Opponent Watch - Arizona

Grainy photo this AM – that shed is L-O-N-G !

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I’m pretty sure the athletic department doesn’t really make anything from the away game tickets.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/top-12-pac-12-non-conference-games-2017

11. Arizona vs. Houston (Sept. 9)
To call Arizona’s 2016 season trying would be a severe understatement. The Wildcats’ first month included two wins and a couple of losses, but the defeats came on a last-second field goal and in overtime against quality opponents BYU and Washington.

Then, the wheels fell off. The Washington loss was the first of eight straight for the Wildcats, one after another by double digits. Arizona’s 3-9 finish was its first sub-.500 season under head coach Rich Rodriguez, but the way in which UA lost was concerning. Only a blowout of rival Arizona State to cap the campaign salvaged 2016, but that win does give the Wildcats some reason for optimism heading into this season.

Houston flirted with the prospect of reaching the College Football Playoff after opening last season with an impressive win over Oklahoma. And while the Cougars suffered some surprising losses in American Athletic Conference play, a late-season rout of Louisville showed again just how good the 2016 team was. This is a different squad, with quarterback Greg Ward Jr. and head coach Tom Herman both gone, but Houston should still come into Tucson the favorite.

After being away from football for nearly a decade, the mental part of the game may be as difficult to adjust to as the physicality of it, but Rodriguez said Arizona’s four freshman quarterbacks, Tate included, have had no problem picking up the team’s offense, and junior quarterback Brandon Dawkins called Tate a “bookworm.”

Wilner’s a little out there; picks Arizona to be a bottom-feeder in the Pac 12, but has them beating UH.

Sept. 9: vs. Houston
Result: Win
Record: 2-0
Comment: Cats are clearly superior but don’t put the pesky Cougars away — ex-Houston coach Tom Herman left some talent behind, after all — until the fourth quarter.

Isn’t Wilber one of the AP voters that has ridiculous ballots all year?

I expect NAU to get Arizona ready for us. They gave ASU a tough time in the first half of their game last season. Again, quite a few of these articles are either misinformed or intentionally written.

lol Well, he didn’t take it with him to booster university; It was here before he got here, and will be here after. I think these sports journalists tend to give Herman too much credit; yes, he was a good coach, but he has to thank Levine for leaving behind a loaded roster with a bunch of talented upper class-men to aide in his success.

That is hilarious! Arizona is clearly superior. Wow! All good! I’ll just place a book Mark here for a reply to this writer. I don’t always troll, but when I do, I am a savage.

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Yes, his ballots are usually not in line with the consensus. I like them though because they usually match results on the field and not preconceived notions.

I wish he would have expounded on why he thinks Arizona is “clearly superior.” Is he talking about talent, coaching, both? This almost sounds like a, “It’s a P5 against a G5, so the P5 is clearly superior” argument. I truly hope everyone we play this year legitimately thinks we’ll take a step back because of the coaching change and losing GW3. If that’s the case, we’ll have a legit shot to run the table with our schedule. An undefeated season probably wouldn’t be good enough to get us a seat at the playoff table this year, but you never know.

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QB Brandon Dawkins likely solidifies starting role with performance in Arizona Wildcats’ scrimmage

Dawkins took the majority of the first-team reps in the scrimmage, which marked the end of Arizona’s training camp. His main competitor, Khalil Tate, did not participate because of a minor injury to his right thumb.

Dawkins threw a touchdown pass to Tyrell Johnson but also threw two interceptions. It appeared that receiver Cedric Peterson would catch the first one, but cornerback Antonio Parks ripped the ball out of Peterson’s hands. The second came on a ball that Troy Young deflected to fellow safety Jarrius Wallace.

Seriously hope we get back to our Jack Boyz ways in the secondary this year.

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http://www.kvoa.com/story/36237728/coach-rich-rod-talks-about-week-2-opponent-houston-cougars-and-team-being-displaced-by-flooding

“Obviously are thoughts are with the folks on all of the coast line of Texas,” said Rich Rodriguez," I understand some of the teams like Houston have moved to Austin to practice there to get ready for the first game. I think having lived in New Orleans before and always being the threat of a flood or hurricane or something. You try to have plans, but, when it happens, something like this is certainly a tough thing to deal with."

The cancellation doesn’t change much for Arizona, except that it won’t have any game film on the current Houston team. The Cougars, however, have already been impacted by the storm.

For one, the Cougars won’t have a tune-up game to evaluate their team and knock off some of the offseason rust before arriving in Tucson. That might be more important than usual, considering Houston has a new coach and quarterback, and lost 45 percent of its production from a season ago.

The response about emotion is always true. In our case this will be paramount on how we channel our emotions. This will be a huge test for Major and his entire staff. There are many steps that a Coach takes in his/her career. This one will last forever. I will be in Tucson cheering on our Coogs using every vocal cord that I have and producing the most noise possible.

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After this thread, I know more about Arizona than I do about the 2017 Cougars. ( just kidding, I know nothing about either)

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What I had loosely thought of as a W I am now very unsure about for some of the reasons stated. Arizona will have had a warm-up game and we will have 10 months of rust.

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Ditto all that you just said, Imago13.

I think it was mentioned that we will have film on them, and they will have zero on us. So, we have that advantage. How much they open their playbook vs an FCS team is the question. I hope Northern Arizona forces them to dig deep! lol