Arizona lost to USC, Arizona State fell to Washington State. Another Saturday where the “big boys” of our state continued their extremely disappointing seasons.
It’s time for Todd Graham to start playing for 2016. Manny Wilkins needs to get some reps in the next three games. I am NOT saying that Mike Bercovici should be benched. He is a senior and has represented Arizona State in an exemplary manner. I don’t see any reason why Wilkins(or whomever) shouldn’t get 15-20 snaps per game over the final three weeks. ASU will say that there is still a lot to play for, I disagree. Beating Arizona is does NOT represent a succesful season as some have written to me after the dreadful showing at Pullman. Todd needs to look at balancing the last three games versus building for next year. Being loyal to seniors is all well and good, but after the head coach billed this team as the best he’d had, well…they’ve let him down too. It’s not all on Coach Graham and his staff.
Arizona’s showing at USC was actually quite impressive given how depleted the roster has become due to injury and attrition. Add to that, the future of the Cats head coach Rich Rodriguez, has to weigh on some of the players on the roster.
On the positive side, I’ve been very impressed with the showing out of the programs at level below the Sun Devils and Wildcats.
FCS Northern Arizona University knocked out the #4 ranked team in the country on Saturday, winning at Eastern Washington. Surely one of the best wins in the Jerome Souers era in Flagstaff
Arizona Christian has become a NAIA football power in less than two seasons. The Firestorm won at Bacone College in Oklahoma 27-12, finishing conference play with a perfect 6-0 record. They will find out on November 15th if they are postseason eligible. Head coach Donnie Yantis has done such a good job in two short seasons, it will surprise me if he doesn’t have to make a tough call about staying at ACU.
