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Preview: Stanford (4-2) at Arizona (3-2)
Posted October 14, 2009
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FACTS & STATS: Site: Arizona Stadium (56,002) -- Tucson, Arizona. Television:Versus. Home Record: Stanford 3-0, Arizona 2-0. Away Record: Stanford 1-2, Arizona 1-2. Neutral Record: Stanford 0-0, Arizona 0-0. Conference Record: Stanford 3-1, Arizona 1-1. Series Record: Arizona leads, 13-11.

GAME NOTES: The Arizona Wildcats jumpstart a three-game homestand this weekend, as they welcome the Stanford Cardinal to Tucson for a Pac-10 affair.

The Wildcats recently capped a three-game road trip with a heart-breaking loss, as they allowed two touchdowns in the final three minutes of a 36-33 loss at Washington this past weekend. It was a tough loss, to say the least, for Arizona, which was coming off a 37-32 win at Oregon State in its Pac-10 opener. Now at 3-2 overall, the Wildcats return back home, where they have gone 2-0 thus far.

As for Stanford, it saw its winning streak come to a close this past weekend, falling 38-28 at Oregon State. The Cardinal had won three straight, its longest streak since 2005, prior to the loss and actually even sat atop the league standings at 3-0. Despite the setback, Stanford is off to a good start at 4-2, although the team hasn't faced the toughest part of its schedule just yet.

With regard to the all-time series, Arizona holds a 13-11 edge over Stanford, which won last year's meeting by a narrow 24-23 score.

The Cardinal has shown good balance in gaining 404.2 total ypg this season, but the strength of the offense is its ground attack that is averaging 209.7 ypg. In last weekend's loss to OSU, Stanford gained 149 of its 375 total yards on the ground, but most of the yards came when the game was out of reach. Tailback Toby Gerhart scored a pair of late touchdowns to pad his statistics and he finished with 96 yards on 20 carries. One of the top backs around, Gerhart has shouldered the load and has already rushed for 746 yards and 10 touchdowns in just six games. Quarterback Andrew Luck is the team's second leading rusher at 170 yards and he has also thrown for 1,166 yards thus far. Last weekend, Luck made some big plays and threw for 226 yards and two scores, but he completed just 12-of-30 tosses and that helps explain why Stanford only converted 1-of-9 third-down chances. Ryan Whalen was his main outlet with five catches for 85 yards, while Chris Owusu pulled in there passes for 83 yards and a score. The duo have complemented each other well and have combined for 793 receiving yards and five touchdowns on the season.

Stanford's defense was shredded last weekend, as OSU rolled up 463 total yards, including 173 on the ground. The Cardinal, which is allowing 347.8 total ypg on the season, even failed to come up with a turnover and has forced only five on the year. The unit though, has had success getting to the quarterback and has recorded 14 sacks, including three last weekend. Clinton Snyder had one sack to go with 12 stops and he tops the roster with 51 tackles for the season. Thomas Keiser is the squad's top pass rusher with 8.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks to his credit and he too had a sack in last weekend's loss.

It was a wild finish and a costly one for the Wildcats, as Washington's Mason Foster picked off a deflected pass off the foot of Arizona's Delashaun Dean and returned the carom 37 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 2:37 left. Arizona controlled the game with 461 yards of offense, but scored only three touchdowns in its eight red zone chances. Despite the unfortunate and costly bounce, quarterback Nick Foles had a rather good game and completed 39-of-53 pass attempts for 384 yards and a touchdown. Foles, who earned his first start last game and had four total touchdowns against Oregon State, added a rushing touchdown in last weekend's loss. David Roberts was his main target and he had a big game with 12 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. In the backfield, Greg Nwoko received a majority of the carries and finished with a team-high 54 yards and a score on 16 attempts. Nic Grigsby, the team's starter, has been slowed by injury and carried just five times for 13 yards in the loss. Despite the effort, Grigsby still heads the club with 420 yards behind a 7.6 yard per carry average.

Arizona's defense gave up some big plays to Washington, but overall the unit did a rather good job in allowing just 256 total yards. The defense, which is permitting just 281.8 total ypg on the season, spent only 20 minutes on the field and came up with one turnover and two sacks. Arizona however, gave up three touchdowns of 25 yards or more and that included a 56-yard run by quarterback Jake Locker. It was a surprising run considering the Wildcats are holding foes to a mere 98.8 rushing ypg on the season. Ricky Elmore and Trevin Wade are two playmakers for this defense, with Elmore leading the team in sacks (4.5) and Wade in interceptions (four).

The Wildcats are coming off a tough loss, but this is a team with plenty of talent to rebound. Behind its potent offense and sound defense, look for Arizona to emerge with the victory over Stanford.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Arizona 30, Stanford 21


 
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