Bear Down Wildcats

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/football/ ... -y_tmHprDI

VegasInsider.com has installed Arizona as a 9-point underdog for Saturday’s game against the UCLA Bruins in Pasadena, Calif. That marks the sixth consecutive game the Wildcats have been dogs during what is now a 9-game losing streak, all by nine or more points.

Arizona has not win at the Rose Bowl since 2010, and it has not claimed victory in a game that it closed as a two-score underdog since October 2014 when it shocked Oregon in Eugene.

The Wildcats (0-2) are coming off a 44-27 loss at Washington, a game they trailed 37-0 before scoring four times in the fourth quarter. UCLA (1-2) fell 38-35 at Oregon.

With or without DTR, you'd think UCLA will cover (unless UArizona gets some late meaningless score against reserves.) Going into the season, most people figured the best chance to avoid a winless season would be the "crossover" game, and that still appears to be the case. Sumlin can't win on the road, with the exception of Tate free-lancing all over the field at Boulder.

We suck.

Chip Kelly apparently plays the same game Sumlin does, with the never-changing depth chart. Considering our problems in the O-line and with linebackers, I'm assuming there will be some changes there this week, regardless of what's published. I'm also assuming DTR is held out again this week for UCLA, due to Barbara Ferrer's contact tracing/quarantine requirements. Beyond that, a reminder that UCLA will no doubt feel they owe us one, after the 20-17 loss we administered to them last year at Arizona Stadium. From a size standpoint, not nearly as daunting as Washington, but they played Oregon tough at Eugene last week. After being trashed by Washington's tight end, UCLA's tight end seems to be something of a Brandon Malumaleauna type additional blocker. On the season, he has 3 catches for 31 yards and a TD.

OFFENSE
LT 74 Sean Rhyan So 6-5 320
LG 57 Jon Gaines RS-So 6-4 295
C 64 Sam Marrazzo RS-Jr 6-3 295
RG 62 Duke Clemens So 6-3 290
RT 70 Alec Anderson RS-So 6-5 305
TE 88 Mike Martinez So 6-5 270
QB 11 Chase Griffin RS-Fr 5-11 185
RB 10 Demetric Felton RS-Sr 5-10 200
WR 23 Chase Cota Jr 6-3 200
WR 2 Kyle Phillips RS-So 5-11 185
WR 15 Jaylen Erwin Sr 5-11 180

DEFENSE
DT 58 Datona Jackson Sr 6-3 275
NT 50 Tyler Manoa Jr 6-4 300
DT 92 Osa Odighizuwa RS-Sr 6-2 280
OLB 45 Mitchell Aguide RS-Jr 6-4 245
ILB 26 Leni Toailoa RS-Sr 6-1 215
ILB 33 Bo Calvert Jr 6-4 230
OLB 0 Damian Sellers Fr 6-4 220
CB 22 Obi Eboh Sr 6-2 195
CB 1 Jay Shaw RS-Jr 5-11 185
S 4 Stephan Blaylock Jr 5-10 185
S 37 Quentin Lake RS-Jr 6-1 195

SPECIALISTS
PK 2 Nicholas Barr-Mira RS-Fr 6-0 170
P 99 Luke Akers Fr 6-1 180
HLD 3 Chase Artopoeus RS-Fr 6-1 205
LS 51 Jack Landherr So 6-1 225
KOR 10 Demetric Felton RS-Sr 5-10 200
PR 2 Kyle Phillips RS-So 5-11 185

I'm not sure any real coaches care all that much about the depth chart. I think RichRod said he lets an intern write it up.

http://statfox.com/cfb/injuries.asp

UA
[RB] 11/22/2020 - Frank Brown Jr. is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Knee )
[C] 11/22/2020 - Josh McCauley is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Knee )
[S] 11/22/2020 - Isaiah Mays is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Undisclosed )
[S] 11/22/2020 - Christian Young is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Undisclosed )
[RB] 11/22/2020 - Nathan Tilford is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Undisclosed )
[WR] 11/22/2020 - Dyelan Miller is "?" Saturday vs UCLA ( Undisclosed )
[WR] 10/10/2020 - Jalen Johnson is out indefinitely ( Suspension )
[RB] 10/10/2020 - Darrius Smith is out for season ( Personal )
[WR] 11/02/2020 - Jaden Mitchell is out for season ( Knee )


UCLA
[DB] 10/07/2020 - Kenny Churchwell III is out for season ( Personal )
(!)[QB] 11/22/2020 - Dorian Thompson-Robinson missed last game, is probable Saturday vs Arizona ( Quarantine )
[WR] 11/22/2020 - Jaylen Erwin is "?" Saturday vs Arizona ( Undisclosed )
[RB] 11/22/2020 - Keegan Jones is "?" Saturday vs Arizona ( Undisclosed )
[WR] 11/22/2020 - Delon Hurt is "?" Saturday vs Arizona ( Undisclosed )
[RB] 11/22/2020 - Kazmeir Allen is "?" Saturday vs Arizona ( Undisclosed )
[DE] 10/30/2020 - Steven Mason is out indefinitely ( Suspension )
[RB] 11/04/2020 - Jahmon McClendon is out for season ( Left Team )
[RB] 11/09/2020 - Martell Irby is out indefinitely ( Knee )
[WR] 11/19/2020 - Michael Ezeike is out indefinitely ( Undisclosed )

It seems that there are plenty of coaches who completely blow it off. I just like to get a general idea of who most of the key players are, and their size and experience level. It looks like UCLA finally released theirs, which had a couple of revisions in their o-line and elsewhere from what I was able to find yesterday on-line. As I mentioned before, it would be nice if we could see any similar juggling in our o-line and linebackers. As far as DTR goes, not sure how much insight an injury website would have on the local political situation in LA County. It certainly would make reasonable sense to say he's at the end of a somewhat arbitrary quarantine period, so what the heck, they'll probably let him play. But, as the saying goes, while we're living in "these unusual times", there seems to be a desire, particularly with the virus surge, to tighten the screws and send messages to the populace. (Kind of like the rent-a-house party thing over the summer.) On the other hand, if they've got some student manager or other contact on the team who's seen him getting all the snaps with the 1s, that's a pretty good indication. In any event, it probably doesn't matter a bit to our team. They'll prepare for both, and they're both similar enough and more than likely capable of sending us back 0-3 with another embarrassing lop-sided score on FoX TV.

Griffin met with reporters, and Kelly usually only allows the scheduled starter to do that. The caveat is that scheduled and starter are two different things.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/sto ... ck-arizona

Here's another game preview story on the likelihood of Griffin starting from the LA Daily News:

https://www.dailynews.com/2020/11/25/uc ... t-arizona/

game thread is up

I saw a cactus logo hat on one of the staff.
What’s up with that?

Postmaster wrote: ↑Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:07 pm I saw a cactus logo hat on one of the staff.
What’s up with that?

Last couple games Rhodes the DC was wearing a ratty old cactus logo trucker cap (but I don't think he had it on tonight).

Was it a newer one?

I think our defense is the best we've had in several years-which isn't saying much, but at least they make some stops. More pressure in the backfield please. Our DBs are doing the best they can, but still young and inexperienced.

Our offensive line isn't getting it done. Fears did not play up to D1 offensive tackle level. Hope he keeps working and does better.

I liked Plummer when I saw his high school tape and I still think he can be a good one.

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:20 am I think our defense is the best we've had in several years-which isn't saying much, but at least they make some stops. More pressure in the backfield please. Our DBs are doing the best they can, but still young and inexperienced.

Our offensive line isn't getting it done. Fears did not play up to D1 offensive tackle level. Hope he keeps working and does better.

I liked Plummer when I saw his high school tape and I still think he can be a good one.

While I am certainly not expecting much from this team in terms of wins and losses our inability to run the ball the last two games is surprising as I thought one of our few strengths coming into the season was in the OL and RB positions.

It's not that they "can't even get it right", it's that they absolutely WON'T admit error. If you don't admit that there's anything wrong, you can't fix it and improve. May not matter much when it's UCLA vs. Arizona, (at least to the clowns waddling around in overpriced office suites two blocks from the Embarcadero) but it probably would with USC vs. Washington. Also makes you go "hmmm" regarding exactly where UArizona stands in LarryWorld. Is this just a natural bias in favor of California's Big Four (okay, maybe Three) over anybody else, or do we have to fight some overt antagonism on top of everything else? It's one thing if certain refs decide to screw us, with the league office shrugging it off and saying it was a mistake, but it's too late to do anything. But another thing to basically lie about it, show us the door, and tell us to not come back. Pac-12 officiating ineptitude and outright bias has not exactly been a secret to other teams in the country, and that doesn't make scheduling any easier in football or hoops.