Wed, Nov 19, 2008
ez access
Subscriber services | Subscribe now
Custom clipper icon
Arizona defensive end Ricky Elmore tries in vain to grab the leg of Stanford backup quarterback Jason Forcier on a third-quarter play.
KELLY PRESNELL / arizona daily star

Football

Opinion by Greg Hansen : Inability to make one play really makes Arizona pay

Opinion by Greg Hansen
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.12.2008
STANFORD, Calif.
Six yards shy of the most significant UA football victory since 1998, third-and-goal, clock dipping under seven minutes, Wildcat offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, no dummy, called the play every UA fan was shouting at their radio:
THROW IT TO GRONK!
One pass, 6 measly yards, to Mr. Six in the end zone. This is why Arizona recruited big ol' Rob Gronkowski. This is why its fans have waited so patiently for a fourth-year senior quarterback, Willie Tuitama, to make that pass.
Willie throws it. Gronk catches it. Arizona wins 30-17, goes to 5-1, soars into the Top 25 poll and sells out Saturday's home game against Cal.
"We were trying everything we could to get (Gronk) the ball,'' Dykes confirmed.
"I definitely wanted to throw it to Rob,'' Tuitama insisted.
All the UA needed was 6 blessed yards to put itself in a position it has not been in this century. Tuitama to Gronkowski. Game over. Ladies and gentlemen, get your bowl tickets now.
But just as Gronkowski left the huddle, Stanford defensive coordinator Ron Lynn, a 65-year-old master of the X's and O's who coached in the NFL for 19 seasons, backed up plumbing.
He sent a safety to help a cornerback double-cover Gronkowski. It put just enough doubt in Tuitama's mind that he no longer was committed to throwing it to Gronkowski.
"They bluffed us out of it,'' Dykes admitted.
At the snap of the ball, Stanford's safety dropped off Gronkowski and blitzed Tuitama, giving Stanford six rushers against Arizona's five blockers.
Effectively hurried, Tuitama threw the ball into a mass of bodies near the goal line. There would be no touchdown. Arizona settled for a field goal and a six-point lead. You can guess the rest.
Poof. One chance. See ya.
Stanford won at the wire, 24-23, and now Arizona has gone 0-4 against Stanford and New Mexico, its development retarded in an incomprehensible space of 16 games.
"I don't get it,'' said Arizona sophomore defensive end Ricky Elmore. "We play these teams with losing records and seem to play down to their level a lot of the time.''
The irony is that Stanford now has an unexpected winning record (4-3) courtesy of an Arizona team that still can't win a game that will advance it into a Real Big Game.
Attempting to put the day in context, UA coach Mike Stoops said, "We're a much better team than we have been at any time. Today we were able to hang in there and give ourselves a chance. To me, that's a good sign.''
This is where the esteemed Mr. Stoops may hit some resistance in the Tucson football community. In Game 52 of his head coaching career, year five of his reconstruction assignment, losing to Stanford and New Mexico two years in succession is, shall we say, not universally viewed as a good sign.
With Cal and USC barreling down the road, it could be viewed as a time to jump ship and swim for shore. But there is way too much football to be played to go overboard.
My feeling is that Stanford, while no juggernaut, is a good home team, bound for a bowl game, an improving club that has better defensive personnel and a better running game than Arizona.
Stanford is apt to clobber Wazzu and UCLA the next two games and climb to 6-3. Its coach, Jim Harbaugh, and not Stoops, now becomes the clubhouse leader as Pac-10 coach of the year.
By comparison, four of Arizona's six remaining games are to be played in Tucson, and for now that's about all the UA has as positive reinforcement.
"I think we've developed a tradition of playing well at home, playing fast,'' said Dykes, whose team seemed to be stuck in first gear Saturday. "It's hard to win on the road. We have two games we'd like to play over again, but you can't do that.''
The previous five games on Arizona's schedule are not meaningless. This program had to get something done, something that after 4 1/2 seasons shouted that the Wildcats are OK; that they are respectable.
In that regard, the UA has not been embarrassed since losing at LSU two years ago.
The next step, the one Arizona has not been able to make, is to move beyond respectability.
It could have accomplished that on Saturday, an afternoon in which it was one agonizing play here, another there, from putting Stanford away and winning on a day it was not at its best.
But when a team out-rushes you 286-77, when it limits you to 57 offensive snaps, you can't say you were robbed.
"We knew after the first series what we were up against,'' said Stanford all-conference center Alex Fletcher. "We knew we could have our way with them up front.''
Arizona might have won Saturday had it not lost two of its expected starters on the defensive line, Johnathan Turner and Lolomana Mikaele. Both are inactive for off-field issues and it has almost crippled the UA defensive front.
Once again Saturday, the UA didn't penetrate into Stanford's offensive backfield. It didn't pressure any of the three Stanford quarterbacks. You don't see opposing QBs scramble, or notice the pocket collapsing around them. You don't see sacks.
Because of that, Stanford was able to sit back and dictate terms on offense, run at will and wear the Wildcats down in the final five minutes. Before Arizona can say that it has truly moved up to a higher level, it must play better defense.
Going home for a series against Cal and USC is not the prescribed way to get well. It is, instead, a predictable way to fall to 4-4 and create a sense of desperation. Losing to Stanford and New Mexico means that the Wildcats now must beat Wazzu and one of the Oregon schools next month to avoid playing Arizona State with everyone's jobs at stake.
Wildcat newslettersARIZONA• sign up now for U of A basketball coverage
Get Arizona Daily Star home delivery and SAVE BIG!
Go Back