The Arizona Wildcats will, for this week, receive no Swarmies. Not even the most die-hard of AZ Desert Swarm members, Wildcat fans all, could bring themselves to nominate anybody for any category. I can't blame them. The Stanford game was pure frustration for this Wildcat fan. Seemingly nothing went right. The defense played poorly, the offense seemed inept, and I found myself desperately wishing that QB Matt Scott was healthy.
What a gut-check for a team that had its eyes so firmly set on its first Rose Bowl. The poor play was, in certain cases, mystifying. Nick Foles looked totally flustered and unsure, holding onto the ball far too long. Trevin Wade continued his poor play, allowing the Stanford offense to pick on him all night. This game made the Wildcats look like pretenders to the Pac-10 throne. Foolishness. I can only hope that USC is crazy enough to look at that game and determine that Arizona is no real threat.
From the plays that were called, to the performance of the athletes themselves, that game was unacceptable. But there is the chance that lessons will be learned from the experience, and a refocused, and angry team will emerge from practice and erupt all over USC. Here's hoping that, moving forward, the Wildcats can pull it together and get back to their winning ways.