Santa Cruz, as noted above, is a team down on its luck. Cap hell has ravaged their roster, but they still have some noteworthy talent that gives me pause. Unfortunately for them, quarterback is not a position at which they have much to work with right now, as rookie Deon Tucker will need a lot of time to develop. He should be well protected by that awesome offensive line, but if he has to put it in the air 40 times the Privateers will be in a world of hurt. William Sheehan is the answer, and I expect them to pound the ball with their tough back all day.
Talent wise, we've got a clear edge on this team. Still, when it comes to football there's no such thing as a sure thing...is there?
Code:
Box Score: Tucson at Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA.
Week 4, 2009
Attendance: 64,700 (68,700).
Weather: 62 degrees, fair.
1Q: 01:35 SCU - Bo Baker 84 fumble return.
1Q: 01:35 SCU - William Lyon extra point.
2Q: 12:31 SCU - William Lyon 33 field goal.
3Q: 09:46 TUC - Anthony Torres 8 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
3Q: 09:46 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
3Q: 05:17 SCU - William Sheehan 2 run.
3Q: 05:17 SCU - William Lyon extra point.
4Q: 06:38 TUC - Corwin Jeffries 8 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
4Q: 06:38 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
4Q: 01:55 SCU - William Lyon 49 field goal.
Game MVP: SCU 72 Conrad Pellegrini
Tucson 0 0 7 7 - 14
Santa Cruz 7 3 7 3 - 20
Team Statistics TUC SCU
First Downs 16 23
Total Rushes 18 33
Rushing Yards 70 117
Yards Per Carry 3.8 3.5
Pass Attempts 35 32
Completions 20 21
Passing Yards 261 187
Yards Per Attempt 7.4 5.8
Sacked 6 6
Yards Lost 41 45
Interceptions 1 0
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/0
Total Plays 59 71
Total Yards 290 259
Yards Per Play 4.9 3.6
3rd Down Plays 5/14 6/14
Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.1 6.3
4th Down Plays 1/1 0/0
Penalties 9 0
Penalty Yards 46 0
Avg. Drive Start OWN 26 OWN 28
Time Of Possession 26:13 33:47
Tucson Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
42 Holliday 12 53 4.4 11 0
22 Bradley 4 14 3.5 7 0
26 Jeffries 2 3 1.5 2 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
4 Hogan 35 20 261 7.4 37 2 1 6
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
89 Armitage 4 65 16.2 3 37 0
42 Holliday 3 14 4.6 11 7 0
26 Jeffries 3 31 10.3 22 13 1
82 Torres 3 25 8.3 10 13 1
87 Sheehy 2 50 25.0 5 35 0
22 Bradley 2 21 10.5 4 13 0
80 Higginbotham 1 35 35.0 1 35 0
88 Ramirez 1 16 16.0 0 16 0
11 Housley 1 4 4.0 6 4 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
88 Ramirez 2 45 22.5 0
85 Garcia 1 15 15.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
15 Winters 7 297 42.4 51 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
13 Castorena 0 1 0 2 2
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
70 Neubauer 8 2 0.5 0 0 0
58 Watford 7 3 0.0 0 0 0
52 Wash 7 2 0.0 0 0 0
46 Bloch 7 1 0.0 0 0 0
37 Rosenberry 6 0 0.0 0 0 0
72 Bernard 5 2 1.5 0 0 0
31 Enoch 5 2 0.0 0 0 0
96 Stansell 4 2 1.5 0 0 0
25 Minahan 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
26 Jeffries 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
75 Grier 2 1 2.5 0 0 0
90 Jarrard 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
29 McCloskey 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
33 Mirer 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
87 Sheehy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
89 Armitage 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
78 Odum 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
97 Horn 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
60 Poplawski 0 0 0 0 0 4
64 Connell 0 0 0 0 1 2
78 Odum 0 0 0 0 1 0
71 Franck 0 0 0 0 1 0
77 Thiele 0 0 0 0 1 0
63 Pitman 0 0 0 0 1 0
25 Minahan 0 1 0 0 0 0
26 Jeffries 0 0 0 0 1 0
Santa Cruz Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
33 Sheehan 18 80 4.4 14 1
27 Starks 7 20 2.8 6 0
9 Tucker 6 11 1.8 5 0
41 Soares 1 3 3.0 3 0
83 Johnson 1 3 3.0 3 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
9 Tucker 32 21 187 5.8 29 0 0 6
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
83 Johnson 7 96 13.7 22 29 0
41 Soares 4 18 4.5 17 7 0
33 Sheehan 3 13 4.3 0 6 0
87 Hartman 3 29 9.6 0 15 0
84 Baker 2 12 6.0 0 7 0
85 Rivers 1 10 10.0 0 10 0
80 Upshaw 1 9 9.0 1 9 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
33 Sheehan 4 33 8.2 0
87 Hartman 1 -2 -2.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
25 Chandler 2 27 13.5 0
37 Blair 1 17 17.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
5 Poston 5 161 32.2 36 1
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
4 Lyon 2 3 49 2 2
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
51 Atkins 7 3 1.0 0 0 0
42 Visser 5 2 0.0 1 6 0
72 Pellegrini 4 0 3.0 0 0 0
55 Grisham 4 1 1.0 0 0 0
90 Saavedra 4 2 0.5 0 0 0
