UW vs. Arizona game thread

Published 6:46 pm Saturday, October 4, 2008

Arizona 41, Washington 7, 5:42 left in third quarter

Just a quick update. This game is clearly out of hand, but one thing worth noting is that freshman receiver Cody Bruns made his debut this quarter. So that’s another freshman, along with Terrance Dailey, who lost a year of eligibility today. Bruns came into the game with the Huskies down 31 points in the third quarter. Interesting to say the least.

Arizona 31, Washington 7, halftime

Well, this looks to be over before the players come back for the second half. The Wildcats have 208 yards of offense, and would certainly have more if not for the Huskies continually giving Arizona such good field position. Willie Tuitama is an efficient 10 for 13 for 121 yards and two scores. Tight end Rob Gronkowski has three catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Nic Grigsby has 11 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Ronnie Fouch is just six for 17 for 112 yards and a pick in his first start. Brandon Johnson leads the Huskies with 11 carries for 32 yards.

Due to the nature of this game and time constraints with writing for tomorrow’s paper, there will be fewer blog updates in the second half.

Arizona 31, Washington 7, 3:58 left in second quarter

So let’s see, what happened since I last checked in? Well, Arizona returned a punt for a touchdown, got an interception (the first thrown by a Washington QB this year, by the way), and turned that turnover into an eventual touchdown. Not good times for the Huskies.

Oh, one bit of good news, the Huskies got another sack, the second of the season. Again, it was Daniel Te’o-Nesheim.

Freshman tailback Terrance Dailey has been in on the last two possessions, meaning no redshirt for him.

Arizona 17, Washington 7, 11:55 left in second quarter

After doing very little in the first quarter, the Husky offense took advantage of a big play to set up a touchdown. Starting on their own 19 yard line, the Huskies opened the drive with a deep pass, and depsite being double covered, Jermaine Kearse somehow hauled in Ronnie Fouch’s pass for a 62-yard gain. Paul Home eventually punched in a touchdown run from two yards out.

Arizona 17, Washington 0, end of 1st quarter

This game is getting out of hand in a hurry. The Wildcats scored on the last play of the first quarter, a four-yard Nic Grigsby run. Grigsby set up his score with a 35-yard run on which he broke a tackle attempt by one UW safety (Victor Aiyewa) and made another UW safety fall down (Nate Williams).

Arizona 10, Washington 0, 7:10 left in first quarter

Arizona’s three possessions have started at the UW 40, the UW 36 and the UW 40, while Washington has started on its own 20 twice, and once on its own five, so needless to say the field position battle is going to the Wildcats.

Willie Griffin fumbled on Washington’s second possession, but the defense got a stop thanks to—and I swear I’m not making this up—a sack. That’s right, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim sacked Willie Tuitama to end the team’s season-long sack drought.

But after another Washington punt, the Wildcats needed only two plays, scoring on a tight-end screen to Rob Gronkowski that turned into a 37-yard touchdown.

Victor Aiyewa was on the field for that drive at safety, the first game action he’s seen since the Oregon game.

Arizona 3, Washington 0, 10:47 left in first

After a Washington three-and-out, a 20-yard punt into the wind gave Arizona great field position. After giving up a bunch of yardage early, the defense managed to hold the Wildcats to a field goal.

A few new starters on both sides of the ball. Willie Griffin started at tailback, and obviously Ronnie Fouch is starting at quarterback. On defense, Alameda Ta’amu started at tackle and Trenton Tuiasosopo started for Donald Butler at middle linebacker (though Butler did play later in the drive on a nickel package). Tripper Johnson is starting at safety, and Josh Gage is back to starting at linebacker after Matt Houston started in his place last week.

We’re about to get started here in Tucson. As I mentioned in my last post, the wind will be a factor in this game.

Arizona won the toss and will defer until the second half. Washington will start with the ball, and will be going into the wind in the first quarter.

Game captains for Washington are Trenton Tuiasosopo, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Casey Bulyca and Michael Gottlieb.