Today's matchup is against fantastic flying froggies' Detroit Vampires, who sit atop their division with an 8-2 record. They are led by 2nd-year QB Johnnie Titone, who unseated veteran QB Freddie Matthias in the preseason (resulting in Matthias heading to RoF rival Arizona). For this reason alone we're hoping to beat Titone senseless, but we'd also like to get a win out of this one. We remain a game ahead of Arizona, and face another tough matchup next week at Tulsa. A win here would help us out a lot.
We've also caught a bit of a break: Detroit is currently suffering from an outbreak of influenza, and many of their best players are so dehydrated as to be listed as "Questionable" on the injury report. Hopefully we can take advantage of that turn of events.
Code:
Box Score: Detroit at Tucson
Tucson, AZ.
Week 12, 2009
Attendance: 67,000 (69,800).
Weather: 82 degrees, fair.
2Q: 10:07 TUC - Demetrius Higginbotham 7 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
2Q: 10:07 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
2Q: 02:37 TUC - Rubin Castorena 32 field goal.
3Q: 04:46 TUC - Rubin Castorena 49 field goal.
4Q: 12:32 TUC - Daryl Bradley 23 run.
4Q: 12:32 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
4Q: 03:21 TUC - Daryl Bradley 5 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
4Q: 03:21 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
Game MVP: TUC 4 Milan "Colonel" Hogan
Detroit 0 0 0 0 - 0
Tucson 0 10 3 14 - 27
Team Statistics DET TUC
First Downs 12 24
Total Rushes 15 36
Rushing Yards 53 145
Yards Per Carry 3.5 4.0
Pass Attempts 42 36
Completions 11 22
Passing Yards 105 217
Yards Per Attempt 2.5 6.0
Sacked 1 0
Yards Lost 7 0
Interceptions 2 0
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 1/1
Total Plays 58 72
Total Yards 151 362
Yards Per Play 2.6 5.0
3rd Down Plays 5/15 9/15
Avg. YTG on 3rd 9.0 5.9
4th Down Plays 0/1 0/0
Penalties 11 7
Penalty Yards 82 35
Avg. Drive Start OWN 29 OWN 27
Time Of Possession 21:22 38:38
Detroit Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
35 Wadsworth 11 41 3.7 13 0
33 Kayer 3 13 4.3 11 0
40 Bevan 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
7 Titone 35 6 63 1.8 16 0 2 1
3 DeNeff 7 5 42 6.0 15 0 0 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
81 Sutton 4 37 9.2 0 15 0
83 Manos 3 26 8.6 5 11 0
86 Fields 2 26 13.0 6 16 0
35 Wadsworth 1 6 6.0 4 6 0
10 Pollard 1 10 10.0 0 10 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
81 Sutton 1 1 1.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
84 Infante 5 116 23.2 0
31 Goodwin 1 22 22.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
17 Wentland 8 366 45.7 54 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
1 Hatcher 0 1 0 0 0
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
42 Dustin 7 4 0.0 0 0 0
96 Macedo 7 1 0.0 0 0 0
90 Parker 7 1 0.0 0 0 0
52 Burkhardt 6 3 0.0 0 0 0
20 Kasper 5 0 0.0 0 0 0
46 Ly 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
70 Haley 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
56 Rabb 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
24 Carleton 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
99 Flowers 2 2 0.0 0 0 0
29 Freeman 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
84 Infante 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
95 Thomas 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
45 Valadez 1 3 0.0 0 0 0
89 Caskey 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
53 Gainey 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
40 Bevan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
57 Lodge 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
32 Bolen 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
72 Johnstone 0 0 0 0 0 1
51 Tarver 0 0 0 0 3 0
81 Sutton 1 0 1 0 0 0
83 Manos 0 0 0 0 1 0
53 Gainey 0 0 1 0 0 0
40 Bevan 0 1 0 0 0 0
Tucson Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
42 Holliday 22 75 3.4 38 0
22 Bradley 12 67 5.5 23 1
26 Jeffries 2 3 1.5 4 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
4 Hogan 36 22 217 6.0 21 2 0 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
89 Armitage 6 73 12.1 8 18 0
80 Higginbotham 5 38 7.6 4 12 1
22 Bradley 3 35 11.6 12 21 1