75 Uzzell 3 0 0.5 0 0 0
29 Pitman 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
73 Monroe 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
20 Bird 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
48 Polston 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
23 Webb 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
93 Cardinal 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
80 Upshaw 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
98 Heffernan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
58 Capoccia 0 0 0 0 2 1
64 Hickman 0 0 0 0 2 0
84 Baker 0 0 1 1 0 0
41 Soares 0 0 0 0 0 1
70 Tollefson 0 0 0 0 2 1
74 Rains 0 0 0 0 2 3
9 Tucker 1 0 0 0 0 0
Tucson Drive Chart
Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result
1 10:09 5:28 OWN 22 10 34 Punt
1 1:35 1:42 OWN 28 3 -14 Punt
2 12:31 3:28 OWN 30 5 50 Missed FG
2 4:01 1:58 OWN 28 3 3 Punt
2 1:05 1:01 OWN 23 3 2 Punt
3 15:00 5:14 OWN 20 11 80 Touchdown
3 5:17 1:25 OWN 31 3 4 Punt
3 1:13 1:52 OWN 6 5 22 Punt
4 13:07 0:55 OWN 38 3 1 Punt
4 8:23 1:45 OWN 49 4 51 Touchdown
4 1:55 1:40 OWN 20 9 37 Interception
Santa Cruz Drive Chart
Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result
1 15:00 4:51 OWN 32 9 18 Punt
1 4:41 3:06 OWN 7 5 93 Touchdown
2 14:53 2:22 OWN 48 4 36 Field Goal
2 9:03 5:02 OWN 27 11 52 Missed FG
2 2:03 0:58 OWN 33 3 8 Punt
2 0:04 0:04 OPP 47 1 -7 Half
3 9:46 4:29 OWN 19 9 81 Touchdown
3 3:52 2:39 OWN 34 8 28 Punt
4 14:21 1:14 OWN 21 3 8 Punt
4 12:12 3:49 OWN 6 7 13 Punt
4 6:38 4:43 OWN 33 10 35 Field Goal
4 0:15 0:15 OWN 32 1 -1 Game
Tucson Red Zone Profile
Visits TDs FGs
2 2 0
Santa Cruz Red Zone Profile
Visits TDs FGs
3 1 1
Ummm...that wasn't quite what I had in mind. I was watching this game in 3ric's viewer, and my disbelief was most likely audible as I watched this sequence, with SC taking over at their own 19:
Code:
1-10-SCU19 (02:45) SCU 9 Tucker sacked by TUC 72 Bernard and TUC 96 Stansell for a loss of 8 yards.
Sack allowed by SCU 58 Capoccia.
2-18-SCU11 (02:11) SCU 9 Tucker scrambled for 5 yards.
Tackled by TUC 25 Minahan.
Ball was fumbled and recovered by SCU 84 Baker for 84 yards and a touchdown!
Extra point by SCU 4 Lyon was good.
Damn but that's harsh. I get a sack on one play, force a fumble on the next, and
they recover it for an 84 yard touchdown?! Sweet jesus that ain't right. And that touchdown wound up being the difference in this thoroughly pathetic game.
Where to start? Our coach got away from our gameplan early (which happened with startling regularity last year) and wound up only feeding the ball to Holliday 12 times.
12 times.
That's stupid.
Our other strengths transmogrified into weaknesses with the seeming snap of Deon Tucker's fingers: the
extremely green rookie had a far more successful day against our secondary than he had any right to have, completing 21 of 32 passes for 187 yards and no interceptions. With him putting the ball in the air 32 times I'd have expected at least two picks - but our secondary let us down (I cannot wait to get Biggs and Hartung back). What was especially astonishing was that for the second week in a row we opted to double-cover the top receiver 100% of the time, and for the second week in a row that receiver still scorched us something fierce. I'm beginning to wonder if that "match CB to top receiver" option is working the way I think it is, and if the double-coverage percentages are working the way I think they are. Nevertheless, Alec Johnson torched us for 7 catches and 96 yards, single-handedly making Tucker's day easy. We did manage to sack Tucker six times, for what it's worth.
But they sacked Hogan six times as well, which makes absolutely no sense when you examine their defensive front's talent. A whopping
four of those sacks were registered against second-year LG Ross Poplawski, who had previously surrendered three sacks in his prior 11 starts. That smells like a fluke performance - I think Santa Cruz just got lucky with the game engine on that count.
Hogan had a decent day statistically, but he repeatedly failed to convert key 3rd downs. And our defensive line held Sheehan and company to just 3.5 ypc, a decent performance. But perhaps the most telling stat is how the refs treated the two teams: we had 9 penalties for 62 yards, and Santa Cruz got whistled for...
zero penalties?! What? Oh, and by the way a number of those penalties were called on our defense right after 3rd down stops.
*sigh*
All told this was a terrible game. We seem to crank out one of these disappointments every season - there's always one game for which we just can't explain how we managed to lose. This one ranks up there with the best of that class. And the loss drops us to 2-2, tied with Honolulu and now one full game behind Arizona. And what's worse is that we now head into the bye week on this sour note. Alas.