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Arizona Football: Wildcats End Their Regular Season, Prepare for a Bowl Game

By Shereen Rayan

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Time for the Arizona football team to put aside their memories of the regular season and focus on their next game, hopefully in late December or early January.

The Arizona football team won a thriller against No. 10 Utah, and then suffered more injuries before and during the ASU game losing the Territorial Cup 52-37. Even though the final score doesn’t look close, Arizona was two quick plays away from a possible tie. The Wildcats came within eight points with 4:08 left in the game but eventually Arizona lost due to two ASU pick six plays.

After the game on Saturday, Wildcats fans continued to argue over whether their team played hard, or if the coach did his job, or if his assistants did their job, and even if Rich Rod is leaving or not. What’s the use? It’s a waste of energy, the football season is not over yet; there’s still one football game left. Post season play will take place in a bowl game somewhere in the United States in December or January.

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Time to capitalize on what was learned during the last game, then rest and prepare for their bowl game. Last year, the Wildcats played in their home state of Arizona in the Vizio Fiesta Bowl at Phoenix Stadium losing to Boise State 38-30.

Matt Moreno, GoAZCats.com, suggests maybe they could go to the Cactus Bowl in January or the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. There are a lot of guesses out there where Arizona will finally end up, let’s hope the date isn’t anytime soon so the team can get some much needed time to recuperate.

The Arizona football team will find out about their bowl game on December 5th, after the Pac-12 Championship game.

After the game, media outlets were delving into Rich Rod’s emotional post-game press conference responses by discussing if his emotions were about leaving Tucson.

Nov 21, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Trey Griffey (5) catches the ball as Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Kweishi Brown (10) defends during the fourth quarter of the territorial cup at Sun Devil Stadium. The Sun Devils won 52-37. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

One wouldn’t expect any less emotion from a head coach who just lost one of the biggest games of the season and hates to lose, cares about his team, wants to win for the fans, and never gives up. The saying ‘next man up’ doesn’t do justice to what the Arizona football team endured this season, but they brought all their heart and perseverance in the last two games.

Apparently doubters believe that Coach Rod hasn’t done enough to quell rumors about his possible departure. That said, he spoke of the future multiple times during the press conference and included talk of recruiting which was comforting for Rich Rod supporters and future Wildcats. Sounded like he’s staying. Maybe folks should stop suggesting the possibility of him leaving to help close the door on the discussion. If he leaves he leaves, nothing any of us can do about it right now.

Take into consideration that the man had just finished a regular season horror story, starting with the fall of Carter Wood at center before the season started then Scooby in the pre-conference play. The wood injury definitely added to the chaos of the season; each quarterback had to learn to catch or recover botched high snaps from backup center Cayman Bundage. The pressure situations seemed to exacerbate the situation, but Bundage has a month to work on his snaps. Hopefully getting some rest and more practice will do the trick.

Wildcats fans got some more positive news: Scooby Wright III told Fox Sports that he is feeling much better and that he is planning to play in the Bowl game. That should be music to everyone’s ears except the Wildcats future bowl opponent. He may enter the 2015 NFL Draft, but either way, Wildcats fans will get to cheer on Scooby at least one more time.

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Anu Solomon could probably be ready to start for the bowl game if he properly recovers from his second concussion. Hopefully, it was minor, either way it’s all up to the doctors, Anu has no say in the matter. He showed us his leadership skills on Saturday by talking to and supporting both quarterbacks on the sidelines during the ASU game.

The question is..did Brandon Dawkins do enough in his last performance to get the start or possibly the backup position in the bowl game? If so, that could leave Jerrard Randall as an additional running back. In case you missed it, Nick Wilson was injured again while playing on Saturday. Wilson will hopefully be healthy enough to play in the bowl game if he gets enough time to heal.

Coach Rich Rodriguez always says that each week the players, including the quarterbacks, compete for each position, so we have about a month to find out who will start.

The team has realized they have some extra and now proven weapons after the ASU game; redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Dawkins, sophomore WR Tyrell ‘T.J.’ Johnson, true freshman TE Darrell Cloy Jr., and junior WR Trey Griffey.

Griffey scored his first touchdown of the season giving his dad Ken Griffey Jr. a tremendous birthday gift. And it wasn’t just any touchdown, it was a 95-yard run and spectacular dive into the end zone touchdown. In addition, Griffey also caught a memorable and needed 40-yard pass. Running back turned wide receiver Johnson caught a 17-yard pass and TE Cloy Jr. caught a crucial 6-yard pass from Dawkins.

Steady all season, the Wildcats will have a healthy kicker in senior Casey Skowron who has been perfect in the last two games scoring 13 points against ASU and Utah. Senior punter Drew Riggleman has been stellar as well, so Arizona is solid on special teams with an experienced kicking and punting crew.

Next: Arizona Football: Matt Dudek, the Heart of the Program

Let the Wildcats bowl game speculation begin and the head coach position speculation subside, at least for now.

Beardown Arizona!

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