Do AZ players feel they are well prepared

[azcat49]

Just wondering. We hear a lot about how the team comes into certain games flat.

Yet you have to wonder how 18-22 year old college kids are not excited to play. I think this "flatness" comes when they realize they are being out schemed and they are fighting an up hill battle.

Teams that are well prepared have players that will run through walls for a coach and fight to the bitter end. I have seen to many AZ teams "give it up" and almost quit.

I just wonder if the players have a belief they are being well prepared?

[cridkid]

Just wondering. We hear a lot about how the team comes into certain games flat.

Yet you have to wonder how 18-22 year old college kids are not excited to play. I think this "flatness" comes when they realize they are being out schemed and they are fighting an up hill battle.

Teams that are well prepared have players that will run through walls for a coach and fight to the bitter end. I have seen to many AZ teams "give it up" and almost quit.

I just wonder if the players have a belief they are being well prepared?

I was wondering the same thing earlier today when I heard Mark Sanchez on the Jim Rome show. Rome ask him if he saw anything from the Ohio State defense that he wasn't expecting. He basically replied "no" stating that he felt calm because the game was so much like what the offense had already seen and done in practice multiple times during the week. Maybe that's a discredit to OSU for not mixing things up more, but I think it is even more of a credit to Sarkisian and the practice squad in preparing the offense during the week. It may help that at USC the practice squad may have more speed and talent than many of the starting rosters on other D1 teams, but still, I think the coaching is so important in preparing them for what they are going to see on Saturdays. Arizona did not seem so prepared last Saturday.

[HiCat]

Willie T needs more preparation handling and reacting to the pressure. One thing he needs to do is get rid of the ball faster.. before getting sacked, fumbling or throwing interceptions.. Not sure how coaches would help him with this...

[WildcatBlitz]

Willie T needs more preparation handling and reacting to the pressure. One thing he needs to do is get rid of the ball faster.. before getting sacked, fumbling or throwing interceptions.. Not sure how coaches would help him with this...

Shock collar........As soon as his hand touches the ball he has only a certain amount of time before it goes off. He'll learn quick

[UofAcat23]

We didn't come out flat.

UNM goes 3 and out, Arizona scores, UNM throws an interception, Arizona throws an interception, UNM gets held to a field goal, Arizona drives, 15 yard personal foul and Dean drops a 20 yard pass on 3rd and long, Arizona punts.

We didn't really play bad until the final 3 minutes of the first half (other than the turnovers).

[HiCat]

Shock collar........As soon as his hand touches the ball he has only a certain amount of time before it goes off. He'll learn quick

Yikes..:lol2:

[Drayhound]

I think the team was prepared they just made bad mistakes. I feel that in the second half they didn't come out with a sense of urgency like UNM did.

[cridkid]

I think the team was prepared they just made bad mistakes. I feel that in the second half they didn't come out with a sense of urgency like UNM did.

That's true. They actually came out in the first quarter and actually looked very prepared, even dominant. Then a couple of mistakes are made, and instead of shaking them off and forgetting about them, it's as if they panicked and forgot all their preparation and it just spiralled downhill from there.

[DCCat]

I think the team was prepared they just made bad mistakes. I feel that in the second half they didn't come out with a sense of urgency like UNM did.
Actually, I thought they did. The first play was our best running play of the whole game. But Grigsby fumbled, and that took the wind out of our sails. After the subsequent UNM TD, we still outscored them 14-9 the rest of the way, but I think we were psychologically prepared to be more dominant than that coming out of the locker room until the fumble. Just like in the first half, we were prepared to be dominant until the first interception. Those were the two turning points of the game. We're not very good at responding to that kind of adversity.

[HiCat]

note: Coach Dykes took some of the blame for the change in game plan when things started going bad..

I didn't do a good job of calling the game when things didn't go well," Dykes said. "We got away from the game plan a little bit instead of staying with what we do and we got a little frantic."



http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/college/96938.php

[kylecollins]

We didn't come out flat.

UNM goes 3 and out, Arizona scores, UNM throws an interception, Arizona throws an interception, UNM gets held to a field goal, Arizona drives, 15 yard personal foul and Dean drops a 20 yard pass on 3rd and long, Arizona punts.

We didn't really play bad until the final 3 minutes of the first half (other than the turnovers).

Totally agree. We just started to get nervous.

[Arnold Booke]

A hallmark of this particular team is ... we kinda pout over getting jobbed by a ref or having a long drive rammed down our throats. We've been easy to ... "demoralize" is the word I'm searching for.

Demoralize us early and we're pretty well softened up after that.

Willie T needs more preparation handling and reacting to the pressure. One thing he needs to do is get rid of the ball faster.. before getting sacked, fumbling or throwing interceptions.. Not sure how coaches would help him with this...

Too bad the coaches were not able to teach him certain stuff four years ago. He's wayyyy beyond the "teachable" stage at this point. The kid's got nine games left in his college career - less if somebody rings his pail real good. He's not going to absorb much more instruction. He can take ORDERS, but he's not in learning mode anymore. Noop.

He does some things really, really well. A limited number of things, but he is not a dweeb at the QB position. He's a threat to throw. There are things that he simply does not have the balls to do, like run with the football when nothing else is available. I have seen Willie *IGNORE* a 20-yard hole, an easy first down, and just launch the ball into row eleven. Frankly, he's a wuss.

Matt Scott's got more gonad than Willie and Scott's probably not even shaving yet.

[cridkid]

I guess what everyone is saying, is that while they had a good gameplan, and were prepared to execute that plan, they weren't mentally prepared for adversity. When the going got tough, they pannicked. So maybe they need another level of mental preparation for when things don't go exactly as designed. Or maybe they just don't have the leadership and poise needed to deal with a little adversity.