Stoops Makes A Major Mistake On 1st Down

The Arizona Wildcats have an overall record of 3-2 and they are 1-1 in the Pac Ten Conference and tied for second place with five other 1-loss teams (Stanford, USC, Oregon State, Washington and Arizona State). The Wildcats were one play away from being undefeated in conference play. With 2:55 remaining in the game with a 33-28 lead Arizona had the ball and Washington only had two timeouts remaining. The very first play should have been a run, because it was important to get the clock running and force Steve Sarkisian to decide when he would use his timeouts. The absolute worse case scenario should have been Arizona running the ball three straight times and punting the football. The decision by Stoops to pass the ball resulted in QB Nick Foles throwing a ball low that bounced off WR Delashaun Dean’s foot and landed in the hands of Washington LB Mason Foster. Foster quickly returned the interception for a 37-yard TD. According to Bobby Stover of the Arizona Daily Wildcat Coach Stoops took full responsibility for that play call.

The Wildcats have to overcome the loss to the Huskies and focus on their next opponent the Stanford Cardinal. The Wildcats dominated the game against Washington. Arizona had 384 yards passing and 461 yards on offense. WR David Roberts was unstoppable with 12 catches for 138 yards and 1 TD. The Wildcats are ranked 4th in total defense in the Pac Ten. Arizona has enough talent on both sides of the ball to win a lot of games and qualify for a higher profile Bowl than the Las Vegas Bowl that they won 31-21 over BYU last season. If the Wildcats qualify for a Bowl game this season it will be the first time they would have qualified for back to back bowl games since the Insight.com Bowl in 1997 and the Holiday Bowl in 1998.

In the next four games Arizona gets Stanford, UCLA and Washington State at home before traveling to California. Arizona has the talent to win the next four games and improve to 7-2 if they can avoid turnovers and coaching mistakes, but it is very possible that they can be 7-2 before they host Oregon on November 21st.

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The Pac Ten’s Best QB Is?

After the first five weeks of the season the Pac Ten race is very close. There are three undefeated teams in conference play Stanford (3-0), Oregon (2-0) and Arizona (1-0). Three teams in the Pac Ten are only 1 game out of first place. The USC Trojans are 2-1, Oregon State is 1-1 and the Washington Huskies are 1-1. If a player can emerge as the best QB in the conference their team has a great chance of winning the Pac Ten Championship.

It is very possible that a QB can have a lot of individual talent, but the supporting cast might not be that good. Washington Huskies QB Jake Locker has 1,283 passing yards, 7 TD’s and 3 rushing TD’s. Locker has the ability to beat teams with his arms and his legs, but he does not have the best offensive line, running backs or receivers in the conference. The top five players with the highest QB ratings are Arizona Wildcat Nick Foles (156.9), Stanford Cardinal Andrew Luck (147.7), USC Trojan Matt Barkley (139.6), Oregon State Beaver Sean Canfield (134.0) and Jake Locker (129.1).

The top four QB’s have a very good supporting cast. The Arizona Wildcats RB Nic Grigsby is averaging 8.1 YPC and Arizona has three receivers with over 10 catches. The Stanford Cardinal have Toby Gerhart the Pac Ten’s leading rusher with 650 yards and WR Ryan Whalen is averaging 17.2 YPC. Trojans RB Joe McKnight is averaging 7.1 YPC and Damian Williams leads USC with 24 receptions. Oregon State’s Quizz Rodgers has 9 TD’s and WR James Rodgers has 37 receptions.

Defense will play a big part in how successful the QB’s are in the Pac Ten. The ability to get crucial stops and turnovers that allow the offense to get the ball back will result in more victories and a first place finish. The top five defenses in the conference are Arizona St, USC, UCLA, Arizona and Oregon. Taking the offensive weapons and defense into account the best QB’s in the Pac Ten after five weeks are Andrew Luck (Stanford), Matt Barkley (USC), Jake Locker (Washington), Nick Foles (Arizona) and Sean Canfield (Oregon State). Some of the best QB’s in the conference will play in these games this week Arizona at Washington, Stanford at Oregon State and Oregon at UCLA.

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Huskies Fall In OT In South Bend

The Washington Huskies had their chances to put Notre Dame away and they could not do it. At the end of the third quarter Washington had an opportunity to go up by more than 10 points, but QB Jake Locker was stopped on a 4th down QB sneak. The thing that sticks out the most about this game is that Steve Sarkisian has the Huskies headed in the right direction and he has not been in Seattle for a full year yet. Sarkisian is instilling an aggressive attitude that may not pay dividends until next season. The Huskies went for it on fourth down three times converting 1/3 fourth down attempts. Going for it on fourth down is something that Pete Carroll did on a regular basis when Sarkisian was on the staff depending on where the ball was and the situation in the game. The attitude and fearlessness that makes up the Trojans program is being poured into the Washington Huskies by Steve Sarkisian and former Trojan defensive coordinator Nick Holt. Washington just lacks the horses right now.

Washington has been very impressive this season. Washington fans have not forgotten their 0-12 record from 2008. This season the Huskies lost 31-23 to the now #4 ranked LSU Tigers. They beat Idaho 42-23. The following week the Huskies shocked the college football world with a 16-13 win over USC who was ranked #3 that week. They had an emotional let down and lost to the Pac Ten’s first place Stanford Cardinal 34-14. Today they went down to Notre Dame 37-30 in OT. Once Steve Sarkisian has a couple of recruiting classes under his belt the Huskies will have better talent on the field that will result in a lot more wins.

The Washington coaching staff has began to pull the natural ability out of QB Jake Locker. In 2007 Locker only completed 47.3% of his passes. In 2008 Locker completed 53.8% of his throws. After the first four games this season Jake is completing 58.1% of his passes. Other than Locker, Washington does not have many playmakers on the roster. RB Chris Polk has been relied upon a lot this season and has produced some good numbers. Against the Irish Polk had 22 carries for 136 yards and 6.2 YPC. Sophomore WR Jermaine Kearse finished with 8 catches for 94 yards. The Huskies defense could not slow down Notre Dame. WR Golden Tate finished the game with 9 catches for 244 yards and he averaged an insane 27.1 YPC. Irish QB Jimmy Clausen only had one good leg, but the lack of talent on the Huskies defense could not stop him from completing 23/31, for 422 yards and 2 TD’s. Irish fans need to be concerned. Charlie Weis is in his fifth year in South Bend and this season Notre Dame has already lost 38-34 to Michigan, got past Michigan State 33-30 and held on to beat Purdue 24-21. Washington has the ninth ranked defense in the Pac Ten and Notre Dame couldn’t put the Huskies away until OT.

If Washington can make a Bowl game this year it will be a big step forward for the program. The next three games the Huskies get Arizona at home, Arizona State on the road and Oregon at home. The Huskies have to win two out of the next three games to put themselves in a good position so they can make a run at their first bowl appearance since the 2002 Sun Bowl. The Huskies have shown that they are well coached and they play with enough effort to get at least four more victories this season.

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