Today we conclude our season series against the Arizona Outlaws, and we do so with a distinct advantage: the 3-6 Outlaws will be playing without QB Freddie Matthias, who tore cartilage in his knee and will miss the next two months. He was hurt last week in their tilt with Honolulu, and just like that Arizona's key offensive weapon is out of commission. We thus hope to be able to add to our 12-4-1 all-time record against Arizona.
But we'll be without a key player of our own: all-world DT Harold Stoltzfus will be sitting this one out with a boo-boo the doctors call a "separated shoulder" or some such bullshit. Instead, Gary Van Brocklin, this year's 6th round draft pick will get the nod. Should be fun to see what the kid has, but we'll have to hope our linebackers stay in position to back him up.
On to the action:
Code:
Box Score: Tucson at Arizona
Arizona, AZ.
Week 11, 2011
Attendance: 40,900 (63,000).
Weather: 71 degrees, fair.
1Q: 10:14 ARI - Artie Sonntag 1 run.
1Q: 10:14 ARI - Paul Stephan extra point.
1Q: 09:06 TUC - Jake Emerson 21 pass from Kent Goodwin.
1Q: 09:06 TUC - Hugo Eckard extra point.
2Q: 14:54 TUC - Demetrius Higginbotham 15 pass from Kent Goodwin.
2Q: 14:54 TUC - Hugo Eckard extra point.
2Q: 10:52 TUC - Drew Holliday 9 run.
2Q: 10:52 TUC - Hugo Eckard extra point.
2Q: 03:24 TUC - Hugo Eckard 25 field goal.
2Q: 00:00 TUC - Hugo Eckard 42 field goal.
3Q: 09:20 TUC - Hugo Eckard 38 field goal.
4Q: 13:37 TUC - Hugo Eckard 41 field goal.
Game MVP: TUC 19 Kent Goodwin
Tucson 7 20 3 3 - 33
Arizona 7 0 0 0 - 7
Team Statistics TUC ARI
First Downs 23 13
Total Rushes 37 28
Rushing Yards 143 188
Yards Per Carry 3.8 6.7
Pass Attempts 29 26
Completions 19 13
Passing Yards 304 109
Yards Per Attempt 10.4 4.1
Sacked 1 1
Yards Lost 5 6
Interceptions 0 0
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 1/1
Total Plays 67 55
Total Yards 442 291
Yards Per Play 6.5 5.2
3rd Down Plays 9/16 5/14
Avg. YTG on 3rd 6.4 6.2
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/1
Penalties 4 3
Penalty Yards 37 20
Avg. Drive Start OWN 35 OWN 17
Time Of Possession 34:29 25:31
Tucson Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
26 Jeffries 17 49 2.8 10 0
42 Holliday 14 40 2.8 10 1
19 Goodwin 6 54 9.0 26 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
19 Goodwin 29 19 304 10.4 27 2 0 1
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
89 Armitage 6 101 16.8 9 23 0
80 Higginbotham 5 88 17.6 14 27 1
42 Holliday 2 14 7.0 13 11 0
82 Torres 2 31 15.5 3 17 0
87 Emerson 2 47 23.5 7 26 1
26 Jeffries 1 16 16.0 16 16 0
84 Joyner 1 7 7.0 8 7 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
42 Holliday 3 20 6.6 0
85 Garcia 1 9 9.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
35 Giles 2 62 31.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
15 Winters 4 161 40.2 47 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
12 Eckard 4 4 42 3 3
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
52 Wash 7 2 0.0 0 0 0
55 Trujillo 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
58 Watford 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
31 Enoch 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
70 Neubauer 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
40 Biggs 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
72 Bernard 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
75 Grier 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
45 Stine 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
25 Minahan 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
90 Jarrard 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
74 Cochrane 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
97 Horn 1 0 1.0 0 0 0
35 Giles 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
32 Hartung 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
94 Van Brocklin 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
37 Rosenberry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
84 Joyner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
87 Emerson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
54 Reeves 0 0 0 0 4 0
64 Connell 0 0 0 0 2 0
60 Poplawski 0 0 0 0 2 0
71 Franck 0 0 0 0 0 1
58 Watford 0 0 1 0 0 0
42 Holliday 1 0 0 0 0 0
84 Joyner 0 0 1 0 0 0
74 Cochrane 0 1 0 0 0 0
Now
that's more like it! Freddie Matthias' absence was quite noticeable today, as almost everything was clicking for us. We controlled the ball, the clock, field position, won the turnover battle, outgained our opponent by 150 yards, and for what seems to be the first time all year we managed to convert 3rd downs at a respectable clip. The one thing we didn't do: stop the run. Actually, we didn't stop
a run, namely the 71 yard scamper by backup RB Zimmerman that led to the only Outlaw TD of the day. Our run D was otherwise respectable today.
Goodwin continues to surprise me (and thwart my gameplanning) by being a huge part of the offense, but you won't see me complaining - especially when he wins Offensive Player of the Week! Congratulations, Kent!
The big offensive oddity today, however, was the distribution of carries: backup RB/FB Jeffries had 17 carries, and starting RB Drew Holliday (with PT set at 9) got just 14. And no, Holliday didn't get all of his carries in the 1st half with Jeffries relieving him once the score got out of control - Jeffries was getting carries all game long. Very strange, but it didn't stop Holliday from topping 1000 yards for the 6th straight year (233 carries for 1015 yards, 5 TDs so far). Congratulations, Drew!
Two other bits of good news this week: 1) no new injuries; 2) Las Vegas beat Honolulu, putting them both at 6-4 and restoring my 2-game lead in the division. Woohoo!
Next week: the beginning of a 4-game homestand against New Orleans.