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Arizona Wildcats vs Oregon State Beavers Football Preview

The 2010 Pac-10 football season has wasted no time in becoming very interesting.

Last week gave us the national showcase between Stanford and Oregon. This week brings is a slightly less sexy game that is still a very attractive matchup in its own right, as the Oregon State Beavers pay a visit to Tucson to take on the Arizona Wildcats.

The Beavers won’t be intimidated by going on the road to Arizona. Two years ago, with their Rose Bowl hopes on the line, the Beavers and Coach Mike Riley traveled to Tucson to take on a roused and highly motivated bunch of Wildcats. Oregon State trailed 17-10 late in the fourth quarter and had seemingly ruined its chances of winning when kicker Justin Kahut missed an extra point near the four-minute mark of regulation time. However, OSU was able to get the ball back and, thanks to a clutch downfield completion from quarterback Sean Canfield to receiver Sammie Stroughter, was able to set up Kahut for a game-winning field goal on the last play of the fourth quarter. Kahut banged the kick through the uprights and gave the Beavers an exhilarating 19-17 win. This 2010 edition of the Beavers actually has a quarterback – Ryan Katz – who can stretch the field even more than Canfield ever could. Add in the presence of stud running back Jacquizz Rodgers, and you have a team that can win with either the run or the pass. Arizona’s defense has been sensational so far this season, but it’s fair to say that the U of A will get its stiffest test yet against Oregon State’s balanced attack.

Speaking of Arizona: After losing at home to Oregon State in 2008, the Wildcats went up to Corvallis and knocked off the Beavers in 2009. Quarterback Nick Foles played one of his better games of the season in the Pacific Northwest, completing over 70 percent of his passes for three touchdowns without a single interception. Arizona scored 23 second-half points to stop Oregon State, 37-32, and register one of the more important confidence-building victories of the up-and-down Mike Stoops era.

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With Arizona trying to make home-field advantage mean something in this series, the Wildcats know that as they face Oregon State yet again, the Beavers will be putting a freshman –the aforementioned Mr. Katz – into the line of fire in a Pac-10 road game. Arizona allowed only nine points to Cal in its most recent Pac-10 home game, so if the Cats can similarly hold down Oregon State’s potent attack, they’ll cruise to victory (it's doubtful that Arizona will score just 10 points in this game). Arizona’s co-defensive coordinators, Greg Brown and Tim Kish, will need to disguise their looks and give Katz a lot of different packages to look at. If Arizona can bait Katz into bad decisions, the Wildcats should be able to thrive in their native desert habitat.

This game will tell us how much home-field advantage really means in the Pac-10. It will also tell us a lot about the maturity and poise of Ryan Katz. It's worth noting that while Arizona’s defense has allowed just 11.3 points per game in 2010, the Wildcats have benefited from poor performances on the part of opposing quarterbacks. Iowa's Ricky Stanzi stunk up Arizona Stadium on Sept. 18, and Cal's Kevin Riley did the same thing a week later on Sept. 25. Katz is coached by Mike Riley, one of the very best quarterback gurus in college football. If Oregon State's young gun can deliver the goods, this game should go down to the wire... just as it did two years ago in Tucson. Buckle up, as two solid teams try to challenge Oregon and make their way to the upper reaches of the Pac-10 Conference standings.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer