Bear Down Wildcats

Don't mean to jump the gun. But if Fisch says he's expecting Oklahoma, and we stayed ranked 15 in the CFP looking at the 12 NY6 slots, the Alamo pays more than the Holiday, which pays more than the Sun, which pays more than the Vegas Bowl, and we own the pertinent conference tie-breakers, it's hard to see a scenario where we're not going to San Antonio. I won't go into the various pros and cons of the Alamo city. I expect we'll see a sea of red in the stands, and I'll leave it at that. If we manage to win the game, because of the opponent, I believe it would go down as one of the three biggest bowl wins in school history.

Here's what the 10-2 Sooners have done this year:

SMU (10-2) 28-11
Iowa St (7-5) 50-20
Texas (11-1) at Dallas 34-30
UCF (6-6) 31-29
@ Kansas (8-4) 33-38
@ Oklahoma St (9-3) 24-29
West Virginia (8-4) 59-20
@ BYU (5-7) 31-24
TCU (5-7) 69-45

OFFENSE:
QB 8 Dillon Gabriel 5-11 205 RS-SR PASS: 69.27 % 305.00 YPG 30/6 TD/INT RUSH: 31.08 YPG 12 TD
RB 27 Gavin Sawchuk 5-11 195 RS-FR 55.45 YPG 8 TD
WR 12 Drake Stoops 5-10 190 RS-SR 73.33 YPG 10 TD
WR 4 Nic Anderson 6-4 205 RS-FR 60.42 YPG 9 TD
WR 3 Jalil Farooq 6-1 210 JR 53.08 YPG 2 TD
TE 81 Austin Stogner 6-6 260 SR 16.33 YPG 1 TD
LT 75 Walter Rouse 6-6 325 SR
LG 72 McKade Mettauer 6-4 315 RS-SR
C 73 Andrew Raym 6-4 305 SR
RG 59 Savion Byrd 6-5 295 RS-SO
RT 60 Tyler Guyton 6-7 330 RS-JR

BENCH:
RB 29 Tawee Walker 5-9 215 JR 45.09 YPG 7 TD
RB 24 Marcus Major 6-0 220 RS-SR 44.00 YPG 1 TD
WR 5 Andrei Anthony 6-1 190 JR 71.50 1
WR 1 Jayden Gibson 6-5 195 SO 31.00 5
WR 15 Brenen Thompson 5-9 160 SO 31.60 1
OL 53 Caleb Shaffer 6-5 345 RS-SR
OL 69 Nate Anderson 6-4 310 RS-JR
OL 70 Cayden Green 6-5 315 FR

DEFENSE:
DE 80 Rondell Bothroyd 6-3 275 RS-SR 25.0 T
NT 94 Isaiah Coe 6-2 310 RS-SR 26.0 T
DT 54 Jacob Lacey 6-1 280 RS-SR 16.0 T 1.0 S
DE 40 Ethan Downs 6-4 265 JR 28.0 T 4.5 S 1 INT
LB 28 Danny Stutsman 6-4 235 JR 99.0 T 3.0 S 1 INT
LB 7 Jaren Kanak 6-2 230 SO 60.0 T 2.0 S
LB 1 Dasan McCullough 6-5 220 SO 27.0 T
CB 5 Woodi Washington 5-11 190 RS-SR 41.0 T
S 2 Billy Bowman 5-10 190 JR 61.0 T 6 INT
S 12 Key Lawrence 6-1 205 SO 44.0 T 2 INT
CB 15 Kendel Dolby 5-11 180 JR 43.0 T 2 INT

BENCH:
LB 10 Kip Lewis 6-1 205 RS-FR 59.0
S 3 Robert Spears-Jennings 6-1 215 SO 35.0
S 22 Peyton Bowen 6-0 200 FR 33.0 1.0
S 9 Gentry Williams 6-0 180 SO 29.0 3
S 21 Reggie Pearson 5-10 200 RS-SR 27.0 1.0 1
LB 11 Kobie McKinzie 6-2 240 RS-FR 22.0
S 26 Kani Walker 6-2 205 RS-SO 22.0

KICKING:
P 48 Luke Elzinga 6-4 210 RS-SR 44.13 YPP
K 34 Zach Schmit 5-10 190 RS-JR 70.00 % LONG: 46
KO 34 Zach Schmit 5-10 190 RS-JR 88 KO 48 TB 2 OB
PR 82 Gavin Freeman 5-8 185 SO 7.29 YPR 1 TD
KR 3 Jalil Farooq 6-1 210 JR 22.21 YPR

Will be a great test for our defense. Certainly think it would be a 35-31 kind of game and winning it would mean so much going into next year and for the off season

I got an email today from the U of A Athletic Department saying the two most likely bowls are Alamo and Las Vegas

With the transfer portal and people sitting out for the draft, both rosters will look different come gameday

Vegas would be such a letdown

btfd16 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:20 pm With the transfer portal and people sitting out for the draft, both rosters will look different come gameday

Played his senior year at Centennial High in Phx

Well, other than the NY6 games with whatever contractual pool amount of payout is involved, we seem to have landed in the best available slot.

