When Arizona takes the field Saturday afternoon against USC fans should be treated to a pair of teams who on paper are evenly matches. Both teams are 5-3 in conference and tied for fourth place along with Cal. Both teams appear to be playing for a shot at the Holiday Bowl, assuming Oregon beats Oregon State Thursday night.

That is where the similarities end. USC is 8-3 and having a “down year”. Arizona is 7-4 and trying to have a very good season if they can pick off the Trojans.

Maybe the rosters are the biggest difference. Arizona has just four players who received written offers from USC and maybe half a dozen more who had some kind of serious interest from the Trojans in the recruiting process. Conversely, there are probably at least 50 Trojan players the Cats would have loved to land in recruiting.

For many of the players on the Wildcat team, this game features a lot of motivation.

Rick Faust/WildcatSportsReport.com

“A lot of the guys who come here, some of the guys tried to go to USC, some didn’t,” said Vaughn Dotsy. “It’s kind of a slap in the face to some of us, to prove that we are good enough to play with you guys, to get you guys, to beat you. Some of us are going to be up for this game.”

What has been interesting is just how tough the Cats have played the Trojans, despite having a roster of players who were not “USC good”. The Cats lost late each of the past two years. Two years ago the Trojans needed to score 10 consecutive fourth quarter points to beat the Wildcats, including a 6:12 final drive to set up a field goal and give the Cats less than a minute to come back.

Last year the Trojans won 17-10 thanks to another late drive that killed most of the fourth quarter clock and a bad personal foul that cost the Cats a second quarter touchdown.

The Cats and Trojans rarely go head to head in recruiting and when they do the Trojans usually come out ahead. The Cats landed Devin Ross four years ago, but for every Ross there is a C.J. Gable or Kris O’Dowd where the Cats did a great job, but finished as the bridesmaid to Pete Carroll’s bride.

Even of the four Trojan offers the Cats landed, none were really seen as serious blows to the USC effort. Ironically enough, of those players, only one has made a huge impact to date.

Devin Ross has been a very good player for the Cats. He has not developed into a superstar like Antoine Cason, but has been a very nice corner back for the Cats and has a chance to play at the next level.

It is also too early to make a decision on Adam Hall. Hall is getting some looks on special teams and is a reserve safety. With Cam Nelson moving on next year, he should battle for a starting sport and get a chance to live up to some of the hype he had coming out of high school.

Rick Faust/WildcatSportsReport.com

The final two players with USC offers may surprise many. Although Michael Turner was the hero of the ASU game, his Wildcat career has been less than stellar. He has switched back and forth from defense to offense and back again. He also sat out last season for violating a team rule. He has been a nice special teams performer and will have a chance to replace Ross next year, but has mostly been a role player.

Jovon Hayes has been nothing but a career back-up at Arizona, having been leapfrogged by several players with lesser pedigrees.

A handful of other current Wildcats also got some early attention from USC, but never got offers. Either they committed to Arizona early or USC filled their position early and never pursued them further.

 Among these players are Colin Baxter, who committed very early in the process, Nic Grigsby, Vaughn Dotsy, Solomon Koehler and Trevor Erno, another early commitment.

EXTERNAL LINK: Video of Vaughn Dotsy’s full comments on the USC game.

No offense to Alex Zendejas, but not only was he not the Conference’s best special teams performer this week, but he wasn’t even the Wildcats’ best special teamer. Sure his game winning field goal instantly placed him in Wildcat lore, but he also had an awful kick earlier in the game on a missed chip shot field goal.

Rick Faust/WildcatSportsReport.com

While Kyle Williams certainly gets the credit (or blame) for the muffed punt, you can’t ignore the play Mike Turner made. Turner grabbed the ball on the move, not an easy thing to do. Sure he thought he was going to score the go-ahead touchdown, but had he not hung onto the ball, the odds are that the Devils would have recovered.

Orlando Vargas also gets huge praise. It’s tough enough to block a punt. It’s even tougher to recover your own block. But to block the punt without laying out, then grabbing the bouncing ball on the run and scooting into the endzone? That is crazy. Of course, with the offensive struggles, his touchdown proved to be huge.

And don’t forget Keenyn Crier. Crier punted nine times, averaging a very solid 47.3 yards a kick. When the pressure was on, Crier got off great kicks, including one from his own endzone without the benefit of a full 15 yards to work with. He was also key as a holder on the final play. The snap was a tad high and tight into his body, but Crier handled it and got it down for Zendejas’ game winner…

If Arizona beats USC odds are the Cats will be in the Sun Bowl. Although a second place finish is possible with an Oregon win Thursday night, it is not a sure thing that the Holiday Bowl would select the Wildcats over Stanford, Cal (assuming they beat UW) or Oregon State. Conversely, all the word out of El Paso is that the Sun Bowl really wants the Wildcats and their fanbase that is just four hours from them…

Sean Miller is concerned with the foul situation for the Wildcats. They had foul trouble in all three games in Maui. His staff suggested after the games at the Maui Classic that they would review the tapes and see if it was a problem with the officiating or the team.

Miller would not answer questions about the official, but did mention that the Cats did a lot of reaching in the three games, especially on dribble penetration.

While Miller would not comment on the officials anymore, Jamelle Horne was not as cautious. When asked about what the players could do to improve upon what they did in Maui, and what could continue to hamper them, Horne gave a long list of ideas, then added, “we could have a bad draw of having suspect refs.”

(LINK for the full Horne press conference)

Rick Faust/Wildcat Sports Report

Speaking of Horne, Miller is really pleased with his play, especially on the glass and blocking shots, but wants him to do more offensively. Miller wants Horne to attack the basket more and rely on three-point shots less. With Horne’s explosiveness he should be able to score near the buck, as well as get to the line far more frequently. While he has the green light to continue shooting beyond the arc, Miller wants more variety from his offense…

Miller also discussed the injury status of Kevin Parrom, or more specifically, a lack of updates. Parrom is two weeks removed form the injury and although things are progressing well, there is still a long way to go. Miller indicated they could have the rookie forward back by the end of December, or maybe not until next season. Miller said there have been talks about a redshirt if, and only if, Parrom does not return in a timely manner. Of course, to quote Miller, “there is still a lot of basketball to play.”