*** Arizona Pregame Thread ***

[AlaCyclone]

My Arizona Wildcats football bona fides:

I have seen the Wildcats play in person twice: @ LSU in 1984 and @ Cal in 1996.

Arizona lost both games by one point.

Let's Go State!

 

[OscarBerkshire]

This team going back to 2023 plays down to its competition in legitimately every game. Honestly without our ace kicker I just don't feel comfortable. If this was on the road I would almost pencil in a loss

 

[BCClone]

This team going back to 2023 plays down to its competition in legitimately every game. Honestly without our ace kicker I just don't feel comfortable. If this was on the road I would almost pencil in a loss

If we have a kicker that can be decent from 40 yards and in. That means we only would be having to decide what to do from the 23 to the 38. 15 yard variance. You just game plan different that if you are in that area.

 

[Nothingman]

I’ll be in Tucson in a few hours. Can’t wait for the game Saturday!

 

[BCClone]

I’ll be in Tucson in a few hours. Can’t wait for the game Saturday!

You know the game is in Ames, right?????

 

[Nothingman]

You know the game is in Ames, right?????

Oh ****! Yeah I do but I happen to be going to Tucson today through Monday. I brought an ISU shirt to wear Saturday. Might go to campus area to watch.

 

[RagingCloner]

This team going back to 2023 plays down to its competition in legitimately every game. Honestly without our ace kicker I just don't feel comfortable. If this was on the road I would almost pencil in a loss

This is certainly a take. Would love to hear justifications here

 

[Statefan10]

This team going back to 2023 plays down to its competition in legitimately every game. Honestly without our ace kicker I just don't feel comfortable. If this was on the road I would almost pencil in a loss

Not entirely sure that’s true. In 2023 you could say we played down to Ohio’s level but that team was good. One of the top G5 teams out there. Should’ve still won but obviously didn’t. The rest of the year all of our wins were 2+ scores outside of the game against a ranked KSU. Our losses were all to ranked teams outside of Memphis, who went 10-3. I don’t think we played down to Memphis or Ohio, we were more likely on their level as an average P4 team.

Last year we won our first 5 of 6 games by 2+ scores as well, with the other game we won being @ Iowa. The next stretch of games we didn’t play well, however those games showed our glaring LB injury issues that were exposed by very good RBs. I’ll concede though and say we did play down to the competition, yet persevered.

Just wanted to push back a bit that we played down to competition in every game, because it’s not very true.

 

[Cyman42]

Will be interesting how much we use Chase Smith in FG's & from how far. CMC called him a " damn good kicker" in his press conference.

 

[HarryClone]

Not entirely sure that’s true. In 2023 you could say we played down to Ohio’s level but that team was good. One of the top G5 teams out there. Should’ve still won but obviously didn’t.

Off-topic but sometimes I think about the random crappy luck of scheduling these FCS/G5 games a decade in advance and then running into guys like Kurtis Rourke at Ohio, Carson Wentz at NDSU and David Johnson at UNI. I'm sure there are others too.

 

[madguy30]

This team going back to 2023 plays down to its competition in legitimately every game. Honestly without our ace kicker I just don't feel comfortable. If this was on the road I would almost pencil in a loss

This has 'I only watch ISU' vibes.

Are you saying this team is the same as 2023?

Because no team is the same year in year out, and really a team changes a lot throughout a season.

And, how did they 'legitimately' play down in every game? There's some talent there but it's not exactly a roster full of 5*s in the two deep and any season they'll likely lose some games.

 

[1TwistedCyclone]

Limit the 3rd and long situations, and we won't need to be overly reliant on the kicking game. Although, for some reason, I feel like we shouldn't underestimate Matt Campbell's third string kicker.

 

[theshadow]

It's understandable that anyone who watched ISU football from 1999-2005 (and/or was at the Shudak Suspended game) would be a little nervous about kicker #3 trotting out there.

 

[CascadeClone]

This is certainly a take. Would love to hear justifications here

I'm worried about this one too. Rocco can turn the ball over when pressured. They like to pressure. Fifita can extend plays and is very good in the pocket with time, which he will have. There is definitely a path where it could go badly.

I think its going to be an exciting game with a lot of big plays both ways. Tempo and momentum will swing around a lot.

Could ISU win by 2 scores? Absolutely. But it could also end up looking like the UCF game last year (yes ISU won, but holy hell it was a near run thing).

Hopefully ISU will have the maturity to stay cool and calm, and AZ will get rattled in a loud environment.

 

[VeloClone]

Limit the 3rd and long situations, and we won't need to be overly reliant on the kicking game. Although, for some reason, I feel like we shouldn't underestimate Matt Campbell's third string kicker.

Why would this ISU team ever settle for a FG? They have a 100% conversion rate on 4th down.

 

[Saul_T]

There was some statistic last year about B1G teams that had to travel out West and they all either lost or failed to cover the spread. I'm guessing the travel from West to East isn't quite as daunting, but will still take a toll on the Wildcats.

Gimme the Clones -10.5

 

[RagingCloner]

I'm worried about this one too. Rocco can turn the ball over when pressured. They like to pressure. Fifita can extend plays and is very good in the pocket with time, which he will have. There is definitely a path where it could go badly.

I think its going to be an exciting game with a lot of big plays both ways. Tempo and momentum will swing around a lot.

Could ISU win by 2 scores? Absolutely. But it could also end up looking like the UCF game last year (yes ISU won, but holy hell it was a near run thing).

Hopefully ISU will have the maturity to stay cool and calm, and AZ will get rattled in a loud environment.

Could ISU struggle here? absolutely. But AZ defensively is also prone to giving up a big play. As far as Fifita goes, hes going to run around a bunch, one to try and extend plays, and 2 because he literally cannot see over his OL. This sporadic scrambling is why AZ's OL has so many holding penalties. If you can keep him behind the LOS and dont let him do what the Ark St QB did, i think it will be fine. I honestly feel like if you can get AZ down by double digits, with it being their first road game, he will start pressing, and the secondary will have opportunities to make some plays.

Have to stop the run first though

**Edit-whats the record with QB's facing Heacocks 3-3-5 for the first time? Genuinely curious here

 

[RagingCloner]

There was some statistic last year about B1G teams that had to travel out West and they all either lost or failed to cover the spread. I'm guessing the travel from West to East isn't quite as daunting, but will still take a toll on the Wildcats.

Gimme the Clones -10.5

Tough trip for their first road game of the season

 

[keepngoal]

There was some statistic last year about B1G teams that had to travel out West and they all either lost or failed to cover the spread. I'm guessing the travel from West to East isn't quite as daunting, but will still take a toll on the Wildcats.

Gimme the Clones -10.5

and they are on MST, meaning -2 hours from Ames. Small obstacle that is more mental than anything, especially with an evening kickoff

 

[MartyFine]