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| Mike Stoops is the right man to lead Arizona. |
Here we go! Today the Arizona Wildcats will play their first PAC-12 game, & boy is it a big one for these Wildcats. Following a 7-1 start that saw them ranked as high as 9th in the nation Arizona has now lost 6 straight games to D-1 opponents & the Wildcat faithful have begun to lose faith. Following last week’s blowout loss to Oklahoma State it’s not uncommon to hear even die hard Arizona fans talk about how the Cats are going to lose by at least 20 points to Stanford. Many claim Stoops is a hothead who loses control of the team in games & has shown an inability to win big games. I expect these pessimists to be wrong about this week’s game & they are clearly ignorant in regards to Stoops.
I’ll address this week’s game in a moment but first I want to address the criticisms of Stoops. I’m not going to tell you Mike Stoops is among the elite college football coaches, because he isn’t, he is however a good one, & barring incredible luck Arizona is unlikely to find a better one. The 6 game losing streak against D-1 opponents the Cats are currently on is an aberration. 3 of those losses were on the road against top 10 teams, another was a bowl game against the #14 team, & the other 2 losses were by a combined 3 points. The Cats simply ran into an incredibly tough schedule (which continues theses next 3 weeks) & some bad luck, especially in the kicking game. Stoops has not lost the team, & while I do think on rare occasions his temper has been a hindrance on his decision making it’s important to note no player or coach has ever mentioned it as a problem.
As for an inability to win games anyone who thinks that is cherry picking with their memory. The year Stoops took over the Wildcats were coming off a 2-10 season. In Stoops first season, 2004, the Wildcats upset an 8-2 ASU team 34-27. In 2005 the Cats handles an 8-0 UCLA team 52-14. In 06 it was an 8-1 Cal team that found itself losing at Arizona. 2007 saw the Cats end Oregon’s national title hopes by beating the 8-1 Ducks 34-24 at home. In 2008 Stoops brought Arizona its first bowl win in a decade beating #16 BYU 31-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl. In 2009 everyone focuses on the 2OT loss to Oregon & Holiday Bowl blowout, Stoops haters conveniently ignore a 37-32 win at Oregon State in Foles first start, a 43-38 shootout over Andrew Luck’s Cardinal, & a 21-17 victory over USC in LA (the first time that had happened in over a decade). & then last year the end of the season spiral seemingly wiped out the fact Arizona beat a then #9 Iowa team 34-27. Quite simply Stoops has won a big game every year he’s been here. So those calling for his ousting had best shut up less someone call them out on their idiocy.
As for this game the Cats are surely long shots, but they have a chance, they must execute almost perfectly, but they have a chance. Offensively the Cats must throw, throw, & throw some more. The Cardinal’s defensive strength is in their front 7, this is not the week the Cats will suddenly discover their ground game (on the, hopefully rare, occasions we do run let us hope we see more of the explosive Kadeem Cary as opposed to Keola Antolin’s 3 yards & a cloud of dust). The game must be put solely in Foles hands as he faces a defense that allowed San Jose State & Duke to complete 62% of their passes. This game can only be won through the air regardless of whether Juron Criner plays.
Defensively most fans are incorrectly thinking the battle will between Luck & the Wildcats beat up secondary. The key for Arizona will be it’s front 7, not the currently maligned back 4. The Cats must do everything they can to contain a run game that carved them up for 217 yards last season. If they can force the Cardinals to be one-dimensional & turn the game into a pure air battle the front 7 can them focus on pressuring Luck & covering Stanford’s 3 tight ends, all of who are at least 6’6. Provided the offense is putting up points the Cats will then only need one errant pass or fumble to upset the #6 Cardinal.
Prediction: Mike Stoops is 10-1 against the spread when facing a ranked opponent at home & last I heard the spread is 9.5. However the Cardinal were my pre-season #4* team, Andrew Luck is unbelievably good, & I don’t trust the Cats o-line. This won’t be the blowout many are predicting, but it won’t be a nail-biter either.
Stanford 38, Arizona 27
*My Pre-season top 10 that I never got around to posting.
1. Alabama
2. Boise State
3. Florida State
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
6. Oklahoma
7. Nebraska
8. Texas A&M
9. Mississippi State
10. South Carolina
dope
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