc4azcats wrote:
dmjcat wrote:
azcat49 wrote:The coaches like McCall because of his size and he held up pretty good against most teams #1 tall outside guy.

Denson just got manhandled at times last year. He wasn't big enough to jam anybody at the line and turn the guy the way he wanted.

I think they will get beat at times, all corners do, but our safeties are alot more athletic and they will cover up more mistakes I think.

Time will tell but I think this defense will be by far the best Casteel has trotted out at AZ
Points all taken but the bottom line is that we really haven't made any significant upgrades to our personnel in our weakest areas. We lose Pettinato on the DL who is being replaced by Bruno (probably a small dropoff). Zellers was pretty much dominated at the line by the UCLA/USC's of the world. We finished the year 11th out 12 in the PAC? (if I remember correctly) against the run and I already posted our #'s against the pass (also bad) where we lost our best DB (Mcknight).

Hopefully Solomon can put up some Mariota like numbers and raise his passing completion percentage to 68% instead of 58%......which can negate some of our defensive shortcomings. I'm also concerned about the OL, especially Tagaloa at LT who had a history at Cal of giving up sack after sack. Dykes eventually demoted Tagaloa to 2nd team just to keep Goff from getting killed.

Speaking of getting killed I hope that RRod changes his tendencies and puts more 2nd teamers on the field (especially at QB where we do not have a proven backup) sooner when the score permits. The 12 games in a row is going to be a killer (especially down the stretch). The only real way to offset the wear and tear is to put more players on the field and preserve the health of the starters where possible. It seemed that Solomon almost never came off the field last year, even when we were way up.
Not that I would expect you to know, but you know why Zellers plays so much? Because he is so technically sound and knows how to use his quickness and his leverage (see the Assu game goal line stand) to make plays and tie up blockers. Bruno from what Scheer and others who have seen a lot of fall camp in person say he's a very tough guy to block and so far I haven't heard any comparisons in any way, shape or form to Pettinato. Meaning, nobody has said that Bruno can't fill his shoes and as I stated, 2 ex UA players who have been really impressed with both Bruno and Fotu because of how difficult it is to block them. But other than that you were spot on. Scheer recently put out a depth chart and when you consider that both Turituri and Scooby will probably drop down and play rush ends in obvious passing downs, I think our depth is pretty solid along the DL.

Again, according to folks who have actually watched the UA practice and scrimmage this Fall, DeAndre Miller is another guy that folks should look out for as being a guy that could have an impact. He has size and speed and is by all accounts having a great camp thus far. Scooby is still Scooby. The attention that he's going to draw and the opportunities that he will create for a guy like Miller and or Fotu is something we didn't have LY.

Then you make the statement that we didn't make any "significant upgrades to our personnel"? Seriously? I watched the Pac12 most of the night tonight because it was all Arizona games. Love Tevis but every single team abused him in pass coverage. The TE for UW and the TE for Utah? I seriously don't understand why they didn't go to the TE on each and every play as it was that big of a mismatch. A 5'8 guy trying to cover a 6'3 or taller TE is an impossible cover for a guy like Tevis. TY? All of our safeties are in the 6'0 to 6'1 range and all of them have speed so they can cover the TE or a WR if need be. What we have TY alone as far as safeties go is as significant an upgrade as there is on the team. LY we started 2 guys in Tevis and Bondy that were 5'8 and 5'9 respectively, not fast, great against the run and had a nose for the ball. Neither one was great in coverage and neither one had the speed or the size to make an impact on a blitz. I saw Grandon tackle the Utah QB on a safety blitz but that was only because he rolled out to the side that Grandon was blitzing from and even then he had to make an ankle tackle to get him down. Parks at the Spur is a leader and wanted the leadership roll which is often overlooked but is a huge key to any successful D. Tellas Jones and Magloire are battling it out for the Bandit spot and both guys are very athletic, have size and speed. Then Allah who Scheer expects could be one of the better players on our D this season. At the corners it's Neal and Denson with McCall and Morrison rotating in. There's nothing even remotely comparable to what we have TY in the secondary, compared to LY. As good as our offense is and it's really good, our D more than holds it's own every day against the offense. Our young DB's go up against size and speed each and every day in practice. I'm not making that stuff up. Two former UA players post a lot of stuff on premium about what they've observed in practice as it relates to our D and I'll take their word over yours. Both think our D could surprise TY.

I love your Stanford prediction because 3 years ago when Stanford had a much better D and a more experienced D we put up a 48 spot. Yet TY we will struggle against a Stanford D that returns 3 starters and doesn't have anybody on D that has ever played against us. A brand new secondary with no leader is going to shut down Arizona's passing attack?

Ucla and SC? On the road and we lose 17-7 to Ucla and vs SC we lose on a last second missed FG. Both schools had a significant talent gap and Ucla had a 3 year starter at QB in Hundley while Arizona started a RS frosh. TY, Arizona starts a QB that's going into his 3rd year in the program and 2nd as a starter while Ucla starts a true frosh in his first conference road game of the season. Not to mention that he will be facing a D that he's probably never seen before in the 3-3-5. He will also be at a disadvantage in that most of the guys on D have been with the program all 3 years and the options that are available TY - weren't available the last 2 years. It will be interesting to see what Casteel dials up for the true frosh in his first road game?

SC is SC and it's probably the toughest game on the schedule and winning on the road is never easy. It will be interesting to see what's at stake if anything when the two teams meet up in November.

