Arizona Wildcats vs. Brigham Young Cougars
The Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
Saturday, December 20, 2008
8:00 P.M. (5:00 P.M. PT)
The seventeenth annual Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl is one of the first bowl games this year. Offense should be the name of the game as the 7-5 Wildcats come in with 37.1 points per game average against the 10-2 Cougars, who enter the game with a 35.3 PPG average. BYU is playing its fourth straight Las Vegas Bowl, having won the last two. Arizona, home team for the game, is making its first postseason appearance since a victory in the 1998 Holiday Bowl. Teams from BYU’s Mountain West Conference have made 12 appearances in the Bowl with a 7-5 record. Arizona’s Pac-10 Conference teams account for eight appearances and a 4-4 record.
Brigham Young: UP: Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s teams have had three straight 10+ win seasons. For the season BYU has averaged 309+ passing and nearly 135 rushing per game. WR Austin Collie led the nation with 1,419 receiving yards. TE Dennis Pitta had 78 receptions and 1,025 yards. The Cougars should have a massive fan base at the game, as they have had the last three years. DOWN: The Cougars lost a conference co-title bid when #7 Utah upended them in the season finale 48-24. QB Max Hall had six turnovers, including five interceptions. RB Harvey Unga has had several physical problems since early November. Momentum is a big issue, as the team had pre-season aspirations of a BCS bowl bid.
Arizona: UP: The Wildcats played into the Las Vegas Bowl with a 31-10 win over arch-rival Arizona State last Saturday (Dec. 6th). Coach Mike Stoops called the bowl appearance a reward for overcoming several tough years. The team had not had a winning season since 1998, when it was 12-1 and defeated Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. AZ has an offensive average of 401+ yards per game, with 237 passing and 164 rushing. TB Nic Grigsby rushed for 1,000+ yards this season. Physically the team is nearly 100%. DOWN: The Wildcats have struggled with consistency this season. QB Willie Tuitama says they have to “finish out games.” The defensive secondary has been abused this year, with opponents completing big plays at the expense of CB’s Devin Ross and Marquis Hundley. Stopping the rush has been a weakness also.
Keys to the Game: BYU must contain TE Rob Gronkowski, who has 10 touchdowns and 43 catches for AZ even though he missed three games due to illness. The Cougars should mix the pass and the run. Hall has 34 TD passes and a 70% completion rate while Unga has 1000+ yards rushing and 10 touchdowns in spite of his ailments. The Wildcats can run the ball when they are not attacking BYU’s secondary, which has given up 187 passing yards per game. TBs Grigsby and Keola Antolin have combined for 22 TDs. Tuitama has thrown for 2,763 yards and 21 TDs with only 7 interceptions.
By the Numbers: The line is at Arizona -3. For the year BYU is 3-8 ATS and 6-5 O/U while AZ is 7-5 ATS and 6-6 O/U. In bowl games since 1993 the Cougars are 4-6 SU & 5-5 ATS. Over the same time period the Wildcats are 3-2 SU & 2-3 ATS. As an underdog BYU is 0-2 SU & ATS this year. As a favorite AZ is 6-3 SU & 5-4 ATS. This game should be a high scoring affair. The team whose defense steps up should come away with the win.