Arizona Football Opening Night Review: Game Length and Gronk Bobbleheads

Arizona Football is back and fans who attended the game in Tucson Saturday had a couple of nice treats–a slightly shorter game and a Rob Gronkowski bobble head giveaway.

The most important thing the Arizona fans left the stadium with the opening night was a win over Northern Arizona University.  While on paper it looked like victory was assured, the first quarter of the game appeared otherwise. As usual, NAU came to Tucson prepared and energized. They moved the ball with big plays while the Wildcats stumbled early on offense.

Several key Lumberjack turnovers gave the Wildcats some life, and eventually, the offense started clicking, and Arizona won big 62-24.

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It was another late kick off as Pac-12 Networks chose the NAU-Arizona game for their 8 PM start time. With many games lasting 3.5-4 hours with endless commercials, replays, and time-outs, it seemed nobody would get home before midnight.

Thankfully, the Pac-12 decided to experiment with a few changes for this game and several others on opening weekend. Halftime was shortened from 20 minutes to 15 minutes. Also, the time between the first and second, and the third and fourth quarters was reduced. The game also began at 8:01 PM. Despite most games “starting” on the hour or half hour, actual kickoff is often several minutes later due to pre-game commentating and, of course, some more commercials.

The result? The game actually ended at 11:20 PM. That is not bad considering there was so much scoring.

The Pac-12 wants to know what fans think about the new shortened format. Let them know if you liked it; they will be discussing making some of these changes permanent after reviewing the results at season’s end.

Experts note: The folks at home with only one Pac-12 channel were forced to watch the Oregon blowout game deep into the 2nd quarter of the Arizona Football game, the overlap left a lot of people dissatisfied.

Season ticket holders were sent an email which provided them with an opportunity to grab a Rob Gronkowski bobble head at the season opener. That’s when the New England Patriot fans started salivating.

Also, when fans entered the stadium, they were handed a piece of paper with a designated color. Those whose color was chosen would also be eligible for a Gronkowski bobble head. Early in the third quarter, the winning color was announced along with the directions how to obtain the former Wildcat. Cases of bobble heads were staged on Bear Down Field, north of the stadium. Fans could line up with their email or the winning color ticket, get their bobble head, and be allowed re-entry into Arizona Stadium.

The line formed quickly on the ground floor of both the east and west sides of the stadium. At one point, the west sideline ran from Bear Down Field, south to almost 6th Street, and backup almost to the northwest entry to the stadium. The lines moved steadily, but they were several people deep, so it took awhile. By the time fans obtained their Rob Gronkowski memento, it was late, the result of the game was a given, and many fans never came back into the stadium. Those who did get a bobble head were quite pleased regardless of the wait.

Anyone watching on television probably assumed fans just left the stadium early. In truth, most were in the bobble head lines. This was not a smart move by Arizona Athletics. Although everyone in the long lines was patient and polite, it pulled people out of their seats and more importantly out of the stadium. This likely caused some missed revenue at the concession stands.

At the Arizona Diamondbacks games, the first allotted number of fans through the gates receive the advertised bobbleheads. Arizona Athletics did the right thing by rewarding season ticket holders first, though.

What they should have done was have several bobble head stations throughout the ground floor of the stadium. This would have avoided long lines and kept fans around to head back to their seats for the final quarter. If we are lucky enough to have a bobble head giveaway again, we are sure the Athletic Department will work through these kinks. Here are a couple of suggestions for future bobbleheads–Tedy ,v Ricky Hunley, and Chuck Cecil.

Must Read: 3 Takeaways From Saturday's Home Football Opener

NEWS FLASH: The Gronk Spike Bobble Head is now going for over $65 on eBay.

This Saturday Arizona Football does it all again, minus the bobbleheads, against the Houston Cougars. This time kickoff is 7:30 PM, but without any bobbleheads but it will air on ESPN so no Pac-12 overlap! See you at Arizona Stadium and let’s stay the entire game, please! BEAR DOWN!