Going to jot down a few notes as we get closer to Thursday.....brain is getting old.
1st of all congrats to Larry Coker for building a team so quickly that San Antonio can be proud of......game is in the Alamodome and they are expecting a sellout. Arizona beat UTSA 38-13 last year. It was the 3rd game of the season and UTSA was coming off of a 56-35 loss to Oklahoma State that was never really close; it was 42-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Something clicked at the end of the season and they reeled off 5 straight wins.
Opening this season they are different team obviously. Last year when playing Houston the score was 31-28 entering the 4th Quarter, only to have 4 turnovers and lose 59-28. This year Houston, which returned 17 starters and was unveiling their new stadium, had 6 turnovers and beat Houston soundly 27-7, giving up only 26 yards rushing and 234 passing. They also had 4 sacks and 22 hits on the QB. This is UTSA's 1st year to be eligible for post season and they returned 21 starters and have 42 Seniors. On Defense they blitz and have an extreme amount of movement to create confusion. Sounds like for the 1st time in their history, they are going to have the 12th man on their side as well......don't underestimate that. They are not flashy on Offense, they had 263 yards total in Offense; they score off their Defense and field position, and in week 1, they did not ask much of their new QB.
Arizona last year had the 11th rated Offense; they lost their workhorse in Carey and have inserted a true frosh Nick Wilson with Grigsby. Anu Solomon is also new to the line-up at QB. Their Passing Offense was 97th last year. And their Defense was rated in the 60"s. They lost their top two Linebackers and leading tacklers from last year so if there was a weakness its the middle. Arizona beat UNLV by the exact same score as last year, 58-13. UNLV was picked dead last in the Mountain West- West Division. I'm not sure how to even comprehend 787 yards of Total Offense but that is what they did.....353 rushing and 434 passing and had scores of 85, 92, 63 an 39 yards. The one thing that you can take from this even though the score was the same is that Arizona's passing attack significantly improved from last year.
So we are faced with an Arizona Offense that looked like a video game, that appears to have the ability to pass and run, versus a Senior laden, best venue ever team with very good defense and confusion and has reeled off 6 straight wins. I think back to when top ranked Missouri team traveled to Troy, Alabama and took an ass whooping back home....these kinds of games scare me. And although nothing Offensively on paper gives me any reason to be scared of UTSA's Offense, is there an unknown guy like Troy's Demarcus Ware on September 9th, 2004, that can will his Defense to a W?
I've got to dig deeper on this one for a play.....
1st of all congrats to Larry Coker for building a team so quickly that San Antonio can be proud of......game is in the Alamodome and they are expecting a sellout. Arizona beat UTSA 38-13 last year. It was the 3rd game of the season and UTSA was coming off of a 56-35 loss to Oklahoma State that was never really close; it was 42-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Something clicked at the end of the season and they reeled off 5 straight wins.
Opening this season they are different team obviously. Last year when playing Houston the score was 31-28 entering the 4th Quarter, only to have 4 turnovers and lose 59-28. This year Houston, which returned 17 starters and was unveiling their new stadium, had 6 turnovers and beat Houston soundly 27-7, giving up only 26 yards rushing and 234 passing. They also had 4 sacks and 22 hits on the QB. This is UTSA's 1st year to be eligible for post season and they returned 21 starters and have 42 Seniors. On Defense they blitz and have an extreme amount of movement to create confusion. Sounds like for the 1st time in their history, they are going to have the 12th man on their side as well......don't underestimate that. They are not flashy on Offense, they had 263 yards total in Offense; they score off their Defense and field position, and in week 1, they did not ask much of their new QB.
Arizona last year had the 11th rated Offense; they lost their workhorse in Carey and have inserted a true frosh Nick Wilson with Grigsby. Anu Solomon is also new to the line-up at QB. Their Passing Offense was 97th last year. And their Defense was rated in the 60"s. They lost their top two Linebackers and leading tacklers from last year so if there was a weakness its the middle. Arizona beat UNLV by the exact same score as last year, 58-13. UNLV was picked dead last in the Mountain West- West Division. I'm not sure how to even comprehend 787 yards of Total Offense but that is what they did.....353 rushing and 434 passing and had scores of 85, 92, 63 an 39 yards. The one thing that you can take from this even though the score was the same is that Arizona's passing attack significantly improved from last year.
So we are faced with an Arizona Offense that looked like a video game, that appears to have the ability to pass and run, versus a Senior laden, best venue ever team with very good defense and confusion and has reeled off 6 straight wins. I think back to when top ranked Missouri team traveled to Troy, Alabama and took an ass whooping back home....these kinds of games scare me. And although nothing Offensively on paper gives me any reason to be scared of UTSA's Offense, is there an unknown guy like Troy's Demarcus Ware on September 9th, 2004, that can will his Defense to a W?
I've got to dig deeper on this one for a play.....
