Sizing Up the Opposition

Arizona Wildcats v. Stanford Cardinal
Saturday, October 11, 2008 2 pm


A couple of weeks ago, after the Wildcats lost to New Mexico, I opined that this season was the "Mike Stoops deathwatch." Since then, Arizona has wiped the floor with UCLA and Washington, bringing them up to 4-1.

Just like Notre Dame last week, Arizona's impressive record is built on beating bad teams. Along with the two wins over the PAC-10 cellar dwellars, they crushed Idaho 70-0 and beat Toledo 41-16. None of these are really impressive skins on the wall.

Arizona does provide a serious matchup problem for the Cardinal. The Wildcats like to run a four received shotgun set and let senior QB Willie Tuitama toss it around. Arizona is average about 260 passing yards a game, which is a huge red flag going against a Stanford defense that is giving up a ghastly 273 yards a game through the air. Tuitama is a four-year starter who was in and out his first two years before breaking out in 2007. Stopping Tuitama and the Wildcat passing attack has to be the #1 focus for Ron Lynn and the Stanford D.

UA tailback Nic Grigsby had a great year in 2007 as a true freshman, running for 704 yards. This year he's run for 548 in five games, and is averaging an impressive 6.0 yards per carry. Grigsby went for 126 yards last year against Stanford. If the shifty Grigsby is able to repeat that performance, it'll be a long day for Stanford fans.

The Wildcat D has also had a great year. in 2007 they gave up 138 per game on the ground and 234 through the air. So far this year (against admiteddly second-rate competition) they've held opponents to 107 rushing yards and only 118 passing yards per game. Expect Stanford to raise those averages a bit. The Cardinal offense has shown improvement in each of the last two weeks, and I expect the Stanford front five to have some success against the Wildcats' young, undersized defensive line.

This is one of the games Stanford has to win to earn a bowl bid. The game's not on TV, and it's an absolutely gorgeous day in Palo Alto, so I'm hoping to see everyone in Stanford Stadium this afternoon.