Money aside, the NY6 other than the Rose & Sugar don't mean much beyond "previews of coming attractions" for the expanded playoff next year. But after that, the Alamo is right there next in line for payout, and there's already a little buzz about the matchup, so I assume there'll be some eyeballs tuned in for our game. Finishing third (and we would have had a rematch with UW in Vegas under last year's format) in one of the toughest league years in memory and matching up with the Oklahoma Sooners in one of the 7 or 8 best bowl games is pretty phenomenal. Especially when you consider that many or most of us in the pre=season were just hoping for and trying to figure out where to find a 6th win to qualify for something like the Independence Bowl.

Great regular season, Cats! Now you'll be back to being big underdogs (and certainly outnumbered) in the Battle of the Alamo. Give 'em hell, and Bear Down!

I think we'll win because we are a better team.

8:15 pm CT, but I guess we’re used to that!

Arizona opens as a 1 point favorite.

So, Arizona will be Seth Littrell first called game in like 6 or so years?

azcat49 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 2:10 pm Will be a great test for our defense. Certainly think it would be a 35-31 kind of game and winning it would mean so much going into next year and for the off season

Arizona defense tested against UW and USC. It’s not like Arizona hasn’t seen Hiesman QBs with amazing WRs.

(That's very cool, IrishAzCat!)

Gotta say the NCAA could do a better job with the bowl announcements. First, you had ESPN dragging everything out for their captive audience to fill a three=hour panel discussion show. I was outta there after a half hour. Then, it's trickle out the info bowl by bowl, where your best bet was finding somebody on X who was dedicated to posting the info quickly. Even at about 3 pm PST, I had to hunt around the internet for the last few "TBA" strays. So I guess starting next year, we'll have the new world order, with the 12 playoff teams in the NY6, which probably still won't all be played on New Year's Day. And you'll have another 14 or 15 bowls involving matchups of P4 teams, which will be late season exhibition games and an excuse for fan vacation trips. And the rest are just TV programming filler and games for fans of de facto lower division teams. Nothing against them or concern about "too many bowls", but I just doubt there's much interest or ratings. In any event, if the NCAA can rattle off the 68 basketball teams fairly quickly every March, the bowl matchups shouldn't be handled any differently. If the hoops analogy is that Michigan is the overall number one seed, and the Myrtle Beach Bowl is one of the play-in games; fine. But just rattle it off. No doubt the FSU issue isn't going anywhere; it'll be on TV and radio talk shows for weeks. And there are other anxious people out there with a vested interest beyond those in Talahassee, Tuscaloosa, Austin, and of course...Bristol, Connecticut.

Does anyone know how many tickets are allocated to each school? And when we might be able to purchase tickets through the UofA?

VegasCatFan wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 5:14 pm Does anyone know how many tickets are allocated to each school? And when we might be able to purchase tickets through the UofA?

6pm for Wildcat Club members and season ticket holders
7pm for everyone else

VegasCatFan wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 5:14 pm Does anyone know how many tickets are allocated to each school? And when we might be able to purchase tickets through the UofA?

Here's a link for tickets:

https://admin.arizonawildcats.com/featu ... fa9e6d7866

This will be a big measuring stick game for the whole program. Win, and we go into next year in the Big12 with an enormous amount of momentum.

I think we match up well and could win by a touchdown. But a whole lot is going to have to go our way, including our d-line getting pressure and disrupting their passing game timing.

If we win we could be going into the big 12 ranked in the top 15-20 preseason and the favorites to win it

Just ordered 3 tickets. Asked for lower bowl, but only club level available. I would think that is a good sign for tickets sales?

ASUHATER! wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:56 pm If we win we could be going into the big 12 ranked in the top 15-20 preseason and the favorites to win it

I think offensively we are going to be loaded.......assuming none of our top players portals us for $$$$$$

Defensively we are losing a ton of players on the defensive line. Its imperative we get some immediate help via the portal or we could easily take a step back on defense.

If we are able to replace Manoa/Norton/Sio N./Upshaw with similar talent then yes, we could be the favorites to win the new Big 12 next year.

gouacats wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:05 pm Just ordered 3 tickets. Asked for lower bowl, but only club level available. I would think that is a good sign for tickets sales?

For Oklahoma fans yes

gouacats wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:05 pm Just ordered 3 tickets. Asked for lower bowl, but only club level available. I would think that is a good sign for tickets sales?

I tried for lower bowl but they wanted to put me in the end zone corner. same for loge. we went with upper level midfield.

