Arizona Riding Strong Form Into DIA Mix
Arizona Riding Strong Form Into DIA Mix
The University of Arizona has been creeping every closer to its rivals this year.
But that progress has been seen in competitive losses, one to BYU and one to Cal. March 4's very, very close win over UCLA also kind of his the Wildcats' progress. But this week, Arizona beat Colorado 56-12 in emphatic fashion.
With rankings hugely important in filling out D1A's 12-team playoff bracket, a win like that should help the Wildcats enormously.
"It was a pretty good performance," said Arizona Director of Rugby Sean Duffy. "Colorado is a good team and they made us work really hard for a few things. We were able to move some guys around, and test them ahead of what we think will be a postseason."
With a solid back row of Jack Brown, Abe Turpen, and Jack Bresland roaming the field looking for work, James Rivers leading by example at lock and some talented outside backs, including Jacob Broselle and EJ Freeman, Arizona appears to be coming into form at the right time.
Freeman may well be the guy leading the way. He is very dangerous with the ball in hand at center and defends, hits rucks, and poaches like a flanker. Against Colorado he set the tone by scoring in the opening minute.
"He is leading through his play," said Duffy. "He's one of the key guys for us."
But if you go back earlier in the season there were moments that indicated that we might see more from Arizona this later spring, and in the coming seasons. The current roster of 68 players has only three seniors, which means this group has time to develop their identity together. And their game against Cal, in which it was 24-17 (Bears over Wildcats) with only 20 minutes to go before two Cal tries sealed it.
Losing to Cal can become a habit, and often teams, despite their desire to win, can find a rationalization for why they shipped 80 points to the Bears. Most teams have been Cal-stomped at some points, and the result can be so overwhelming it's almost as if you have logic it away to a safer part of your brain.
"Sometimes athletes can be OK with [a big loss], while as a coach you are not," said Duffy. "Then as you get more competitive you have a different outlook. This year against Cal our guys were pissed. They weren't thinking 'oh, hey, we were close.' They were thinking 'we could have won that game.'"
It's that mind set that might pay off in Tucson.
