OREGON STATE 19, ARIZONA 17
As I walked away from Arizona Stadium last night, suffering another gut wrenching loss to Oregon State, 19-17, the feeling was one I had never experienced before.
It wasn't a feeling of total anger, directed to the oblivious play-calling by the Arizona coaching staff that cost the Wildcats a chance at pulling off a huge comeback.
It wasn't a feeling of despair or sadness, that our team had come so close to beating the 21st ranked team in the land, and almost sent them to the second place bowl game.
And lastly, it wasn't of hope, in which our players and coaches have almost turned the corner, and next season's going to be great.
What puzzled me was how calm I was leaving the Zona Zoo section. It was a feeling of deja vu, as if this outcome had already been determined by some unforeseeable force.
And every Sunday, the same headline on the paper reads how the Wildcats missed opportunities and lost another close one.
Oddly enough, the only thing that seems to be on the minds of Wildcat fans is, "at least there's a bowl game."
An obscure bowl game, but a bowl game none the less.
But after five years of the Stoops era, my patience is running out rather quickly. The rebuilding process from the John Mackovic days are long passed, and Arizona has been so painfully close to getting to a bowl game the past two seasons, that losing another "close one" sends me into a deeper state of confusion.
Why should we settle for getting to just any bowl game? Because we haven't been there in 10 years? Sure it's great to get to the post season, but after five years, any bowl just isn't good enough.
How many more "heart-breaking" losses do Wildcat fans have to endure before our fearless leader finally gets it right?
How many more obvious play calls in critical moments of the game will fall by the wayside in order to project Arizona as a more "risk-taking" team?
The Wildcats have dropped the last 3 of 4, defeating the Pac-10's 9th ranked team, Washington State, to hold on to their bowl hopes. In the three losses, Arizona has missed opportunity after opportunity to gain a foothold in the Pac-10.
While it is unfair to blame Stoops entirely for these last second meltdowns, it is hard not to. After all, it is his team, and he is the head coach. But many of the mistakes have come from his top coordinators, making the wrong calls at the wrong times.
Offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes becomes increasingly conservative with his offense, playing to the level of the opposing team rather than spreading the defense and enacting his "Air Zona" offense.
Defensive coordinator Mark Stoops has dropped the ball with his defensive schemes, allowing the Oregon offense to put up 45 points in the first half of the game. Not to mention, the odd defensive sets within the last 1:30 of the OSU game which led to the winning field goal.
Now while these coaches are trying to win at all costs, it is unacceptable to be making critical mistakes after five years of coaching the same team for the Stoops brothers. And as for Dykes, the offensive unit has lacked the firepower that was promised to us the moment Arizona snatched him from Texas Tech.
Arizona continues it's long march through the sandpits of deja vu, and once again finds itself in a battle with arch-rival Arizona State to keep its bowl hopes, and crawl out of obscurity by heading to the post-season.
Oh well, at least we can say we're headed for a bowl.
-JMB
It wasn't a feeling of total anger, directed to the oblivious play-calling by the Arizona coaching staff that cost the Wildcats a chance at pulling off a huge comeback.
It wasn't a feeling of despair or sadness, that our team had come so close to beating the 21st ranked team in the land, and almost sent them to the second place bowl game.
And lastly, it wasn't of hope, in which our players and coaches have almost turned the corner, and next season's going to be great.
What puzzled me was how calm I was leaving the Zona Zoo section. It was a feeling of deja vu, as if this outcome had already been determined by some unforeseeable force.
And every Sunday, the same headline on the paper reads how the Wildcats missed opportunities and lost another close one.
Oddly enough, the only thing that seems to be on the minds of Wildcat fans is, "at least there's a bowl game."
An obscure bowl game, but a bowl game none the less.
But after five years of the Stoops era, my patience is running out rather quickly. The rebuilding process from the John Mackovic days are long passed, and Arizona has been so painfully close to getting to a bowl game the past two seasons, that losing another "close one" sends me into a deeper state of confusion.
Why should we settle for getting to just any bowl game? Because we haven't been there in 10 years? Sure it's great to get to the post season, but after five years, any bowl just isn't good enough.
How many more "heart-breaking" losses do Wildcat fans have to endure before our fearless leader finally gets it right?
How many more obvious play calls in critical moments of the game will fall by the wayside in order to project Arizona as a more "risk-taking" team?
The Wildcats have dropped the last 3 of 4, defeating the Pac-10's 9th ranked team, Washington State, to hold on to their bowl hopes. In the three losses, Arizona has missed opportunity after opportunity to gain a foothold in the Pac-10.
While it is unfair to blame Stoops entirely for these last second meltdowns, it is hard not to. After all, it is his team, and he is the head coach. But many of the mistakes have come from his top coordinators, making the wrong calls at the wrong times.
Offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes becomes increasingly conservative with his offense, playing to the level of the opposing team rather than spreading the defense and enacting his "Air Zona" offense.
Defensive coordinator Mark Stoops has dropped the ball with his defensive schemes, allowing the Oregon offense to put up 45 points in the first half of the game. Not to mention, the odd defensive sets within the last 1:30 of the OSU game which led to the winning field goal.
Now while these coaches are trying to win at all costs, it is unacceptable to be making critical mistakes after five years of coaching the same team for the Stoops brothers. And as for Dykes, the offensive unit has lacked the firepower that was promised to us the moment Arizona snatched him from Texas Tech.
Arizona continues it's long march through the sandpits of deja vu, and once again finds itself in a battle with arch-rival Arizona State to keep its bowl hopes, and crawl out of obscurity by heading to the post-season.
Oh well, at least we can say we're headed for a bowl.
-JMB
Photo courtesy of ESPN.COM/AP PHOTO
-Wildcat freshman Keola Anolin breaks past Beaver defender Greg Leybourne for a score in the third quarter.
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