*** Arizona Pregame Thread ***

[CascadeClone]

Hmm, tell me more about how BYU is a national brand and basically Mormon Notre Dame.

ehhhh. They're not ND in terms of numbers, but in their defense-

Week 2 was at 9:30pm central on ESPN vs Stanford. They got 1M people to watch that drek when they should have been in bed.

Week 4 was 6:30pm central on ESPN2, and was up against:
Indy/Ill on NBC
Mia/Fla on ABC
Apple Cup on CBS
Bay/ASU on Fox

On a 2nd tier outlet up against all that is pretty decent - same as ISU vs ArkSt on ESPN2 who was up against lesser tv competition. And they weren't/aren't ranked, which still matters too.

 

[OscarBerkshire]

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.

Alot of the games we won last year we were down 2+ scores and had to dig out of a hole... Baylor, Cincinatti. UCF game??? Utah team that wasn't very good? I mean look we had extenuating circumstances but up front on defense we are just not nearly as strong as in years past under Campbell, and the receivers, while I believe to be talented, are going to have to prove it in this game

 

[LA Cat]

Greetings. From an Arizona perspective, the game Saturday will be interesting for a lot of reasons. We had last season's fiasco and immediate calls for Brennan's scalp. That was followed by predictions of close to a last-place finish this season. With the 3-0 start, making a minor bowl now seems realistic, but many are skeptical about just how good the team really is. Hawaii had a hurt QB and KSU is pretty snake-bit so far this year. So, how realistic are our defensive stats, and will the swarming approach get exposed? The offense under our new OC is a work in progress, and the kicking game has had a few moments reminiscent of last year's mess. I think if we play well enough to cover, or come close to it, most Arizona fans will feel pretty good that things are going in the right direction. If some of the newbies on our re-built roster get the yips in our first road game, things could snowball and get ugly. Seems like a lot of officiating, play calls, and bounces would all have to go right to pull off a win, but you never know.

 

[ClonerJams]

Greetings. From an Arizona perspective, the game Saturday will be interesting for a lot of reasons. We had last season's fiasco and immediate calls for Brennan's scalp. That was followed by predictions of close to a last-place finish this season. With the 3-0 start, making a minor bowl now seems realistic, but many are skeptical about just how good the team really is. Hawaii had a hurt QB and KSU is pretty snake-bit so far this year. So, how realistic are our defensive stats, and will the swarming approach get exposed? The offense under our new OC is a work in progress, and the kicking game has had a few moments reminiscent of last year's mess. I think if we play well enough to cover, or come close to it, most Arizona fans will feel pretty good that things are going in the right direction. If some of the newbies on our re-built roster get the yips in our first road game, things could snowball and get ugly. Seems like a lot of officiating, play calls, and bounces would all have to go right to pull off a win, but you never know.

I'm most interested to see how each offense plays against the defense. Not a lot of teams have seen our defense before, and it sounds like yours is equally as unique.

 

[jcisuclones]

Saw that we will have another flyover on Saturday

 

[bozclone]

Rocco was just interviewed on College Football Countdown. He is a great representative of ISU.

 

[madguy30]

Alot of the games we won last year we were down 2+ scores and had to dig out of a hole... Baylor, Cincinatti. UCF game??? Utah team that wasn't very good? I mean look we had extenuating circumstances but up front on defense we are just not nearly as strong as in years past under Campbell, and the receivers, while I believe to be talented, are going to have to prove it in this game

And you think ISU was far superior in talent to those teams to play 'down' to them?

And who won the game?

Did you know Utah had a good defense? Did you know football games can be tough to win even if one team is better?

 

[VeloClone]

I think there are factors that effect this, and some have much more effect than others.

I dont believe the travel distance has that much of an effect, spending 2 hours on a flight vs 1 hour is not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme.

What I do think makes a bigger difference is the time zones. And then even more so when games in those time zones on the extreme early or late windows. So teams are playing in very strange times as to what they are used to.

For instance an eastern team playing in the afterdark window out west. These teams are playing when their bodies think its after midnight. Or when the western teams play in the early 11am window out east. Similarly those team's bodies think they are playing early morning, etc.

If the NCAA, conferences, or whoever made a rule that teams playing across the country, the games must be played in a normal time window for both teams, so if a team is playing 2+ timezones outside their home location, they can not play in a late or early window etc. This would mitigate the issue some, but we all know the TV is king and this will never happen.

Those teams can play home games in those exact same time windows as well. Why would it matter significantly to their biological clocks if they happen to have traveled to another time zone before playing a game that is still the same time as they would have played at home?

 

[ZorkClone]

With the FG target range dropping by 10+ yards, I expect us to go for it on fourth in more situations. I think the game with hinge in how those conversions go.

 

[SayMyName]

Have been in the Phoenix area all week for work, heading back to God's Country now and proudly flying the colors!

