RSSChats & Other Live Events

Live Q&A chat with Ryan Finley on college football bowl selections

Ryan Finley chats live about UA football and bowl selections.

Hi everybody! Welcome to the latest — and hopefully not the last — in our series of weekly chats about Arizona Wildcats football. Today's topic: the Dec. 15 New Mexico Bowl against Nevada. I'll take any and all of your questions for the next hour or so. Fire away!

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:02:25 PM
is there a way we can get some big guys for 2013 I feel if we would have won our last game we would have gone to a much big bowl

by martha 12/3/2012 7:02:41 PM
Arizona's certainly working on it. The Wildcats have already landed a JC linebacker, Brandon Golson, who could compete for a starting job in 2013. Expect one or two more high-level, hand-picked players to join the class over the next few months. The quarterback Arizona landed yesterday, Jesse Scroggins, is a good start.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:03:54 PM
You've been saying all year how crucial you feel the extra practices are that come with a bowl game. Given your stance, will it make any difference that the UA misses out on an extra week of practice playing in the Dec. 15 New Mexico Bowl versus the Dec. 22 Vegas Bowl?

by Ghost of Duane Clifford 12/3/2012 7:04:04 PM
Absolutely, it will. That, more than the location and opponent, is the down-side of the New Mexico Bowl. The Wildcats (and Nevada) won't have the extra practice time to get better.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:04:46 PM
So... How is this gonna work? Will the band be flown in from Albuquerque in time to be at the UA-Florida basketball game the evening of Dec. 15?

by John Salmon 12/3/2012 7:04:52 PM
Don't know — Arizona is releasing some travel packages, and a few details, today. It's going to be tough to get to both games, but maybe the Wildcats can pull it off.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:05:27 PM
Nevada is a very run oriented team, this is the weakness of the Cats. What do you think our chances are?

by Rafifi 12/3/2012 7:05:34 PM
Not sure. That's certainly the storyline: Nevada's rushing offense versus Arizona's porous rushing D. The Wildcats aren't very big and aren't super-fast, but they're probably bigger and faster than Nevada. That could work in their favor.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:06:20 PM
Serious question: What's more important -- Ka'Deem leading the nation in rushing, or beating Nevada? I would be more proud of a local kid doing something so major than the UA beating a forgettable team in a forgettable game. Odds that RichRod gives the ball to Ka'Deem 30 times in order to fend off Jefferson and NIU's Lynch?

by Ghost of Duane Clifford 12/3/2012 7:06:39 PM
I think one leads to the other, honestly. My guess is that Ka'Deem, if healthy, will be ridden HARD against the Wolf Pack. Carey's teammates want him to win that title.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:07:28 PM
Will Mike Scott miss his graduation ceremony ?

by Mike Leach 12/3/2012 7:07:29 PM
Yes.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:07:32 PM
Is this the last year for a P12-NM bowl partnership with all the schools griping about it?

by Stevenson 12/3/2012 7:07:41 PM
I think there's one more year. The griping by fans bothers me: Arizona is going EXACTLY where its record and conference finish dictates. The Wildcats could have been playing in the Sun Bowl, but they lost to their rival.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:08:29 PM
Did UA get a raw deal being picked after ASU? The Devils beat us but we had a much tougher schedule and four times as many wins vs. above-.500 teams.

by John Salmon 12/3/2012 7:08:31 PM
Absolutely not. ASU won the head-to-head. Like I just wrote, the UA could have made this an easy decision for bowl committees. Then the Wildcats blew a fourth-quarter lead against ASU.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:09:05 PM
Do you think we were close getting into El Paso or Vegas? What happened?

by Wilbur W. 12/3/2012 7:09:07 PM
I think those were the two games, yes. Pure speculation on my part, but I think Arizona was a tougher "sell" than USC and Washington to the game's decision-makers, both of which include TV execs. Arizona would have probably brought more fans to Las Vegas and El Paso, respectively. But USC and Washington are much bigger national brands. That was probably the difference.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:10:15 PM
Matt Scott doesn't seem to be the same player since the USC hit. He looked horrible against ASU. Even if he's having another bad game and Denker is our best chance to win, does Scott still stay in?

by wilbur 12/3/2012 7:10:19 PM
Yes. You don't bench a fifth-year senior, especially somebody who's been as integral to Arizona's success as Scott.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:10:35 PM
Ryan: What role, if any, did the whining by ASU's AD play in them getting to go to SF while we head to ABQ? I would think the Kraft people would have been excited to get Carey and RichRod before a Bay Area crowd filled with UA grads who live in the area and Tucsonans looking for a little SF holiday.

by SamCat 12/3/2012 7:10:45 PM
None. I think ASU was the Fight Hunger Bowl's first choice all the time. It's worth noting, though: Arizona has finals during game week, too. The Wildcats chose not to complain about that during the decision-making process.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:11:52 PM
Is this game going to turn into a contest to see which team can get their running back the collegiate season rushing title?

