Arizona lost to Oregon State 37-27 in a game that featured another Arizona second-half rally. Believe it or not there was some good, but the good was like sprinkles on a big cupcake of bad.

Good News
Arizona did not give up 500 yards of offense to the Beavers. Just 403 yards. Arizona had given up over 500 yards of total offense in four straight games.

Bad News
Well, if you were playing The 1290 am Rob Lantz Crappy Special Teams Bingo at home, you had almost every category checked, save for a return for score. For those playing along, the Wildcats missed an extra point, missed a field goal, gave up a first down on a fake punt, had a punt blocked and returned for a score, muffed a kickoff, fumbled a kickoff and either called a fake punt that was snuffed out or had your cannon legged punter roll out for a rugby punt that went 30 yards.

Arizona failed to register a sack and only pressured Sean Mannion on a few occasions. One of those was an interception. HOWEVER, the Wildcats get the pick at the 28 yard line, and do not throw deep. When you have a chance to steal momentum, you have to take it. One thing Pete Carroll would do is go for the endzone to try and steal the momentum from a team that had yet to win. Instead Arizona runs the ball, throws short twice and settles for a missed field goal, no points, and gives the Beavers the momentum back. (more…)

The 2011 football season is already 1/3 of the way complete and it has not been the start the Arizona football team was looking for. We take a position-by-position look at the 1-3 Wildcats.

QUARTERBACK
Nick Foles has been excellent. The only knock on him may be the lack of overall scoring, but that is about it. Foles has thrown for over 1,400 yards, completing 70.5% of his passes. Most impressive is his 10 touchdown passes without throwing an interception. He could have even more touchdown tosses if it was not for three or four drops the past two games.

RUNNING BACK
The Arizona running backs have yet to have a breakout game. Local product Ka’Deem Carey has become a fan favorite and has shown flashes of being a breakaway runner, but has yet to supplant senior Keola Antolin. The duo averages 4.5 yards a carry but is combining to rush for just 82 yards a game.

WIDE RECEIVERS
The Wildcats have the deepest crop of receivers in school history and have the most talented group in the Pac-12. Juron Criner has played like an NFL player, but missed the Oklahoma State game due to an appendectomy. He returned to action a week later and put up big numbers, but did have a few uncharacteristic drops, including a few that appeared to be sure scores. Dan Buckner has shown flashes of being a big time complement to Criner, while freshman Austin Hill shows that the future is bright.

OFFENSIVE LINE
The preseason fears about the inexperienced line have come true. The Cats have yet to establish the run and dominate the line of scrimmage. They have also been inconsistent in pass blocking, allowing to many shots on Foles. Realistically, a lot of these players would be backing up junior and senior players, but holes in recruiting have led to three underclassmen being thrust into the starting line-up. The good news is the group has some real talent and are getting great experience that will make them better a year or two from now when their strength and experience catches up to their raw athleticism.

DEFENSIVE LINE
The defensive line has struggled this year. The Wildcats are rotating five underclassmen at defensive tackle and have gotten pushed around at times. Returning starter Justin Washington has not had the big tackles for loss that were his forte a year ago. The trio of redshirt freshmen are all talented, but not as strong of savvy as they need to be. The defensive ends have yet to put great pressure on opposing quarterbacks and have had mental lapses on their contain responsibilities against the run. Injuries have actually caused the coaches to slide Washington and fellow DT Sione Tuihalamaka out to DE.

LINEBACKER
Inconsistency has been the norm. The entire unit has struggled with responsibilities, especially in covering the tight end. Stanford exploited this throughout the second half of their win against the Cats. Paul Vassallo has been a tackle machine, but true freshmen Rob Hankins and Hank Hobson have been pressed into duty before they are physically ready.

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Injuries have really hurt this group. Losing Jonathan McKnight right before the start of the season really hurt. Shaq Richardson was better the past two games, but really struggled the first two games. The safeties have also missed some coverages and zone help, but Trevin Wade is having a terrific senior season.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kyle Dugandzic has had a great start to the season as the team’s punter. His inconsistencies during fall camp seem to be behind him. The same cannot be said of the place kickers. Jaime Salazar beat out incumbent Alex Zendejas in fall camp, but gave the job right back by missing three of his four field goal attempts and an extra point. Zendejas returned to the spot for the Oregon game, but missed one of his first three extra point attempts.

Keola Antolin

Between my roles here at TucsonCitizen.com, WildcatSportsReport.com and 1290 Radio, I get a lot of questions asked of me about this UA football team. As such I have dubbed myself the “Answer Man.” From time to time I’ll answer the most frequent questions and try to give an in-depth answer. First up, the Arizona offense.

Q: Don’t you think Arizona offense was awful in the second quarter against NAU?

A: Acutally, no. The defense was bad. The offense was average, just not on the field. NAU was able to hold the ball for almost 12 minutes in the quarter. The first drive went just 27 yards on eight plays, but the Wildcats drove to the 50-yard line before punting. The second drive was the hurry-up offense. The Cats went 51 yards in just :25 but missed the field goal.

The bigger concern was the two three and outs the Cats had in the second half. They took the opening kickoff and went three yards before punting.  Who knows what would have happened had Trevin Wade not intercepted the pass at the NAU 18. After the pick the Cats scored, but the next drive saw them go three and out again, this time losing four yards.

Now, the next three drives went for three consecutive scores, with the Cats running a total of 20 plays for 207 yards, including a 10-play, 9:26 drive to start the fourth quarter.

