“Lev it on the Field” is back for the regular-season finale. It’s the Star’s unique look at Arizona’s upcoming football matchup and other happenings around the Pac-12 (and Big 12) through the eyes of UA beat reporter-turned-columnist Michael Lev.
Jedd Fisch’s is a coach’s coach. He’s held just about every job, from the most menial to the most essential. His rolodex runs deep.
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
So I figured when I asked if he could relate to Arizona State counterpart Kenny Dillingham’s plight this season, Fisch would say he gets it or he’s been there or, at the very least, “it’s difficult.”
Nope. No pity for Kenny. No sympathy for the Sun Devils.
You might call 2023 a “Year Zero” for ASU, as Fisch dubbed his first season at Arizona. But not all Year Zeroes are created equal.
“I think Year Zero is different when you come off a nine-touchdown defeat versus a team that’s been to bowl games ... four out of six years,” Fisch said.
“We were on a 12-game losing streak here when we got here. It was a little bit different situation.”
ASU wasn’t in good shape when Dillingham took over, having gone 3-9 last season. Then, on the eve of his first game, the school self-imposed a bowl ban — a smart move meant to mitigate potential penalties from the pandemic recruiting scandal but a devastating blow for Dillingham and his squad.
Arizona was in worse shape. Fisch wasn’t being hyperbolic about losing by nine touchdowns — that was literally the margin on Dec. 11, 2020, B.F. (Before Fisch).
Fisch did concede that it’s challenging to deal with injuries and to institute a culture. He also suggested that ASU is relatively healthy now and noted that the Sun Devils are .500 over their past four games.
Fisch’s Wildcats didn’t experience a stretch like that until the start of the 2022 season. So maybe Year Zero isn’t an accurate descriptor for Dilly’s Devils. Year 0.5?
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes, left, and defensive lineman Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei team up to stop UCLA running back Carson Steele on. Nov. 4 last year.
Take that for data!
Arizona has become an excellent tackling team.
The UA defense has gone five straight games — all wins — with fewer than 10 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. The Wildcats’ per-game average over that span: 7.2.
Over the first six games, Arizona averaged 10.2 missed tackles. Last year, that figure was 12.7.
Defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen attributed the improvement to the Wildcats’ swarming mentality.
“When you swarm to the ball,” Nansen said, “good things happen.”
Swarming to the ball and a reduction in missed tackles don’t completely jibe, though. A better stat to illustrate that might be assisted tackles. As noted by colleague Brian Pedersen of Arizona Desert Swarm, 49.7% of Arizona’s tackles have been assisted this season — up from 43.6% last season.
Washington players celebrate with the Apple Cup Trophy after their 51-33 win last year against Washington State on Nov. 26, 2022, in Pullman, Washington.
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Going up: The Apple Cup
In what qualifies as a pleasant surprise, Washington and Washington State announced this week that they’ve agreed to continue the Apple Cup — despite UW leaving for the Big Ten and WSU being left out of conference realignment. Both school presidents mentioned the fans in their statements. Kudos to them for putting aside their grievances and doing something for the fans, who never have any say in what’s best for the sport. Texas and Texas A&M could never get this done. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State treated this year’s “Bedlam” as a series finale. Oregon and Oregon State reportedly are working on a continuation. But the Beavers’ digital promo for Friday night’s game didn’t exactly suggest congeniality between the two: It depicted an OSU player carrying a chainsaw under the heading: “Nothing civil about it.”
Going down: Divisions
Our country might be as divided as it’s ever been; our college football conferences are trending in the opposite direction. The Pac-12 already ditched divisions, to Arizona’s detriment; the Wildcats would’ve been South Division champs and Vegas-bound if they still existed. The division-less Big 12, currently featuring 14 teams, had scores of tiebreaker scenarios to sort through entering the weekend. This is what happens when you have supersized leagues that can’t play a round-robin schedule. The Big Ten and SEC will drop divisions next year in the interest of creating the best possible title-game matchups. Michigan and Ohio State conceivably could face each other in consecutive weeks. Does anyone like that idea?
