>> My career with Bleacher Report has begun with my first article touching on the top five Mike Stoops recruits who are impacting the Rich Rodriguez era at Arizona.
>> In case you missed, I assess at Lindy’s Sports who should be the top five USC coaching candidates.
>> USC coach Ed Orgeron told reporters that he doubts wide receiver Marqise Lee (knee) would play against Arizona tonight. He also said “it does not loog good” for defensive end Morgan Breslin (strained hip). The news is better for tailback Justin Davis (ankle), who is expected to play and wide receiver Darreus Rogers (knee) is questionable.
>> Breslin’s loss is as significant as Lee potentially missing the game. Breslin leads the Pac-12 with 1.88 tackles for loss per game. He has 7.5. He is tied with teammate George Uko, a defensive end, for the most sacks in the conference with four. This despite missing the season opener at Hawaii with an ankle injury.
>> Any coincidence that USC senior Silas Redd (knee) will have his season debut tonight against Arizona knowing Ka’Deem Carey will be on the same field? Carey is the ultimate attention-grabber. Just ask Washington’s Bishop Sankey.
>> Interesting, as Anthony Gimino of TucsonCitizen.com points out in his blog, that USC and Arizona have similar offenses with struggling starting quarterbacks and inexperienced receivers. Both teams will likely combine for more than 500 yards rushing tonight.
>> You can fault UA defensive tackle Tevin Hood for commenting that USC quarterback Cody Kessler “makes some boneheaded throws” — prove that on the field not with your mouth. But I’m fine with Carey telling Gimino: “They’re too full of themselves” about USC when he was recruited by the Trojans out of CDO. Can anybody argue that?
>> If Arizona wins tonight it would be the UA’s second win in the last three games at the L.A. Coliseum. The Wildcats are not afraid to play there. They are 4-11 in L.A. since joining the Pac-10 in 1978 but six of those losses were by a touchdown or less. One of those wins was against the top-ranked Trojans in 1981. Compare that to playing at Oregon: The UA is 1-9 in its last 10 games in Eugene with only three of the losses decided by a TD or less.
>> College football analyst Jerry Palm currently projects USC to play in the New Mexico Bowl against San Jose State, setting up a matchup of Trojans versus Spartans. That has no allure to USC fans, who expect to be either in the Rose Bowl or a high-profile bowl every year. Palm projects Arizona to play Utah State in the Las Vegas Bowl but the Aggies are much less attractive without injured quarterback Chuckie Keeton, out for the season with a knee injury.
MIKE HANAOKA WILBUR THE WILDCAT DRAWINGS:
[table “” not found /]WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes blogs for Bleacher Report, Lindy’s College Sports and TucsonCitizen.com.
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