Arizona football notes: Crowd disappears in the second half
by Anthony Gimino on Sep. 25, 2011, under Arizona football
This is how part of the Zona Zoo looked during the third quarter. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE
The announced attendance for Arizona’s game against Oregon was only four away from being a listed sellout — 56,096.
After halftime, perhaps half the crowd decided to do something else with its evening.
The Zona Zoo student section — which has been built up into a 10,000-strong force during the Mike Stoops era — was especially sparse on the east side of the stadium behind the Wildcats’ bench. A third full?
“That’s expected. They’ve been doing that since I’ve been here,” said senior cornerback Trevin Wade.
“I appreciate the loyal fans that stayed and continued to watch us. Every team is not perfect. When we go to away games and we’re winning by a lot, their fans are still there, you know? It’s all about support. All we can do is keep playing. …
“It fires you up to have the loyal people there, still cheering for you. They were still pretty loud. That gets me amped up.”
Restroom rescue
According to the Eugene Register-Guard, Ducks offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, while leaving the men’s restroom in the press box after the third quarter, broke off the door handle. He tried to put it back in place before racing back to the coaches’ box.
But the handle was indeed broken, and the door locked in place, trapping two people inside. They were eventually freed, but not until after midnight after most of the media was gone.
Scary moment
Arizona receiver Austin Hill was able to walk away from a hit to the helmet by Oregon’s John Boyett, who smashed his shoulder into Hill as the redshirt freshman went up for a pass that went incomplete.
Hill stayed on the turf without visibly moving for a few minutes before being helped into a sitting position and then off the field. Stoops said after the game that Hill had suffered a concussion but had feeling in all his extremities.
“How bad the concussion is, we’ll know more as we go forward,” Stoops said.
Hill, after catching eight passes for 128 yards in receiver Juron Criner’s absence at Oklahoma State, hasn’t seen much action in the past two games as Criner has returned.
Noteworthy
*The 56 points allowed to Oregon was the most allowed in the Stoops era. The last time Arizona yielded more points came in a 59-7 loss at Purdue on Sept. 20, 2003, which was the second-to-last game before John Mackovic was fired. …
*Nick Foles’ stats in three career games against Oregon: 93 of 157 (59.2 percent) for 1,160 yards, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. A crazy optimist might suggest Foles could see the Ducks again in the Pac-10 championship game. …
*True freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey is in the record books for the most kick returns in one game — nine. That’s not really a record you want to set, considering how many times the opponent has scored. Carey averaged 21.9 yards per return, with a long of 39.
Also on TucsonCitizen.com:
Arizona’s recurring nightmare: run defense
Oregon coach Chip Kelly on Nick Foles: ‘I watch in awe sometimes’
Arizona-Oregon game blog: Ducks roll behind James’ career night