Your post here was so much like the posts you had last season in regards to what would happen when we play Wazzu and Utah. Seriously, nice effort once again.
Hi DC, how was your summer??.......long time no see

I see you are still engaged in the same mindless fanboy pumping of the UA football team. Lets see where do we start?:

1) Why does Zeller start?? Because we had some lousy recruiting classes 2/3 seasons ago which has
resulted in an undersized walk on being our primary option at NT. Should Marcus Griffin
relegate Zellers to the bench I will be very encouraged

2) Pettinato, in case you don't know, was the only UA defensive lineman to garner any post
season honors. Bruno is a rookie (who also weighs less). Our undersized DL, which was the
smallest line in the PAC12 last year, is going to be even smaller this year (1st unit)

3) At CB we lost our best player (also the fastest) in Mcknight. The returnees (Denson/McCall)
are slower than Mcknight (and were also part of the bottom 1/4th of the conference pass defense
that we fielded)

4) Regarding Stanford.....let me get this straight.....we are going to beat them because we played them
close (in a loss) THREE FREAKING years ago???????? BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Reality is we have NOT upgraded at our two weakest spots on defense (1st team line and CB). Our depth
does appear to be better if only because we have more bodies. The 1st unit DL's/CB's have not
seen any serious upgrades, regardless of how you fantasize it. I might change my mind in a nanosecond
if I wake up one morning and find out that Zellers is now 3rd team because Griffin/Sani have passed
him up on the depth chart

By the way, you flap your lips at everyone who has made a prediction but I notice that you haven't had the guts to post your own predictions. Whats our record going to be Nostradamus???

Once again, much to disagree with

1) Zeller, while small, uses that to his advantsge by getting inder the pads of the center. He thus controls that guy allowing lanes for Scooby and the backers to get into the backfield. At times he does get pushed around but with a 450 pd leg press he is as strong as the bigger guys. As it is I think Sani by UCLA is our #1 at that spot.

2) You make Pettinatto out to be Tedy Bruschi. He was good but hardly irreplacable. If you look at the roster weights you really live in a black and white world. Most of those have not even been updated from when the kids entered school. Everyone of those kids are stronger after being in the program for awhile. Even the PAC channel guys said we finally have the size that makes usblook like a PAC 12 team. And name the starting line at conference time? I think it will be Sani, Worthy and Gilbert. Yours?

3) if you don't trust DC than read what Penguin wrote, soot on stuff. Denson unfortunately has never been a great practice player and he needs to be to improve. He also needs to continue to get stronger. He is far more athletic and FASTER than McNight ever was. Neal is probably our best corner righg now and you will see that come game time. We are far better in the secondary this year then last year, especially at the safety spots.

4) Pengiuns post on the topic once again. Hey Furd might hold us to less then 48 this year and win and you will say, told you. But in no way is Furds defense better this year than the one theyvtrotted out 3 years ago.

Remember, you were the guy who said we would be underdogs in every game last year after Cal. You were tslking 6-6 and a losing conference record. You said Utah would stuff the run and pound us in SLC and you bersted DC at every turn. For what, for him being right?

Your 8-4 can happen. The vegas O/U is 7.5 with a lean to the over so you are really right on the mark but you are hardly putting yourself out there. In fact that pick shows you really don't do your own research and just formulate your opinions off what you read by the talking heads to don't watch every practice.

Hey I had us at 8-4 last year and I was very glad to be wrong and I think if we stay healthy this year it will be 11-1. We could easily lose to UCLA, Furd, USC, ASSU and really anybconference team. But this is far and away RR best AZ team. This roster has been reworked from the bottom up and we have more size and speed then ever. This is going to be fun!!!

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:48 am

azgreg wrote:
MrBug708 wrote:Another year where UCLA is everyones choice for an upset
Got to beat them sometime right Bug? Might as well be this year.

We beat them 6 times in 7 tries before. It's time.

RazorsEdgeAZ · Post by **RazorsEdgeAZ** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 8:10 am

I went with 9-3.

Any Pac12 team can beat another, including AZ beating Stanford this coming season. BUT to list that AZ's chances really good TY because they almost beat Stanford some seasons ago is silly (IMO).

Injuries, weather, attitudes, turnovers, fluke plays, illness you name it... I thought AZ had a great chance to beat the Ducks in PAC champ game... every game is different.

Key games, Stanford, UCLA, USC and always ASSu.

Simply, AZ has to be able to run better against these teams. These teams under RR give AZ statistically their worst rushing games of the season. Sometimes under 100 yards/game. In 2012, AZ beat USC and Carey and Matt Scott both had 100 yard rushing game. These teams leverage their size.

Defense needs to show more progression. AZ allowed more points per game LY than 2013. Passing defense improved but their rushing defense didn't really show much sign of improvement. AZ needs to match their turnover progression. A staple for a Casteel defense.

Alieberman · Post by **Alieberman** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:46 am

I think we will be a better football team than last year but fear our record won't reflect that

ANGCatFan · Post by **ANGCatFan** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:08 am

Gary Randazzo, Steve Buchanan, and Brad Allis give their season predictions at WSR.

HaCats · Post by **HaCats** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:12 am

Looking at our list of D-Lineman on the roster, I have two thoughts:

1) I don't know that we've collectively ever had that sort of size on the Line and particularly....the tackles. That is encouraging.

2) What scares me is, minus Reggie Gilbert....we really have a total lack of true 'Defensive Ends'. I get that a lot of our pass rush comes from a LB playing on the edge in passing situations. I also know that technically of our 3 Lineman.....one's a Nose and one's a Tackle leaving only one starting position for an End. But Sani, Zellers, Worthy, Bruno, Sharif, Griffin and Fotu are all interior lineman. Next year with Gilbert gone, that really leaves just Calvin Allen and Jack Banda as the only true ends. It's pretty critical, in my opinion, that Allen turns out to be the real deal next year.

Login • Register

What will the 'Cats regular season record be?