T minus 27ish hours til tailgate

 

[Al_4_State]

Greetings. From an Arizona perspective, the game Saturday will be interesting for a lot of reasons. We had last season's fiasco and immediate calls for Brennan's scalp. That was followed by predictions of close to a last-place finish this season. With the 3-0 start, making a minor bowl now seems realistic, but many are skeptical about just how good the team really is. Hawaii had a hurt QB and KSU is pretty snake-bit so far this year. So, how realistic are our defensive stats, and will the swarming approach get exposed? The offense under our new OC is a work in progress, and the kicking game has had a few moments reminiscent of last year's mess. I think if we play well enough to cover, or come close to it, most Arizona fans will feel pretty good that things are going in the right direction. If some of the newbies on our re-built roster get the yips in our first road game, things could snowball and get ugly. Seems like a lot of officiating, play calls, and bounces would all have to go right to pull off a win, but you never know.

I get down to Tucson every winter (multiple family members have winter homes there), so I have kind of a soft spot for the Cats and was very excited to have you in the Big 12. Glad you made it over here, and I've been impressed with your squad thus far this year. Watched most of the KSU game (but wasn't fully locked in), but that's been about it. I definitely think you're going bowling, but optimistic that the crowd will be pretty disruptive for your guys on Saturday.

 

[JM4CY]

Saw that we will have another flyover on Saturday

Couple of fighter training planes I believe. Should be cooler than the slower ones previously. And louder.

 

[BigJCy]

 

[Remo Gaggi]

Couple of fighter training planes I believe. Should be cooler than the slower ones previously. And louder.

T-38s probably.

 

[Aclone]

 

[LA Cat]

I get down to Tucson every winter (multiple family members have winter homes there), so I have kind of a soft spot for the Cats and was very excited to have you in the Big 12. Glad you made it over here, and I've been impressed with your squad thus far this year. Watched most of the KSU game (but wasn't fully locked in), but that's been about it. I definitely think you're going bowling, but optimistic that the crowd will be pretty disruptive for your guys on Saturday.

We lived in Tucson for quite a while. Too hot in the summer and some run-down parts, but spectacular natural beauty, unique, and great winter weather. We tried splitting our time with SoCal and keeping our house there for four years, but it was the opposite of "lock and leave" and kind of problematic, so we're happy here in the South Bay now and mostly watching the alma mater from afar. My wife used to go to Ames for the OM tournaments on campus and really liked it. Sister went to school at Drake.

 

[Kettes]

Really hope the crowd stays brutally loud, even if we get down early. JTS needs to be as hard to play in, for visitors, as Hilton!

 

[2speedy1]

Those teams can play home games in those exact same time windows as well. Why would it matter significantly to their biological clocks if they happen to have traveled to another time zone before playing a game that is still the same time as they would have played at home?

Im talking about when a team like Rutgers ends up playing at USC, in the afterdark window. To Rutgers players it feels like they are kicking off at basically midnight with the game going to 2am on the East coast.

Stanford playing at Miami in the 11am window, to them they are kicking off 8am.

I realize they could do those at home too, but it is very rare that they do, in most cases anyway. I think those situations are more impactful than spending 1 or 2 hours more on a plane, in many cases.

How much any of it really matters I really dont know. I have never been one to say that the travel is a huge issue, there are other issues with it, but as time goes on with the long travel we are seeing it must make some difference with so many struggling on the long road trips.

 

[VeloClone]

Im talking about when a team like Rutgers ends up playing at USC, in the afterdark window. To Rutgers players it feels like they are kicking off at basically midnight with the game going to 2am on the East coast.

Stanford playing at Miami in the 11am window, to them they are kicking off 8am.

I realize they could do those at home too, but it is very rare that they do, in most cases anyway. I think those situations are more impactful than spending 1 or 2 hours more on a plane, in many cases.

How much any of it really matters I really dont know. I have never been one to say that the travel is a huge issue, there are other issues with it, but as time goes on with the long travel we are seeing it must make some difference with so many struggling on the long road trips.

Yeah, my point was that if they are restricting it, they should restrict it for those teams home and away. In that case it could start to get tricky scheduling when you have so many games - in conferences even - where you have teams from the Eastern playing teams from the Pacific or Mountain (or Central playing Pacific). You lop off the early and the late game so you may not be able to carry all of the top tier games you want to put on your top channels.

What carrier has 11 am Eastern kickoff? I thought the earliest was noon Eastern (11am Central). That would be 9 am Pacific. If instituting rules like that Hawaii would only ever be able to play in the evening timeslot.

 

[demoncore1031]

In regards to Cooper's injury, if it had to happen, it was good timing since he still has a redshirt available. If he had played this weekend, he would be at 5 games and not been able to get that redshirt. Still sucks though, he was having a solid season.