Looks like OU opened as a 1.5 point favorite. Seems about right.

ASUHATER! wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:22 pm

gouacats wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:05 pm Just ordered 3 tickets. Asked for lower bowl, but only club level available. I would think that is a good sign for tickets sales?

For Oklahoma fans yes

Went through UA ticket office. If guess if OU fans are ordering thru them, then at least the Cats aren’t left holding a bunch of tickets.

Just got two In section 103 row 32 from the AZ website. Keep trying and let’s sell our allotted tickets out to AZ fans

ASUHATER! wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:22 pm

gouacats wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:05 pm Just ordered 3 tickets. Asked for lower bowl, but only club level available. I would think that is a good sign for tickets sales?

For Oklahoma fans yes

UA selling out their lower level allotment already is a good sign for Oklahoma…………

ProfessorFate wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:28 pm Looks like OU opened as a 1.5 point favorite. Seems about right.

I am seeing Arizona as the slight favorite

Probably some big names sitting out for Oklahoma

PHXCATS wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:58 pm

ProfessorFate wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:28 pm Looks like OU opened as a 1.5 point favorite. Seems about right.

I am seeing Arizona as the slight favorite

Probably some big names sitting out for Oklahoma

Since "the line" is about gambler perceptions, not team quality, I believe "the line" will move heavily in Oklahoma's favor...

... and we wanna be the underdogs, yes?

azcat49 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:21 pm Just got two In section 103 row 32 from the AZ website. Keep trying and let’s sell our allotted tickets out to AZ fans

I’m in the same section, row 27.

Does that imply he's sitting out the bowl game?

I think so.

Someone correct if I'm wrong but when these guys put out these "statements" it means they will no longer be suiting up for their team from that point on.

Some dude wished him luck at Oregon or U$C.

He gone.

Still a lot of talent at QB for Oklahoma

wyo-cat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 7:45 am Some dude wished him luck at Oregon or U$C.

He gone.

I believe his OC just took the Mississippi St job and they need a QB.

That’s a serious downgrade.

Sooners to Bullies? Make it make sense.

Wasn't that the year we had Veal at QB who was a runner who occasionally threw the ball? Not sure he threw more than 100 passes total.

wyo-cat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 8:41 am That’s a serious downgrade.

Sooners to Bullies? Make it make sense.

It isn’t that much

Their backup is young as really really good. Way more talented just not the experience

He only saw "real" action when Gabriel got hurt vs. BYU. Didn't do too badly but he really just got mop up time this year.

Not sure what you call a downgrade but not playing the QB that beat Texas and threw for 3,500 yards has got to be a plus for us.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 9:25 am Wasn't that the year we had Veal at QB who was a runner who occasionally threw the ball? Not sure he threw more than 100 passes total.

Yep, Ronnie Veal. Career 44.7% passer who had more picks than TDs.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/pl ... eal-1.html

That was an interesting year. Early on, we take on #6 Oklahoma with their star RB Mike Gaddis...

As noted, we won the battle of the field goals 6-3, behind a pretty incredible defensive effort. (I think the Star's headline was just: PFAFF!!!) We beat up on ASU in Tempe when they wore their all-yellow uniforms that Frank Kush grumbled about, because he said they "looked like a bunch of bananas." Then, we beat Dick Sheridan (who declined the Arizona job before Dick Tomey took it) and his North Carolina St team on a FREEZING New Year's Eve Copper Bowl.

Ronnie Veal was definitely a better runner than passer. Strong arm and nice tight ball, but no accuracy or touch. The following year, Tomey went all-in with the running game. He didn't want to sell "Wishbone" to the Tucson market, so he nuanced it as Colorado's "I-Bone", but it amounted to the same thing.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 9:48 am He only saw "real" action when Gabriel got hurt vs. BYU. Didn't do too badly but he really just got mop up time this year.

Not sure what you call a downgrade but not playing the QB that beat Texas and threw for 3,500 yards has got to be a plus for us.

Composite number 8 player overall in the 2023 recruiting class and #3 qb

He is really good. Lacks experience but him being so good is why Gabriel is leaving. Oklahoma wasn’t going to keep him on the bench another year

So a really good starting qb is worth up to 7 points in college football compared to their backup

Vegas is putting this as a 2 point difference

It benefits Arizona for sure but it is by no means significant

This crap is ruining college football, and I can hardly stomach watching the pros

TheCatInTheHat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 9:59 am
Ronnie Veal was definitely a better runner than passer.

Chuck Levy made Veal look like Joe Montana. Only had one pass attempt which was incomplete during a win against Oregon in 1993.

Tomey games like that brought in Mackovic since the fans really wanted an offensive minded coach.

cerec_cat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 11:05 am This crap is ruining college football, and I can hardly stomach watching the pros

I agree. Already seems a major tweak that is needed would be to start the transfer portal after bowl season, not before.