by Mike Leach 12/3/2012 7:11:55 PM
It might. Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey and Nevada's Stefphon Jefferson are two of the nation's best. It's a great storyline, if nothing else.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:12:23 PM
Now that three of the four new pac-12 coaches made it to a bowl game in their first year, how long (if ever) do you think it will be till I get WSU in one?

by Mike Leach 12/3/2012 7:12:27 PM
Two years. Your system works, which is why Sonny Dykes — your old buddy from Texas Tech — is the favorite to be Cal's next head coach.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:12:58 PM
While I generally despise having the Pac 12 play Mountain West Conference opponents due to the disparity in motivation from a strength of conference perspective, I personally like the Arizona – Nevada match up and the intrigue a Ka’ Deem Carey/Read Option vs Kasey Carrier/Pistol offense provides. If you strip away the names of the bowls and look strictly at the Pac 12’s opponents, how do you rank the match ups 1-8?
ARIZONA (7-5) vs. Nevada (7-5), WASHINGTON (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-2), UCLA (9-4) vs. Baylor (7-5), OREGON STATE(9-3) vs. Texas (8-4), ARIZONA STATE (7-5) vs. Navy (7-4), USC (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (6-7), STANFORD (11-2) vs.Wisconsin (8-5), and OREGON(11-1) vs. Kansas State(11-1)

by JohnV8r 12/3/2012 7:13:07 PM
Great question: 1, Oregon-KSU; 2. UCLA-Baylor; 3. Stanford-Sconnie; 4. OSU-Texas; 5. Arizona-Nevada; 6. Washington-Boise State; 7. ASU-Navy; 8. USC-Ga. Tech.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:14:58 PM
Can you imagine Mike Stoops watching ESPN last night? "Northern Illi-WHO?"

by John Salmon 12/3/2012 7:15:04 PM
He probably turned a very deep shade of red.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:15:47 PM
What's thought process for UA going after Pro-style QB Scroggins? Also Scroggins has had multiple injuries including this year at El Camino that forced him to miss couple games. Scroggins this year 46% completion rate and ran 42 times for 56 yards.

by Wildcat_Country 12/3/2012 7:15:49 PM
Scroggins has a huge up-side. I think, given Arizona's option for 2013, he is more than worth the risk.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:16:21 PM
How much will this JC QB help us next year? The talk has been of a significant drop-off for us, maybe 4-8. Can a QB with little mobility and questionable accuracy be that much better than Vanilla Vick?

by Chuck Cecil, God of War 12/3/2012 7:16:24 PM
I've never seen this kid play, and reports from USC were less-than-glowing. But Rich Rodriguez's offense thrives on quarterback competition, and BJ Denker isn't necessarily a slam-dunk to start.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:17:17 PM
Can this seasons success be attributed to RR's system or the, ahem, talent that was left by Stoops?

by Jose Canseco 12/3/2012 7:17:22 PM
No question. Matt Scott and Ka'Deem Carey were reasons No. 1 and 2 why this team won seven games. Stoops recruited Carey and granted Scott's request to redshirt in 2011. He gets credit there. Now, if his staff had just left a couple linebackers …

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:18:22 PM
Any chance Ka'Deem bolts to the NFL after the bowl?

by John Salmon 12/3/2012 7:18:23 PM
No. He'd be silly to leave now.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:18:43 PM
So, Sonny Dykes gets screwed out of a bowl game by his AD's bungling right after he interviews for the Cal job. Now does he take his ball and move to Berkeley?

by SamCat 12/3/2012 7:18:48 PM
I would. The HC job at Cal isn't as prestigious as most Golden Bears fans think , but it's a $2 million/year (or more) paycheck and instant access to the state of California's top players. Sonny's a nice fit there.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:19:40 PM
The verbal commitment of Jesse Scroggins was a pleasant surprise, as was how quickly Arizona received recruiting commitments this season. When asked earlier this season, you maintained that Arizona had the ability to do some maneuvering with recruits to add any late additions to the recruiting class. Do you expect any additional pleasant recruiting surprises?

by JohnV8r 12/3/2012 7:19:51 PM
Yes and yes. Scroggins, for one, could be retroactively added to Arizona's 2012 class if/when he enrolls in January. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case with a handful of guys in their class.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:20:28 PM
Do you expect any more JC recruits for 2013? RichRod has (5) now which is more than he ever done historically (understandable)

by Wildcat_Country 12/3/2012 7:20:31 PM
I'd never say never. Arizona can try to hand-pick 1 or 2 more players, possibly defenders, who can contribute right away.

by Ryan Finley 12/3/2012 7:20:56 PM

Powered by ScribbleLive