No love

I hate homers (def. noun. 1. someone who roots for their home team and follows blindly into believing their team is always right. 2. biased 3. incapable of seeing things through an unbiased eye). With that said I have some beefs with College Football analysts and reports, specifically centering around the UA vs. Oregon game.

No one is reporting about how UA won that game, only how Oregon lost it. Last time I checked Oregon's defense and special teams allowed 27 points (27 = 34-Cason's INT TD return), and Dennis Dixon does not play for the Ducks defense or special teams. Oregon's defense came into the game (as I reported last week) in the lower third in every defensive category and I thought UA could win before Dixon's knee decided that Dennis needed to rest a torn ACL. (On a side note I do commend Dixon for playing on a torn ACL and I don't think it had anything, or at least had less to do with, his Heisman hunt than his team winning and I do give him credit for that.) I believe I also said UA could win by stopping Dixon and Stewart, now was I implying we should hurt both of them, absolutely not, but if that's how it goes that's how it goes. When Dixon left the game he had run for a 39 yd TD on a surprise 4th and 3 attempt and followed it with a surprise 2 pt conversion for the Ducks. Then on his next possession, 1st and goal on the 4, he threw a pick in the end zone to Nasty Nate Ness to end that drive. (He threw 3 to the Cats last season, who is to say that the UA outstanding defensive backfield wouldn't be teeing off on his passes all night) Arizona took that and made it 7 to make the score 8-7.

Then he drove them 65 yards back into the red zone and went down with his injury on 2nd down, on a play that wouldn't have gained yardage and would have made it 3rd and 10+. So we'll say the Field Goal can be attributed to him to, when he left the game they were up 11-7 UA's next drive also resulted in a field goal making it 11-10 Oregon before Brady Leaf took the game over. There is no guarantee that Dixon would have made that big of an outcome in this game, other than a pair of 20+ yd completion and a 39 yd TD run, he didn't do too much while he was in the game. During the same time Willie Tuitama had a couple of 30+ yd passes and a big 18 yd first down run to keep their 1st scoring drive alive. He was playing head to head with Dixon and some might say he was a little more impressive. Losing Dixon did not mean Oregon was going to lose they had a Senior back up who has thrown over 150 passes in Div. I football.

Arizona won this game but apparently no one thinks so. I guess with Dixon out Pima Community could have beat Oregon. UA gets no love. Ever. Another issue of non-love, the guys on ESPN giving out helmet stickers for performance. Here were the winners (and their stats) followed by my winner (and his stats):

PK Austin Starr, Indiana: 49 yard Game Winning Field Goal (2/3 FG on the day, 3/3 XP)

DE Vernon Gholston, OhSt: 4 tackles for loss, (3 of which were sacks)

QB Tim Hiller, W. Michigan: 367 in the air on 45 attempts and 3 tds vs 6-6 Iowa.

WR Michael Crabtree, TxTech: 12 catches for 154 yards 1 TD

WR Jeremy Maclin, Mizzou: 360 All-Purpose Yards (115 PR, 194 KR, 143 Receiving, 8 Rushing)

CB Quintez Secka, La-Monroe: 5 tackles (5 solo) 2 INTs, 42 total yards, 0 Passes Defended

and My Helmet Sticker who we can compare to Mr. Secka

CB Antoine Cason, Arizona: 9 tackles (7 solo) 1 INT, 5-7 passes defended (depending on the source) 1 PR TD, 156 total yards (PR and INT return), and a TD saving FF late in the game.

WR Mike Thomas (2 TDs), QB Willie Tuitama (266 Yds 2 TDs), and PK Jason Bondzio (2/2 from over 40, 1/1 from 50+ yards) oh and let's not forget MLB Spencer Larsen who added 16 tackles (12 solo), 3 TFL, 1 Sack, and 1 FF in Thursday nights game, they all had similar stats to these helmet sticker winners and Cason's were far and above Quintez Secka, but as usual UA gets no love. No player of the week awards have surfaced yet but someone need look at Antoine to have the answer to that question.

Why does the U of A football team receive no credit for such an outstanding victory. Appalachin State took down #5 Michigan and they changed the AP voting rules, and still received votes even though they lost in a FCS match-up. Our boys have had outstanding weeks, Any one of Tuitama's THREE 5 TD games, or his two games of over 400 yards passing (446 and 510), Nic Grigsby's 262 yard performance (rushing and receiving), Mike Thomas' game this week or his 10 Rec 3 TD 165 yard game, True Freshman Rob Gronkowski's 4 Rec 115 yd, 2 TD game, and Bondzio's 12 pt game (6/6 XP, 2/3 FG), or Larsen's game vs. Oregon or his 17 tackle (10 solo), 2TFL, 1 FF, and 1 INT performance. Not one helmet sticker between them.

Where's the love for Tucson.

P.S. for those of you who are sick of my posting of fans rushing the field, you're gonna have to stop UA upsetting ranked teams first each of these pictures posted have come from different games over the last 4 years.