Arizona v. BC: Advocare 100 Bowl

Submitted by newtopos on

Didn't see a thread on this.  Arizona up 21-6 at half.  Pretty impressive to see what Arizona is doing with a QB that didn't receive a single scholarship offer at any level in high school.

Also, Ken Griffey, Jr. (whose son plays for Arizona) has a very nice Nikon set-up on the sidelines.  

Spock

December 31st, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^

Well, it's likely because no one knows it is on or doesn't care. I'm guessing the latter. I am listening to it at work though. Listening to sports at work makes the day go faster for me.

Maize and Blue…

December 31st, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^

I love RR's offense and with Casteel joining him as DC that side of the ball is playing much better.  One huge win each of the last two years, USC and Oregon, and unless they blow this game will have a better record the last two years than Michigan.

RR also brought Cory Zirbel (former M player and grad) onto his staff as a grad assistant.  For as much crap as he gets for "not being a Michigan man" we still use some of the things he started (or at least I first heard of them under him) such as the BBQ at the Big House and the Alumni game before the spring game.

robpollard

December 31st, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^

It's not bad, with a JC QB who they barely let throw early in the season b/c he was so shaky, while playing in a better conference than the B1G, and coming off recruiting classes ranked #37 (2013), #46 (2012) and #56 (2011).

Again, nothing to jump on top of a couch and shout about, but I would have taken it over what we had in 2013.

bighouse22

December 31st, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^

Cause Arizona was a terrible program that has had a better record than Michigan the last 2 years and continues their upward trajectory.  We have also seen the offense slowly deteriorate under the current staff.

I would argue they are doing it in a better conference as well, which will be evident by the conference bowl records when this year is over.

TheNema

December 31st, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^

The Pac 12 was every bit as good and deep as the SEC this year, from what I saw. Great football conference with seven different teams you could say were actually good. They blow the B1G out of the water right now.

bigfan2959

January 1st, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^

Pac Ten an excellent conference and I think better than the Big Ten.  RR 7-5 while in Pac Ten.  It will be interesting to see how he performs compared to Hoke.  In the long run it may end up seeming as if Dave Brandon made the wrong call to hire Hoke if RR really gets things turned around and Hoke continues to struggle.   

Tkriz

December 31st, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^

It's fine and we still stink. However, in my opinion I don't think we'd be much if any better if rr were still here. We'll see what happens next year, but I'm not expecting great things from Michigan...I hope I'm wrong.

AZBlue

December 31st, 2013 at 4:36 PM ^

Once recruiting tanked during year 2 it was a lost cause for RR.

If we had only lured Casteel and somehow got a QB in year 1 maybe RR would have made it at M.  (TP coming to M probably would have saved RRs career and the bowl streak, while making us all feel a little dirty inside for having to root for him.)

Section 1

December 31st, 2013 at 4:59 PM ^

We were placed under the glare of an NCAA investigation and consequent rumblings about firing Rodriguez.  A perfect storm, to kill recruiting.

Did anybody see the interview with Tajh Boyd talking about how seriously he was considering Michigan as well as Ohio State?

I'd wager that Terelle Pryor at Michigan would have been great for Pryor (he'd never have gotten mixed up with Fine Line Tattoos in southwest Columbus); and it would have made no difference in the ultimate outcome for OSU since almost none of their troubles hinged on Pryor alone.

bronxblue

December 31st, 2013 at 5:03 PM ^

Well, considering the year he stepped into had gone 4-8, to win back-to-back bowl games is pretty impressive.  But yes, please do keep beating that drum that UM is so much better without that war criminal at the helm.

maize-blue

December 31st, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^

I will neither watch this game nor take note of the score later on.

Kidding aside, maybe it's just me or the effects of suffering through a 7-6 season but almost all of this year's bowl matchups seem very bland and uninteresting.

 

mGrowOld

December 31st, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

Go figure.   Almost like it's 2011 all over again with the trend line.

Oh well.  I'm sure the last two years were just unpleasant speedbumps on the road to greatness for Hoke.  Next year or maybe the year after that when all our players are seniors and the full breadth of Borges's playbook can be opened we will "shock the world" with the qualtiy of our coaching and player development.

#thatrantfeltgood

robpollard

December 31st, 2013 at 3:41 PM ^

You really think RR, who has never had problems putting together a running game, is going to have trouble replacing Carey? Arizona doesn't have great recruiting classes overall, but he's got multiple top recruits in the wings at that position.

And their QB was a stop gap, a JC guy who wasn't highly recruited, yet RR coached him up to be a 60% passer who threw for 2500 yards, 16 TDs/7 INTs and ran for 1000. And he replaced Matt Scott, a guy who threw for 3600 yards and 27 TDs. For 2014, he can plug in his top recruit from 2013 (a 4-star QB).

I have no idea if AZ will build on this to become a power in the Pac-12, as it's such a competitive league, but they are definitely not "treading water" in terms of building their talent and experience.

 

robpollard

December 31st, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^

It would be one thing if FSU scraped by while playing their pretty weak schedule. But they drilled the bejeezus out of everyone (unlike, say, OSU, who played a similarly weak schedule, pre-conf championship game). And while I didn't watch many of their games, when I did, I saw tons of talent, particularly on defense. They hit you -- hard.

Not saying they'll definitely beat Auburn, but FSU definitely deserves to be favored.

NOLA Wolverine

December 31st, 2013 at 2:54 PM ^

If BC, Duke, and Clemson go down, which the betting lines all indicate, on top of Miami getting pantsed, who has FSU beaten? I say BC and Duke because they're 2 of the 4 best teams FSU has played and are playing bowl games today. 

Auburn's key victories are favored in their bowl games. If those teams start losing then questions arise, but at this point they've put up against what is believed to be high level competition multiple times. 

It's not directly correlated to how well FSU will play, but the "who have you beaten?" metric is deployed very often when comparing two opponents. 

robpollard

December 31st, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^

Plus, they are well-coached.

Their defense has the #6 CB, #6 DL, #4 & #8 LB, and #3 FS prospects at their position for next year's draft. And that's just the older guys who are likely to come out this year.

The only team with more talent than FSU is Alabama. And obviously, Auburn beat Alabama so Auburn certainly can win. But I will be shocked if FSU is "exposed" b/c they finally play a really good opponent. I'll bet FSU's guys are just chomping at the bit to get at an SEC team, as they're all from Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, etc anyway.

NOLA Wolverine

December 31st, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^

I didn't respond to your comment because I do mostly agree with your point (as far as Florida State blowing out their competition being relevant), but I'm not completely sold on a team that isn't battle tested. 

We'll see how well those NFL draft ratings translate to playing Auburn. It didn't seem to save Alabama.