Tuesday, September 30, 2014 • Page 6
SPORTS SCORE CENTER
PATS GET CHOPPED DOWN BY KC CHIEFS
Editor: Roberto Payne sports@wildcat.arizona.edu (520) 621-2956 twitter.com/wildcatsports
PLUCK THE DUCKS
Kansas City Chefs 41, New England Patriots 14
STOKE CITY WINS CELLAR DWELLAR WAR
BY ROBERTO PAYNE The Daily Wildcat
A
Stoke City 1, Newcastle United 0
WHAT TO WATCH
A’S AND KC ROYALS KICK OFF PLAYOFFS 9/30: Oakland A’s vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 5 pm, TBS
UEFA PLAY GETS MATCHUP OF SOCCER POWERS 9/30: FC Barcelona vs. PSG, 11:30 am, Fox Sports Arizona
UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOOTBALL 10/2 at Oregon
MEN’S BASKETBALL 10/18 Red-Blue Game
VOLLEYBALL 10/3 vs. Utah
QUOTE TO NOTE
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After being inexplicably ranked by the AP voters for weeks, last Thursday the Sun Devils were exposed on national TV. Sports— 7
NUMBER OF THE DAY
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Arizona football has only won twice in Eugene since 1998. The most recent matchup saw Oregon trounce the Wildcats 49-0 in a nationally televised game.
FILE PHOTO/THE DAILY WILDCAT
THE ARIZONA DEFENSE tackles Oregon then-sophomore wide receiver Bralon Addison during Arizona’s 42-16 win against Oregon on Nov. 23, 2013 at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats travel to Eugene, Ore., this Thursday looking for their first road win against Oregon since 2006.
Arizona had an extra week to prepare for Oregon as the Wildcats look to win in Eugene for the first time since 2006 of his favorite Pac-12 Conference players. “He goes really hard,” Frost said to The Register-Guard. “We have a challenge ahead.” Tevis is fifth in the Pac-12 in tackles and said he talked to Frost about it at Pac-12 Media Day over the summer. “They call me ‘the assassin’ in the film room up there, so I took that as a big compliment,” Tevis said.
BY JAMES KELLEY The Daily Wildcat
Arizona football travels to No. 2 Oregon this week after routing the Ducks 42-16 in Tucson last year. In 2013, the Wildcats knocked No. 5 Oregon out of a Bowl Championship Series bowl with the blow out. This season, the two face off on Thursday night on ESPN with both squads being 4-0. Arizona football head coach Rich Scooby dooby do Rodriguez said he thinks the revenge This season’s move to middle factor is overplayed a bit, and that linebacker seems to have agreed Oregon will be ready because of with sophomore Scooby Wright what is at stake. III. The “It may be sophomore I think once the a little extra leads the ball is kicked motivation in Pac-12 and preparation,” is seventh in off, whatever Rodriguez said. the nation happened last “I think once in tackles year is in the the ball’s kicked with 12.8 per past. off, whatever game. — Rich Rodriguez, happened last “Scooby’s UA head coach year is in the our most past.” consistent Arizona has beaten a ranked team player on defense,” Rodriguez said. in nine of the last 10 seasons. The He had 18 tackles against Wildcats’ last road win over a ranked California, which is the most for a team was in 2009, when they beat Wildcat since 1999. No. 20 USC. After the Cal game, Wright Redshirt senior safety Jared Tevis III, whose Twitter handle is @ said Oregon seems more composed TwoStarScoob, tweeted: “I just this year. wanna say thank you to CAL for “I love playing Oregon,” Tevis said. saying I wasn’t good enough to “it’s always a great opportunity. I play at their program or the PAC 12 think if we can play with physicality, #motivation #tacklingfuel.” we can get to them a little bit.” Rodriguez said he didn’t see any Oregon offensive coordinator negatives when recruiting Wright Scott Frost said that Tevis is one III.
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Answer: Our very own Aaron Gordon(@ IamAaronGordon) # B e a r D o w n #APlayersProgram —@APlayersProgram, Official Arizona men’s basketball twitter page
twitter.com/wildcatsports twitter.com/wildcathoops
Wilson expected to play
True freshman running back Nick Wilson, who left the Cal game with a head injury, is expected to play Thursday. Rodriguez said Wilson has been held out of full contact in practice as a precaution but that he’ll be ready to go at Oregon. After four games of being listed as the back-up, Wilson is now listed on the top line of the depth chart with senior Terris Jones-Grigsby. “We feel now we have two starting tailbacks,” Rodriguez said last week in the Pac-12 teleconference. “They’ll probably share equal time or close to it.” Wilson is averaging 120.5 yards per game rushing, while JonesGrigsby, who has battled an ankle injury, is averaging 76 yards per game on the ground.
FOOTBALL, 7
BASKETBALL, 7
Week five: ASU drops out of polls The Daily Wildcat
Who is the youngest player in the NBA this year?
