It was nice to relax a bit this past weekend. Admittedly, I tend to get a bit wound up when I go to a game or watch the Wildcats on television. Often feeling drained the next few days. And hey, Arizona even jumped to #9 in the polls. A nice weekend all around. Well, vacation time is over.
The Wildcats will be facing Oregon St. this coming Saturday, and will need to focus. As a Wildcats fan, I can't shake a bad habit. I'm waiting for the letdown. That first loss. Frustratingly, I see a lot of positives heading into this game. The home-field advantage (the game looks to be on its way to selling out), the early kick-off (Kick-off is set for 3pm local time.), and the recuperation time for the team.
Take a look at the stats, and it is equally frustrating. Oregon St. ranks in the bottom 3 of the Pac-10 in almost every category.
So, I need to ignore the good news and focus on the bad. Namely, the Rodgers brothers. James Rodgers looks to be healthy, and that's bad news. James and Jacquizz Rodgers are both legitimate home run threats. Add to that the fact that Arizona has dropped 9 of its last 11 against Oregon St., and a bit of worry starts to form in the pit of my stomach.
If the Arizona defense doesn't play like the #2 defense in the country all night long, this game could be a close one. I'm sure the defensive coaching staff will be reminding the boys on defense that they will have to pay attention to both the pass and the run, lest they give up a big play.
That's more like it. There's that familiar feeling of dread. The fear of the letdown. Lets just hope the Arizona Wildcat football players feel that same dread. If Arizona goes into this game flying high on the newfound top-10 ranking, they will lose. Oregon St. is a spoiler team. And they will punish any team foolish enough to underestimate them.
Maybe I should just be happy with the Wildcats success, and point out all of the things they have going in their favor this Saturday.
Nah.