42 Holliday 3 22 7.3 16 9 0
82 Torres 2 17 8.5 5 9 0
88 Ramirez 1 9 9.0 4 9 0
26 Jeffries 1 11 11.0 14 11 0
85 Garcia 1 12 12.0 0 12 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
22 Bradley 3 9 3.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
15 Winters 4 184 46.0 58 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
13 Castorena 2 2 49 3 3
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
58 Watford 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
55 Trujillo 3 0 1.0 0 0 0
95 Stoltzfus 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
46 Bloch 3 0 0.0 1 0 0
75 Grier 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
25 Minahan 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Enoch 2 2 0.0 0 0 0
52 Wash 2 0 0.0 1 0 0
93 King 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
26 Jeffries 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
70 Neubauer 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
72 Bernard 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
90 Jarrard 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
22 Bradley 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
29 McCloskey 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
40 Biggs 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
96 Stansell 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
45 Bennett 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
63 Pitman 0 0 0 0 3 0
46 Bloch 0 1 0 0 0 0
71 Franck 0 0 0 0 1 0
22 Bradley 1 0 0 0 0 0
26 Jeffries 0 0 0 0 1 0
82 Torres 0 0 0 0 1 0
64 Connell 0 0 0 0 1 0
Detroit Drive Chart
Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result
1 8:22 2:42 OWN 20 10 25 Interception
1 4:35 1:58 OWN 30 3 8 Punt
2 10:07 2:45 OWN 35 5 9 Interception
2 2:37 1:05 OWN 35 3 6 Punt
3 15:00 1:21 OWN 25 3 5 Punt
3 12:09 4:48 OWN 18 12 43 Downs
3 4:46 1:36 OWN 31 3 4 Punt
3 3:10 1:21 OPP 32 4 10 Missed FG
4 12:32 1:38 OWN 21 3 -7 Punt
4 9:26 1:16 OWN 4 5 16 Punt
4 3:21 3:21 OWN 34 8 41 Game
Tucson Drive Chart
Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result
1 15:00 6:38 OWN 6 11 46 Punt
1 5:40 1:05 OWN 39 3 0 Punt
1 2:37 7:30 OWN 18 14 82 Touchdown
2 7:22 4:45 OWN 40 11 45 Field Goal
2 1:32 1:32 OWN 5 4 3 Half
3 13:39 1:30 OWN 18 3 7 Punt
3 7:21 2:35 OWN 39 7 29 Field Goal
3 1:49 4:17 OWN 29 9 71 Touchdown
4 10:54 1:28 OWN 41 3 8 Punt
4 8:10 4:49 OWN 39 7 61 Touchdown
Detroit Red Zone Profile
Visits TDs FGs
0 0 0
Tucson Red Zone Profile
Visits TDs FGs
3 2 1
Holy crap. Take that, Johnnie Titone!
I'd say we accomplished our two main goals: beating up on Titone and getting a good win. Poor Johnnie was a pathetic 6 for 35 passing, for just 63 yards and 2 INTs. If that isn't an ass-kicking, I don't know what is. Our defense stepped up and did the job (again), and while they may have been aided by the viral infection that has plagued the Detroit lockerroom, I don't think that's the entire story. Our D just plain came to play today. Two interceptions, 7 passes defensed, 3 passes blocked at the line, and while we registered just 1 sack we had 15 hurries! Awesome performance by the whole group. This was our first shutout since Week 16 of 2007.
And our offense did a decent job too, racking up 362 total yards and taking advantage of turnovers and good field position to the tune of 27 points. Holliday was again quite average, but again Daryl Bradley was there to pick up the slack in the running game. Milan Hogan continues to chug along with his gaudy 98.4 QB Rating, and Sydney Armitage had his best game since the season opener. Rubin Castorena even had a decent day, with no misses on either of his FG attempts.
Just about everything went right today. The only downer is that we lost starting LG Ross Poplawski to a high-ankle sprain for a couple of months. He wasn't having a particularly effective season, so his loss is far from devastating. But it is time to do a bit more shuffling on the O-line.
The outcome of this one may well have been different were it not for the flu, but anytime our D plays this well there's a good chance we'll win. Detroit is a good team, and I have no doubt they'll bounce back from this temporary setback.
Next week: at Tulsa.