Arizona Preview
by John Berkowitz on Jul 9, 2009 6:59 AM PDT
47 comments
Consider this question and quickly answer who first comes to mind: name which Pac 10 coach is perenially on the hot seat? Most conference fans would likely answer Arizona head man Mike Stoops, who has been in that uncomfortable spot for the past two seasons, 2009 being no different.
Stoops has done a mostly solid job recruiting for the Wildcats since taking over a team in utter anarchy following the tenure of John Mackovick. While Stoops has recruitied well, he hasn't created enough balance to fill out the squad in key places, including the QB position for 2009. If Arizona can't get the production they need from their signal caller, it is going to be a long, ugly year for Stoops, who sports a 17-29 record over the past four seasons.
Arizona administration has helped Stoops by softening the non-conference schedule, opening with Northern Arizona and Central Michigan, while a meeting with Iowa adds a bit of respectibility to the schedule.
This season, Arizona returns six starters on offense and seven starters on defense which is a decent nucleus to build from. TB Nic Grisby returns for his junior season after rushing for 1,153 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2008. Keola Antolin also scored 10 rushing touchdown in a backup role.
At wide receiver, the Wildcats have three players back with at least 40 catches or more last season. Led by TE Rob Gronkowski and his 47 catches for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008, Delashaun Dean will be tough to deal with on the outside, catching 53 passes for 593 yards and four more scores.
Looking to take over at QB will be Matt Scott. The true sophomore saw limited action in six games last season, primarily as a running threat. Competing with Scott is Michigan State transfer Nick Foles.
The Wildcats lose significant talent on the offensive line due to graduation. While senior center Blake Kerley has started 28 games in his career, he is coming off an injury that sidelined him for most of 2008. Rebuilding an offensive line and starting a new QB is never a recipe for success in the tough Pac 10 conference.
Though Arizona loses three of their four top defensive tackles from 2008, they still have a formidable presence on the defensive line. Led by DE Brooks Reed, who had Arizona with eight sacks in 2008 and at 255-pounds, has great speed off the edge.
Xavier Kelly is the lone returning starting linebacker, playing the weak side. Kelly had 51 tackles and three sacks in 2008.
The Arizona secondary has both starting safeties back in Cam Nelson and Keenyn Crier, but at cornerback, Devin Ross is the lone player with much experience. Backup Trevin Wade had four interceptions in 2008 to lead the unit.
Consensus
Many experts believe Arizona will struggle this year on offense due to the lack of experience at QB and on the offensive line. They do return a decent front four on defense but the LB corp and secondary are very suspect going into the season. This probably won't be the year the Wildcats move into the conference's upper echelon.
Early Prediction
Washington has the advantage of facing Wildcats at Husky Stadium. Jake Locker and the Husky offense have the potential to put up a lot of points on the UA defense. Defensively, a young, maturing Husky defense should be able to shut down the UA passing game if they can control the running of TB Nic Grisby.
Though Washington has been down most of the decade, beating Arizona has typically been quite dependable. Thus, I am predicting a Husky victory and moving to 2-1 in conference play.
At this point in the mid season the Huskies should be either 3-3 or 4-2. In either case, they will have been competitive in all games and Husky fans will be talking bowl games.
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Win
Another must win for UW. These are the teams that Sark & Co HAVE to beat. Stanford and UA are two must wins, along with UCLA and WSU.
It's games like this where...
..the DAWGS need to find that extra gear. Put the hammer down and don’t get off it until the final whistle blows. Two of the biggest issues (well along with just about everything being better) are the “playing fast” on every down and the S&C program. Those two are going to yield huge dividends. How many more days till camp starts?
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Winnable games
Sure the schedule is less than ideal this year and I am looking through purple colored glasses for the sake of being positive but there are enough winnable games on the schedule to qualify for a bowl game.
Man, I totally agree.
2008 is NOT the baseline for 2009. The Dawgs last season had 5-win talent and zero-win motivation. Lowering expectations for 2009 by looking at the results of 2008 is a nonstarter.
The baseling for improvement in 2009, to me, is building off the 4 wins I believe the Dawgs should’ve had – Stanford, ASU, UCLA, and WSU. Maybe you trade BYU for either ASU or UCLA.
In 2009, the Dawgs are more talented than Stanford, Idaho, WSU, and Arizona. It’s about a push with UCLA and ASU. There are other “winnable” games on the schedule (OSU, Notre Dame). If the UW has actually hired the right coach this time, the Dawgs win 6.
Motivation
That is huge, if you’re not up for it mentally, you’re done.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Don't forget a win over Oregon
We get them at the right time in the season and at home. If we can build some confidence, by season’s end we’ll be able to offer the ducks a turd sandwich.
