This week, Arizona (7-2) hosts USC (6-3) in a pivotal game. Should the Wildcats win, they will be back on track late in the season. A loss would likely remove UA from the top 25, which would be a crushing blow for a team that got off to such a strong start in 2010.
The SBNation blogs have been quite active leading up to this contest, so lets see what they are thinking.
First, lets stop by AZ Desert Swam, our Arizona blog:
USC 21 - Arizona 27: Heading into this game, it's hard for me to see USC winning this one. I believe this game will come down to the defenses, and Arizona's defense is superior to USC's in points allowed, total yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and rushing yards allowed.
The numbers favor Arizona, as do the intangibles. Arizona is coming off of an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Stanford, and will be playing for respect, as opposed to looking ahead to Oregon. USC will be forced to play in front of the Zona Zoo, Arizona's 10,000+ member student section, stretching from endzone to endzone.
And most importantly, Nick Foles will have had an extra week to prepare himself for the game. And while there have been many Arizona fans who criticised his play last week, including myself, I believe he will play at a much higher level against USC. Expect to see a greater emphasis on the passing game, with Foles spreading the ball around to multiple receivers while Juron Criner occupies USC CB Shareece Wright.
Next stop, Conquest Chronicles:
Arizona has had a pretty good season so far but they have some weaknesses. They were taken to the woodshed by Stanford. That game wasn't even close so while everyone wants to give Arizona some props lets not get ahead of ourselves. UA finished second in the conference last season, they won't finish that high this season...probably third. They finally got the USC monkey of their back last season under Mike Stoops only to get blasted by Nebraska.
The key of course is QB Nick Foles.
He is the glue that keeps the team together and he has looked good at times this season. He suffered a knee injury a couple of weeks ago but played in the Stanford game and wasn't effective like we would expect for all the hype. Foles went 28 of 48 for 240+ yards 0 TD 1 INT. Average numbers when there are no TD's.
This game is on ABC tonight, starting at 6:00 P.M. Mountain time.