What the Cats have to avoid is failing to score on four out of five drives, especially over the next three weeks against Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon.

So after three weeks, three scrimmages (two public) and a full fall camp the big question is whether my opinion of the Arizona football team has changed. After the smoke has cleared, the answer is “not really.”

Biggest Concerns BEFORE Camp:
My two biggest concerns before camp were the offensive line and the pass rush. In both cases the Wildcats were not only replacing all of their starters, but doing so with inexperienced players. I said over the summer that if the offensive line and pass rush is good, Arizona can challenge for the Pac-12 South championship. If those did not come through, then it could be a long fall.

Last year I believed the offensive line was a problem. That experience did not equal talent. In the end that proved to be the case, the line was mediocre. This year overall talent is not in question. The group of players that Robert Anae is working with may be the most talented in over a decade. They just lack experience and overall strength.

After watching them for a few weeks I feel a little better about the group, but still caution fans that there will be a lot of growing pains. There will be breakdowns. There will be times they get overmatched. There will also be times they absolutely control the game.

I do believe they will be much better at pass blocking than run blocking, but that has been the case since Dick Tomey left.

As for the pass rush, they have looked good at times, but how good are they really. Two players who have really impressed me in camp are C.J. Parish and freshman Reggie Gilbert. Parish has proven to be a versatile, smart player who the Wildcats can use in a variety of ways. Gilbert is a terrific athlete, who I think will be second team by the start of the season. I see him passing Dan Pettinato, if he hasn’t already.

Muhammed Usman is also a specimen, but how can this group do against experienced linemen who are both athletic and strong? Again, I think this is a group that will have moments of brilliance and periods that completely frustrate Wildcat fans.

I must also add, that if some “talk” is true, then the Wildcat coaching will aid the defensive ends in the pass rush. Some of the things I have heard (and seen) are terrific, but until I see it on game day, I am not 100% convinced that Mike Stoops will leave his comfort zone.

Things I Was Confident About BEFORE Camp
Of course I felt great about Nick Foles and the receiving corps. I feel the same about Foles as I did before, and feel better about the receivers. Tyler Slavin had a great camp. Gino Crump looked like he can help and Juron Criner looks as good as ever.

 think Austin Hill is a player, though he is likely a year away from really helping. I wish Terrence Miller had been a little more consistent and I did not see a lot from Garic Wharton, though his best days are also down the line.

Things I Am Worried About AFTER Camp
I am still worried about the offensive line and pass rush, but add kicking game and defensive backs to the list.

None of the Wildcat kickers have really impressed. Alex Zendejas and Jaime Salazar look very similar in terms of leg strength and ability to make kicks. Neither has been bad, but neither has stood out. What we can’t tell from camp is the mental aspect. We know Zendejas has some issues upstairs, especially on extra points, while we have no idea how Salazar will react to real games. Kicking is 50% mental, and it is hard to duplicate the mental aspect in practices.

Punter Kyle Dugandzic has a strong leg, but still lacks consistency. That is troubling with the NAU game about 10 days away. John Bonano is still not impressing with kick offs, though I do like the Cats’ return men.

Overall the defensive backs are solid. The injury to Jourdan Grandon is a concern, as he was clearly in the lead to be the team’s nickel back. Early in camp there were some communication issues and Shaquille Richardson looked to have some issues covering deep, especially when filling in at nickel, but now that he is at corner replacing the injured Jonathan McKnight, he’ll have to correct those issues.

I really like freshman Cortez Johnson, and walk-on Jared Tevis will likely have a scholarship before he graduates.

Overall, the group WILL be better than last year. They are big and athletic, but still young.

Prediction
Before camp I though this was a team that could win as few as four games and as many as eight. The schedule does them no favors, but I think there is talent there, though it may really start to gel in 2012 and 2013. A safe bet is picking 6-6, but a gut feeling says a winning record is a real possibility.

For more great Wildcat coverage check out www.WildcatSportsReport.com

The Arizona Wildcats’ final scrimmage of fall camp was Saturday night, and for the most part it was pretty vanilla as neither the offense nor the defense showed much.

Head Coach Mike Stoops seemed very optimistic after the 80-play scrimmage the featured one touchdown, four picks, two missed field goals and just a few big plays.

Nick Foles led the Wildcat offense to their lone touchdown drive. On the first play of the drive he hit David Douglas in the seam for a 20-yard gain. On second down Gino Crump faked out two defensive backs and had them beat by 10 yards. Foles lofted a long pass that was overthrown, but Crump did no favors when he failed to stretch out for the ball.

Another 10-yard completion to Douglas put the Wildcats at the defense’s 39-yard line. Foles went deep again, looking for Juron Criner down the left sideline. Although Shaquille Richardson was going stride for stride with Criner, but the taller receiver rose up and snagged the pass at the goal line for the touchdown.

Foles led the Wildcat offense to their lone touchdown drive. On the first play of the drive he hit David Douglas in the seam for a 20-yard gain. On second down Gino Crump faked out two defensive backs and had them beat by 10 yards. Foles lofted a long pass that was overthrown, but Crump did no favors when he failed to stretch out for the ball.

Another 10-yard completion to Douglas put the Wildcats at the defense’s 39-yard line. Foles went deep again, looking for Juron Criner down the left sideline. Although Shaquille Richardson was going stride for stride with Criner, but the taller receiver rose up and snagged the pass at the goal line for the touchdown.

Foles was mostly sharp completing 10-16 passes for 136 yards.