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“I immediately asked, ‘Who do we got to beat to recruit him?’ and there wasn’t really a whole lot,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t know he had two stars. I thought he had one.” Wright III is from Windsor, Calif. Wright III, whose legal name is Phillip, was rated as a two-star recruit by Rivals and Scout and is tied for seventh in the nation tackles for loss with 1.8 per game and ninth in the NCAA in solo tackles with 7.3 per game. “We gotta have a big game out of Scooby on Thursday night,” Rodriguez said.
rizona’s defense has been the backbone of the team under head coach Sean Miller, but the Wildcats won’t win a national championship if the three ball doesn’t fall. Gone is do-it-all guard Nick Johnson, who led the team in three-point makes and provided countless clutch plays for a 33-5 Arizona squad that advanced to the Elite Eight last season. The team struggled to consistently space out the floor last season, particularly because the team played such a big lineup. The front court of Aaron Gordon, Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski was among the best in the nation and rightfully dictated the mentality of the team. That was before Ashley went down for the season with a broken foot and Gabe York was inserted into the starting lineup. York ended up starting just 12 games for the Wildcats but his importance to the team cannot be understated. He provides valuable floor spacing that opens up driving lanes and free the big men. To be clear, York should not be classified as a sixth man; he is a sixth starter. York, who’s listed at 6-foot-3 but is closer to 6-foot-1, would start on almost every other Pac-12 Conference team. Arizona is not every other Pac-12 team, though. Miller will likely plug and play highly touted recruit Stanley Johnson and bring York off the bench again. However, thinking of York as just the sixth man is not fair to his importance to the team. Arizona’s offense was much more fluid and had better spacing with York in the lineup. In essence, York proved he’s good enough to start on a marquee team. Despite playing about only 22 minutes per game last year, York was second on the team in threepoint makes (52) behind Johnson. I have no doubt that York will have a prime opportunity to improve upon that mark this season. Another player who could contribute in the three-point game is sophomore Elliott Pitts. Pitts played sparingly as a freshman last season as Miller used seven- and eight-man rotations instead of a deeper
PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS
BY JAMES KELLEY
TWEET TO NOTE
Three pointers key to wins
North 1. No. 2 Oregon (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12 Conference) Like Arizona, the Ducks also had a bye week before the primetime game Thursday. Unlike the Wildcats, Oregon, which gained ground on No. 1 Florida State in the AP poll but lost some to No. 3 Alabama, is trying to hold on to a playoff spot. Last week: First, Bye This week: Thursday vs. Arizona (4-0, 1-0) 2. No. 14 Stanford (3-1, 1-1) The Cardinal’s offense had more turnovers (three) than touchdowns (two) at Washington but it’s tough to win in Seattle. This week, Stanford travels to honorary Pac-12 team Notre Dame in the Fighting Irish’s first game of three against the Pac-12. Last week: Second, W at Washington 20-13 This week: Saturday at No. 9 Notre Dame 3. Washington (4-1, 0-1) The Huskies nearly beat Stanford at home and the way the Cardinal’s offense was playing may have blown it with an ill-advised fourth quarter fake punt. Stanford got a short field and scored the gamewinning touchdown. What could
have been for the Huskies. Last week: Fourth, L vs. Stanford 20-13 This week: Bye 4. Oregon State (3-1, 0-1) The Beavers got pounded at USC but they were very much in the game until a Trojan Hail at the end of the first half. Including the Hail Mary, USC scored 21 answered points to turn a 14-10 game into a rout. The Beavers need to avoid another pounding this week. Last week: third, L at USC 35-10 This week: Saturday at Colorado (2-3, 0-2) 5. California (3-1, 1-1) Unlike the Beavers, the Golden Bears recovered from both the Hail Mary they suffered and Colorado tying the game late to win their first Pac-12 game since October 2012. The only reason Cal didn’t move up is that win came against CU, which has only beaten one Pac-12 since September 2012: Cal last season. Last week: fifth, W vs. Colorado 59-56 (2 OT) This week: Saturday at Washington State (2-3, 1-1) 6. Washington State Last week, the Cougars mounted a furious rally to beat Utah on the road, overcoming a 17-point halftime deficit. This week, we’ll learn a lot about the Pac-12 North
TYLER BAKER/THE DAILY WILDCAT
ARIZONA THEN-JUNIOR free safety Jourdon Grandon runs after UCLA then-freshman wide receiver Thomas Duarte during Arizona’s 31-26 loss against UCLA on Nov. 9, 2013, at Arizona Stadium. Both Arizona and UCLA kept their spot in week five of our Pac-12 Conference power rankings.
when they host Cal. Last week: Sixth, W at Utah 28-27 This week: Saturday vs. California South 1. No. 8 UCLA (4-0, 1-0) The Bruins finally looked like a potential playoff team last week when they forked ASU in Tempe, Ariz. The Sun Devils were missing their best player, Taylor Kelly, but he probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Last week: First, W at No. 15 ASU 62-27 This week: Saturday vs. Utah (3-1,
1-0) 2. No. 16 USC (3-1, 2-0) The Trojans rebounded from their embarrassing loss to Boston College, which fell at home last week to mid-major Colorado State, with a pounding of the OSU Beavers. This week, USC can bury ASU and reestablish itself as a Pac12 favorite. Last week: Second, W 35-10 vs. Oregon State This week: Saturday vs. ASU (3-1, 1-1)
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