All I saw was purple
What I wouldn't give to shut up duck fans!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Expectations
I find myself having a hard time deciding what I should really expect from this team. I think we have the talent to really surprise everybody, but at the same time there are always going to be growing pains with new coaches and a new system.
I will be very happy with a 3-3 record, and I think a 4-2 record is a big stretch. The begin of the season is going to be the toughest part, the period from Arizona until WSU will be the stretch that we really have an opportunity to build some momentum and end the season on the rise.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
In light of the current analysis of our DB's,
this game will provide a real test, administered by Gronkowski. This guy made us look like high schoolers last year en route to 3 TD’s and national TE of the week.
I’m confident that our cover schemes will be better than 2008, and our LB’s can hopefully keep their young QB off balance. But he will be a huge physical challenge for our safeties.
Edge Pressure or...
…pressure period. We have GOT to be able to pressure opposing quarterbacks! I’m hoping Darrion Jones can finally put it all together and have a huge senior season. We need him to step up so DTN can heat it up from the other side.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Yes. Pressure is a must.
I think the thing that’s going to key it is getting push from the two tackles. I don’t really know why Elisara spent so much time in Willingham’s doghouse last year, but he’s got the speed and strength. If he can get to the point that he can command a double team, things are going to open up for everybody.
I truly hope that Willingham didn’t significantly damage Ta’amu’s career by playing him last season. He’s a guy that needs to really change his body to be effective. I really wish he would’ve redshirted.
I agree...
but Ivan should have him slimmed and toned into a better athlete instead of a big blob in the middle (at least as much as you can in 9 months).
I hope the bowling ball...
…makes it in. You can’t have enough guys clogging up the middle.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
I expect alot out of Ta'Amu
he was listed post spring as 6-2 / 348. He needs to come up huge stuffing the run this year in order for our secondary to be successful. DTN will get pressure and Jones should improve as well, but if we can’t stop the run and force the young QB’s we’ll be playing to throw then our secondary will get lit up again.
Expectations
To be honest we really won’t know what we have with these guys till they play a few games and get their feet wet with the new staff. I think it is a better team from a talent, leadership, experience, condtioning, and coaching standpoint than 2008.
How that ranslates into wins is anyone’s guess and that is why the prognosticators are taking the easy way out by predicting the huskies to finish 9th in conference and win 2-4 games overall. I expect it to be a lot better than that.
I want to be an optimist...
but I really only see 4 games that we can win (UI, WSU, UCLA and UA). I’ll be more than happy if we can take 4 games and be competitive. I think the key to rebuilding more than immediate wins is playing with that UW fire and heart and making sure we take that to the end of the game.
Yeah I'm with you...
…I’m hopeful but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. I think if they win 5 they’ve made monstrous improvement. Four wins is probably where expectations should be but having said that I hope this team just competes hard on every snap.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
The Prognosticators
The more and more season previews I read, the more I realize that most of these previews are just a review of last year and that no one is brave enough to go against the status quo. The Huskies will be far better than last year, the only question is how many wins will that equal. I expect, at the very least 4 wins, and if Sark is half as good as advertised it could be significantly more.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Arizona is a basketball school
The Stoops on the hot seat is a myth. Zona is the Carolina or Duke out west. They want wins on the hardwood floor in the middle of winter. Football is just something to offer the Tuson fanbase until basketball season begins.
In a way the head football coaching job at Arizona is a lot like the one at WSU. If the coach can put a winner on the field every four years he gets to keep his job.
Personally I think Mike Stoops is a horrible head coach, but is improving. The best thing he did was fire a bunch of his assistants in order to bring in better assistants. Clearly in my mind, in the last four years the two worst coached programs in the Pac 10 were Washington and Arizona. Arizona is improving because Stoops has formulated a better coaching staff.
Agree with all, Arizona is a must win in order to have a chance at bowl eligiblity.
All I saw was purple
I agree this should be a win
Stoops owes the fact he still has a job to our previous HC. While AZ has played it historically close, remember the Jenkins leap by the lake, or Jason Shelley dropping a wide open pass from Brunell to end the victory streak, generally the Dawgs have done very well against the cats, and I expected to win the last 2 years also had it not been for someone. My take: Jake Locker hits his stride, the D shuts down the run leaving a young AZ QB unable to win it by himself, 42-10 Dawgs.
Willie wasn't wonderful
Tuitama was an okay Pac 10 QB, but no where near any talk of being listed as one of the greatest, not even close. He produced good numbers in a Sonny Dykes offense, but the kid really never was a great leader in that offense. He appeared to be the sort that shied away from the podium and if you got a lick on him, you knew he was going to be escorted off the field with yet another concussion.
I can name 25 other Pac 10 QBs over the years that were better then Willie Tuitama.
