Upon entering a cramped media room at Autzen Stadium on Friday, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops cracked a joke.
“All the money around here, they ought to be able to get us a media room, right?” he said. “Come on, where’s Phil Knight when you need him?”
After a second half in which his team was outscored 34-10 en route to a devastating loss at the hands of Oregon, all Stoops could do was laugh it off. Arizona had simply become another victim of Oregon’s second half prowess.
Yet as his opening monologue with the press continued, the disappointment began to creep into Stoops’ voice. Clearly, there were plenty of missed opportunities for the Wildcats Friday night.
“Too many mistakes in the second half,” Stoops said. “(Oregon) played well…but we just made too many mistakes, and they put a lot of pressure on your whole defense to play well.”
Foremost amongst those mistakes were penalties. The Wildcats committed 10 penalties for a total of 80 yards throughout the game, including an offside penalty during an Oregon field goal in the third quarter that resulted in a first down. The Ducks scored just two plays later to take a 27-19 lead.
“That was costly,” Stoops said. “You can’t make that mistake. That was disappointing, very disappointing … you can’t be careless when you play a team like Oregon.”
Not all of the penalties were so clear-cut. Stoops was visibly enraged when safety Adam Hall was called for a personal foul against LaMichael James in the second quarter, and the entire Arizona team rallied behind the perceived injustice.
“Our emotion was high,” defensive tackle Lolomana Mikaele said. “We just needed that throughout the whole game.”
For his part, Stoops chose not to elaborate on the call, saying that it was a “well-officiated game.”
Running back Nic Grigsby was not so diplomatic.
“We had 500 yards of offense, too,” Grigsby said. “But we can’t play against the refs and (Oregon), too.”
Penalties, of course, were not the only problem Arizona faced Friday. The Oregon offense found its rhythm in the second half, and pounded the Wildcats with a 19-play, 99-yard touchdown drive that lasted six minutes in the beginning of the third quarter.
“That was kind of frustrating,” Mikaele said. “But you can’t use that as an excuse. Always gotta get back the next play.”
Later, in the fourth quarter, the Arizona defense gave up a first down after forcing Oregon into a fourth-and-9 situation. Asked about that play, Stoops could hardly find the right words.
“That was disappointing, too,” Stoops said. “The fourth and (nine) was … oh, it was just bad.”
It was all part of a typical second half run for Oregon. Despite holding a 19-14 lead at halftime, Stoops knew that the brunt of the storm had yet to hit.
“They’ve been a second half team all along,” Stoops said. “I knew, shoot, you can slow them down, you’re not going to stop them.”
The matchup with Oregon may have gotten away from Arizona, but the team still has an important season finale next week against Arizona State. Currently mired in a three-game losing streak, Stoops knows the stakes are high.
“We’re in a three-game skid and certainly playing Arizona State is a great challenge,” Stoops said. “You want to beat Arizona State and we don’t want to go on a four-game losing streak into a bowl game.”
Mikaele agreed wholeheartedly with Stoops’ sentiments.
“That’s like one of our most important games,” Mikaele said. “It’s like our championship game.”
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