On a sunny afternoon at Stanford Stadium in October 2008, Arizona lined up for a first down on Stanford’s 6-yard line. The Wildcats led 20-17. The clock ticked down to five minutes.
A touchdown would clinch the victory, put 3-0 Arizona in first place in the Pac-10 and set up a sellout crowd for the following week’s Tucson showdown with No. 25 Cal.
Every UA fan sitting nervously in front of a TV set was thinking the same thing: THROW IT TO GRONK!
Instead, Arizona ran the ball three times and kicked a field goal. Stanford, a 5-7 team, then beat the clock, racing 80 yards to win, 24-23. The Wildcats finished 5-4 in the Pac-10, out of the race.
Now, 16 years later, Arizona fans who remember Rob Gronkowski as a UA sophomore, the plea has changed to: THROW IT TO T-MAC!
Colorado safety Shilo Sanders (21), bottom, and cornerback DJ McKinney (8) work to keep Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) from catching a big throw down the sideline in the third quarter of the Buffaloes’ win over the Wildcats Saturday in Tucson.
At halftime of Saturday’s 34-7 loss to Colorado, UA junior receiver Tetairoa McMillan had two catches for 15 yards. Game over. No T-Mac. No Arizona victory.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita slips around Colorado cornerback Preston Hodge (24) in the first quarter to get the Wildcats into the red zone during Saturday's game.
Even FOX studio host Chris Petersen, the esteemed former head coach at Washington and Boise State, said, “Arizona has got to find a way to get the ball more to T-Mac, be it bubble screens, quick hitches, anything.’’
This entry is part of longtime Star columnist Greg Hansen's weekly notebook. Looking for more? Find updates and Greg's archive at Tucson.com/Hansen.
T-Mac is Arizona’s most talented receiver since Gronk. Getting him the ball has become a searing hot-button item. He hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since the Aug. 29 opener against New Mexico.
That’s crazy. It seems impossible.
The Gronk shutout of 2008 relates to the T-Mac shutdown today. After that meltdown loss at Stanford, UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes admitted that Stanford’s defensive coordinator Ron Lynn, a 19-year NFL coaching veteran, outfoxed him on the goal-line stand.
“We were trying everything we could to get the ball to Gronk,’’ said Dykes. “But Ron Lynn bluffed us out of it.’’
Lynn double-teamed Gronk with a safety and cornerback and eliminated the Gronk option.
Now, 16 years later, Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, much like the Lynn of 2008, threw everything but the kitchen sink at T-Mac on Saturday. Double coverages. Pressuring overwhelmed QB Noah Fifita. You name it.
Never heard of Livingston? Until this season, he for eight years he coached the Cincinnati Bengals' safeties. He clearly knows how to shut down a top receiver. FOX’s Petersen confirmed as much, saying Livingston was “one of the best hires’’ of the recent offseason.
Injuries have doomed Arizona’s chances to challenge for the Big 12 title this year, but so have opposing defensive coaches, who, much like Stanford in 2008, have won the X’s and O’s game against Arizona’s offensive staff.
T-Mac, we miss you.
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