All I saw was purple
Condotta Article On Title 9
I know this is off topic but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw these coug gals rowing in their new indoor tank! I kept thinking of how lucky the Huskies are to row on beautiful Lake Washington!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
What body of water is in Pullman...
that would be sufficient enough to host a rowing competition? Or wait are all their rowing competitions on the road, where water is made available?
All I saw was purple
Oh you forgot....
…about the Palousy River or is it a creek or stream or ? LOL!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Hey John
A little off topic for this article, but any updates on recruiting right now? Any big names leading towards the Dawgs and what are our remaining needs for the 2010 class…
I know that CB’s Shaw and Wright have both narrowed their lists down to include the Dawgs as finalists, Kohler has us on top, read somewhere that the RB Deontae Cooper is high on the Dawgs, and i’m really wondering what’s going on with Dietrich Riley… he’s supposed to be REALLY good on both sides of the ball
Recruits
Off the top of my head…
We are Kohler (OT Oaks Christisan) #1 team
Top 2 for Wright
Fighting for last visit from Jordan James (never trust a man with two first names…). He is a long shot.
Cooper has us up his list
Iona (WA Def End) has us top two with Oregon State
Shaw (CB) has us top 5, wouldnt be surprised if we were top 3
Hill has us #1 and has repeatedly mentioned that he was very close to sealing the deal
Hudson (DE out of Cali) has us top 2, if not #1
If I had to make an educated guess (not knowing what the season holds because that will be a HUGE factor) I’d say these guys are locks Hill, Hudson, Kohler, and Iona. With a good season we could pull in Cooper, Wright (early playing time is huge for him and we can offer that) and Shaw. James is a no go, not without a miracle.
Tanigawa is another name I just thought of that is high on the Dawgs. Either Cooper or McConico would be good pickups at RB… Riley is a RB and I think that may be how Sark gets interest out of him since he’s listed as a Safety. For some reason though, Scout doesn’t have Riley on our board. I don’t remember reading about a narrowed list. Another name I’m wondering about is Alani Fua, Montana’s teammate
I agree with your locks and I think that we have really good shots at Wright, Shaw and Cooper.
What positions do you think we load up on this year? Seems like Sark might get at least one more WR and methinks that with the departure of 2 RB’s this week we might get 2 more backs this class. Crazy.
by ChazzReinhold on Jul 10, 2009 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Loading up
I can see Sark loading up on Def Backs, RB’s and WR. Though we REALLY need O-Line depth. I think we sign 2-3 more O-Linemen (Kohler and…), one more RB (remember we have Fogerson and Davis), 2-3 more D-Linemen (Potoae then Hudson, Iona, and…), I think we are going to get one more LB (Middle linebacker is a big need right now), and 3 CB’s (Wright, Shaw, and Hill hopefully). We already have Nick for QB and WR’s we have 3 which is a lot but if someone is still out there I see Sark making room.
My personal view is Sark won’t reach for guys just to fill the spots. I think he has a list at every position and once that list runs dry I dont think he will just take a kid to take a kid. Thats not good for numbers (next years scholarships) and it doesnt do the kid any good coming into a situation he can’t succeed at which could make High School coaches very upset and deter kids from coming to UW in the future…just my 2 cents though.
Deitrich Riley
Chazz- Nick Montana said on his Dawgman radio interview that he’s “talking to” Riley.
Nick Montana
Yeah he needs a top rb lining up behind him and some big Olineman in front of him. I have a feeling he can be pretty persuasive. Who wouldn’t want to play with Nick and hang out with him and Joe.
by doubledeucedawg on Jul 10, 2009 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Let’s hope he’s doing some loud barking in Riley’s ear
DAWGS
by ChazzReinhold on Jul 10, 2009 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Recruiting
We are in the mix for all the kids you guys listed above.
by John Berkowitz on Jul 10, 2009 11:18 AM PDT reply actions
In the mix is good, but Sark will need to back it up with some wins this season to get some commits and to keep the current commits from defecting. It’s all about the W’s…
Hopefully (I'm sure he has)
Sark has explained to these kids that this could be a trying year for the team so they dont expect the world.
The eyeball test
I think the eyeball test will be key in keeping the current crop of recruits from defecting and will have a significant effect on which uncommited kids we land. Wins are the essential bonus, but the eyeball test will tell us everything. The reason?
How many teams can knock off LSU in college football? LSU is one of the premeire programs in the entire country. So winning that game is not necessarily a major factor in recruiting. These recruits are smart, they know you have to be one helluva great team to knock off the likes of LSU. So it will come down to the eyeball test. If they can picture what is in store for Washington in the very near future and visualize themselves wearing the purple and gold on saturdays, if they feel highly comfortable with the coaching staff, feel at home in the facilities then we will land our share of these highly touted recruits. But it’s going to come down to the eyeball test first and fore most.
All I saw was purple
I think Sark is selling a lot of these kids on the idea that he’s going to get things turned around quickly. What that means to each of these recruits, I don’t know – maybe for some, 4 wins is adequate evidence things are changing. Maybe some want to see 6 wins. Maybe some are sold regardless of what happens this year.
But I doubt Sark is telling any of them “I’m turning things around, trust me, but don’t pay too much attention to the win/loss record this year – it might be poor”.
Exactly
If a coach thinks the win/loss record might be poor, it’s GOING to be poor!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
I don't think
he’s phrasing it like that…more of a “these things take time” line. I would bet his pitch is to watch how much harder the team plays this year, and how much improvement in the skillsets they have. Sark knows it’s going to be a bumpy ride, but I’ll be he’s going to sell some big kids on this program.
Actually, he’s telling kids that he and his coaching staff didn’t go 0-12, that they are a new staff that is used to winning, and selling kids that the talent on hand is a lot better than they think.
To me, that doesn’t sound like a staff that is soft-pedaling expectations to recruits. I think it’s the correct pitch, but it does mean they have to deliver this Fall with some wins. I expect that most commitments will be OK with 4+ wins and feel like the program is moving in the right direction. I’d guess a few (and many of the prospects still considering them) will want to see more like 6 wins, and if they don’t will defect or commit elsewhere. Some will be die-hard Husky fans and will stick with their commitment regardless of what happens.
But I really doubt Sark is actively trying to downplay recruit expectations. Now, he may go into defensive spin mode during the season with some if the win total doesn’t match the recruit’s expectations, but right now I think they are preaching a quick turnaround.
Sark think it will happen quicker than most people think
Sarkisian is on record saying the tirnaround will happen much quicker than most people think.
by John Berkowitz on Jul 12, 2009 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions
The Arizona secondary has both starting safeties back in Cam Nelson and Keenyn Crier, but at cornerback, Devin Ross is the lone player with much experience. Backup Trevin Wade had four interceptions in 2008 to lead the unit.
………………………..
Uhh im I high or does that say that our punter, Keenyn Crier, is our safety? Because If I am completely sober and reading this correctly, then i guess this says a lot about the kind of research you are doing on our team, Berkowitz….which would lead one to believe that you have absolutely no basis what-so-ever for this prediction. You have no leg to stand on Berkowitz.
Also, Having Central Michigan on our schedule makes it easier?!?!
Um this might be a little bold but I am seriously close to guaranteeing that CM with LeFevour, who many “experts” including Rivals have ranked in the top ten as an over all QB, will be a tougher game than Washington regardless of the fact that Washington is the home team.
On a more serious note……
What is this with barely a mention of the most exciting player in the PAC, who, might I add, has an excellent chance of winning the mackey award, Robbie Gronk. Gronk literally blasted every other returning player out of the water in terms of receiveing eventhough he missed a few games due to Mono
They do return a decent front four on defense but the LB corp and secondary are very suspect going into the season.
umm what the *?!
I am hearing from many sources not just fans (I.e. Ted miller) that along with D-line our secondary is the strongest unit of our team. With our real Safety Robert Golden(who is a stellar player), returning starters Cam Nelson and Devin Ross (who is every bit as good as Antoine Cason was), and last years INT leader Trevin Wade ( who, might I add, had four picks in only 30 some snaps… hows that for production?), our secondary is going to shut Locker down… PUT THAT DOWN AS A GUARNTEE. As far as Our LB corp, the only reason we are suspect is because of a lack of depth NOT a lack of talent.
Many experts believe Arizona will struggle this year on offense due to the lack of experience at QB and on the offensive line.
First off
Cite, for me, these “many experts” that say that Arizona will struggle this year so I can call them out too because if they are using this logic they dont deserve to be paid for this
Secondly
Umm Steve Sarkisian is intalling a new system to what is technically a first year QB who threw a maximum of 1 TD pass in the games he played in.
Mike Stoops, on the other hand, has Matt Scott and Nick Foles, who, while being first year starters, they have both been learning the ropes in this system for a year. So I would say our QB situation is about equal and with the QBs equal I, as will any knowledgable person, will pick the team with the better weapons on offense and a D. Unfortunately for the Dogs, we have both
As for your prediction for being 3-2 or 2-3 coming in to this game
You will be lucky to have the Cats arrive in Seattle with your record at 1-4
Your only gimme game is Idaho., and even that game is sqaure in the midlle of LSU and USC, it would be very easy to over look the game and be the victim of a “shocker”
LSU = loss USC = loss Stanford = 75% chance of loss ND = 50% chance of loss
and finally…
Stoops is the coach pereniallly on the hot seat in the PAC?
I might be mistaken but didnt your coach just get fired?
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