A question from my X
“What position will the Cats look to fortify next year’s team through the transfer portal?” — @zona7378 via X/Twitter
It’s difficult to project any team’s roster in November because you never know what the portal and the coaching carousel might bring. As of now, I’d again look at the defensive line.
More likely than not, Arizona will lose three of its four starters: Tyler Manoa, Bill Norton and Taylor Upshaw. Backup DT Sio Nofoagatoto’a is also out of eligibility.
The Wildcats have young players (Russell Davis II, Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, Jacob Kongaika, Dominic Lolesio) ready to step into bigger roles. But as we’ve learned this season, you can never have too many beefy D-linemen.
Threads
Stanford unveiled a red helmet for its season finale vs. Notre Dame, featuring a cursive, underlined “Stanford” in place of the iconic “Block S with Tree” logo. It’s the first time in program history that the football team will don a red helmet. A poster named “Silky Johnson” on X/Twitter put it best: “Off-brand Indiana.” I’m all for trying new things, but the white helmet with the tree is the best feature of Stanford’s uniforms. That’s a unique look. The new helmets are generic. Thumbs down.
What he said ...
“We’ve been able to really do a fantastic job of recruiting the state of Arizona, owning the state of Arizona. There’s no question about that. The best players in Arizona either come to Arizona or they leave Arizona.” — Fisch
What he meant ...
“The best quarterback in the state is coming here. Five of the top 28 players in the state are committed here, including one who flipped from ASU. The Sun Devils’ highest-ranked in-state commit is No. 29. Not that I pay attention to any of that.”
The other side
Jason Wolf, via The Arizona Republic:
Arizona State football royalty returned to campus for the first time in years when the Sun Devils played Southern California in their last game as Pac-12 Conference rivals on a balmy September night at Mountain America Stadium.
Danny White quarterbacked ASU to a 32-4 record and victories in the first three Fiesta Bowls from 1971-73. He set seven NCAA passing records, also served as the team’s punter and played both positions for more than a decade in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Danny White of Arizona State University.
In 1998, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame and had his number retired by ASU, just like his late father, Wilford “Whizzer” White, who led the nation in rushing yards and was the school’s first football All-America selection in 1950.
A family legacy. Father and son. Sun Devils for life.
But White, 71, a Mesa native and Valley resident, was not invited to the USC game by Arizona State.
He didn’t step on the field.
And his presence was never announced to the packed crowd, a rare turnout for the woebegone program the last several years under former coach Herm Edwards, who left the program mired in a recruiting scandal last season, and athletics director Ray Anderson, who resigned last week.
“It’s like coming home and somebody else lives in your house now and they don’t even know who you are, even though your name’s on the stadium,” White told The Arizona Republic, guests in a half-empty corporate suite rented by Dana Whiting Law, longtime supporters of Sun Devils athletics. “It’s just different. It’s like a different place. But actually, there’s spots where old pieces of skin and blood and sweat are out there.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (1) runs against Cal during their game in Berkeley, California on Nov. 25, 2022.
Pick to click (aka #fadelev)
Cal at UCLA at 8:30 p.m. Saturday is the last #Pac12AfterDark game ever. As such, the football gods have ordained that chaos must ensue. So I will eagerly take the Golden Bears at plus-9. With Cal fighting for bowl eligibility, UCLA facing a post-USC letdown and the Rose Bowl destined to be dotted with empty seats, the Bears might even win outright. (season record: 8-3)
One last thing
Notre Dame-Stanford at 5 p.m. will mark the final Pac-12 Networks football broadcast. Many will say good riddance. I get it. The Pac-12 Networks’ distribution issues helped hasten the league’s demise.
Yogi Roth will serve as the analyst for the game, alongside Ted Robinson, and I sincerely hope we have the pleasure of hearing Roth call games next season and beyond.
No one steps into the broadcast booth better prepared than Roth, who’s also genuinely enthusiastic about the sport he covers. No one knows Pac-12 coaches, personnel and schemes better. I’m positive he could bring the same level of passion and professionalism to any assignment.
Roth instantly would rank among the best analysts at ESPN or FOX. One of them needs to hire him ASAP.
Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch discussed the 15th-ranked Wildcats' Territorial Cup matchup with Arizona State in Tempe. Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star
