UofA v. Cal Preview (By BCS Busters)
Welcome to our UofA v. Cal Preview by BCSBusters! I saw his preview for the entire Pac-10 and knew that his previews would work great on AZ Sports Hub. So the newly minted partnership is here. Read up and respond:
 (0-0) (1-2) |
 (0-0) (3-0) |
| Zona 7 - BYU 24 | Cal 44 - Tennessee 31 |
| Zona 45 - N. Arizona 24 | Cal 34 - Colorado St 28 |
| Zona 27 - N. Mexico 29 | Cal 34 - SDSU 13 |
| Next: Washington State | Next: @ Oregon |
| Total Offense: 55th (9th PAC-10) |
Total Offense: 36th (6th PAC-10) |
| Scoring Offense: 64th (9th PAC-10) |
Scoring Offense: 21st (3rd PAC-10) |
| Passing Offense: 14th
(1st PAC-10) |
Passing Offense: 72nd (7th PAC-10) |
| Rushing Offense: 101st (10th PAC-10) |
Rushing Offense: 18th
(3rd PAC-10) |
| Total Defense: 53rd (4th PAC-10) |
Total Defense: 69th (6th PAC-10) |
| Scoring Defense: 61st (8th PAC-10) |
Scoring Defense: 57th (7th PAC-10) |
| RUSH Defense: 23rd (5th PAC-10) |
RUSH Defense: 54th (7th PAC-10) |
| PASS Defense: 73rd (7th PAC-10) |
PASS Defense: 76th (9th PAC-10) |
| Turnover Ratio Rank: 63rd (5th PAC-10) |
Turnover Ratio Rank: 12th (2nd PAC-10) |
Arizona has been quite the enigma thus far in the 2007 campaign. Early in August, when even Notre Dame was brimming with excited optimism, I wrote a promising preview of the Wildcats as I thought they were destined for a fourth or fifth place finish in the PAC-10. But, there must be something about the water in the land of the sun near Tucson, because the Wildcats have historically had one of the better defenses through the years and when you add the name Stoops to the mix, it just gets better. But as good as the defense has been, the offense has been an ineffective opposite.
I thought last year would be coach Stoops breakout year with the Cats, but they couldn’t keep QB Willie Tuitama healthy. Since 2000 and the firing of Dick Tomey, who I greatly admired as one of the best coaches in the PAC-10, the Cats have been dead last in offense.
According to Stoops, “When you look at the entirety of last season, to win six games shows constant growth in our program. To win some of the games we won, after what our kids went through and then to win our last three road games was good for us. But we didn’t finish the way we had liked too. The loss against Arizona State cost us a lot, including a bowl game. Hopefully that will have an impact. Our expectations are much different going into this season. The way we persevered last season, winning against top teams, I think that gives us some legitimate confidence and our work habits really match those expectations. Our attitude matches our expectations. We are healthy, we have great experience coming back, it is by far and away our most experienced and talented football team.”
On the new spread offense: “We are going to implement the whole system. Our biggest challenge will be in utilizing the personnel we have on our team. Whether we go four wides, three wides, we’ll have to see. I think the system gives us a unique protection of our quarterback. If we keep Willie [Tuitama] healthy our chance of winning goes up dramatically. All of those things are important to our success. This is the best team we’ve had and it is time for us to make our move.”
The problem is the Cats haven’t been able to make their move on offense thus far, losing two games to the Mountain West Conference in particular, and beating Division I-AA member Northern Arizona - albeit by only 21 points: 45-24.
The mindset was to bring in new Offensive Coordinator Sonny Dykes, given Texas Tech’s prolific offensive machine, and take the pressure off of an aggressive defense that spends too much time on the field due to lack of offensive production. So far, this philosophy has imploded as although Arizona now ranks 55th in Total offense, 14th passing - 321 yards a game, yet 101st rushing - 88 yards a game, the defense has continued to be plagued by offensive ineptitude and lack of production and has fallen to 53rd in total defense, 23rd against the rush, yet 73rd against the pass. If your playing in the Big-12, perhaps the ability to stop the run would bode well for the Cats, but “The PAC,” is all about the passing game and given California’s prolific offensive production thus far - The Cats are in trouble heading to Berkeley this weekend.
However, the Bears rank 69th in total defense, 57th in scoring defense and their Achilles heel, 76th against the pass. Something’s got to give this weekend, but if the turnover factor is any indication, don’t look for Jeff Tedford’s troops to give it up, for they are 12th in the country in turnover ratio.
On the flip side, the Bears are back under Jeff Tedford. Despite last season’s melt down in Knoxville on opening weekend, the bears recovered to record a 10 win season for only the third time since 1990. How good is Tedford?
In five seasons as Commander in Cheif in Strawberry Canyon, the Bears have amassed a 43-20 record. In the five previous seasons before Tedford took over, the Panda-Bears were an anemic 16-39, and the year before el-cap-i-tan landed ashore, they were coming off a 1-10 season.
Traveling back to his days in Eugene, his record in four years as the Offensive Coordinator for Mike Bellotti and the Ducks was 38-10 with Bowl victories over Minnesota (Sun), Texas (Holiday) and Colorado (BCS-Fiesta); it was the grandest of times in Nike-ville, the Ducks best four year run in history. In the four years since he left Eugene, the Ducks are a dismal 28-21 with four consecutive Bowl losses.
What he has accomplished at CAL is miraculous, what has happened in Eugene speaks volumes to the influence Tedford had with Oregon’s “Air of Success.” The Golden era in Berkely has quickly picked up where it left off last season as the Bears have been a demolition crew on the field, disposing of Tennessee, Colorado State and Louisiana Tech in impressive fashion. The game plan for Tedford is most likely to “end the game” as quickly as possible, setting the stage for a PAC-10 showdown next week in Eugene as CAL looks to end its recent woes inside Autzen Stadium where Dennis Dixon and the Ducks await. Prediction: CAL 41 - Arizona 17
This UofA v. Cal Preview was brought to you by BCSBusters! I saw his preview for the entire Pac-10 and knew that his previews would work great on AZ Sports Hub. We hope you enjoyed
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Posted by Matt Blake
Co-founder of AZ Sports Hub. Avid blogger, podcaster, and marketer. You can hear Matt rant on In The Zona, Arizona's Premier Sports Podcast. Recently, Matt and the gang launched a new Suns website called SunsHub.com. You can contact Matt via email at: mblake [at] azsportshub.com.
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