With the Louisville vs USC (next Wednesday) and Arizona vs Oklahoma (next Thursday) game coming , I wanted to make this post to look back into the October 7 regular season game between Arizona vs USC and how the trajectory of both teams has changed since.

USC coming into Oct 7

• 5-0 perfect regular season record ranked number 9 on the AP poll. Top 3 in conference.
• Returning Heisman QB Caleb Williams and poached Arizona’s best WR (Dorian Singer), best CB (Christian Roland-Wallace) and arguably one of the better Arizona DL (Kyon Barrs).
• 2022 record is 8-1 in conference and 11-3 overall record ranked number 12 on the AP poll. Looking for revenge in the Utah championship game and a CFB playoff spot.
• A historically strong CFB school with insane depth and talented players at all positions and Head Coach Lincoln Riley with 6 years’ experience leading at 2 powerhouse CFB schools.

Arizona coming into Oct 7

• 3-2 regular season records (2 lost to Washington and Mississippi State). Bottom 3 of the conference.
• Redshirt freshman Noah Fifita QB and sophomore Running Back Jonah Coleman with their career third start. Both starters got injured.
• 2022 Record is 3-6 in conference and 5-7 overall record. Looking for a 7 win overall record season) and their first bowl game in years.
• A historically weak CFB school that often finishes in the bottom of the conference (1-11 2 years ago) with a young 2022 recruiting class.
• Young head coach Jedds Fisch in his first HC position (that wasn’t seen as a good hire by their own fanbase!), 2 years in.

So, what is so important at this October 7 game that I must waste your time to read this? Comparing look-wise, it’s clear that the Arizona Wildcats have no hope to compete against such a strong team, right?

Let’s look at what happens during the game.

• Arizona completely shutout Caleb Williams in the first quarter. It’s, in fact, the first time USC has ever trailed all season and that’s to a defense that last year was ranked No. 124 nationally. That defense is now ranked No.36 following the conclusion of the season which is right up there with Oregon State (35).
• USC Offense possesses the ball only 24:21 minutes with 300 total yards. Returning Heisman QB Caleb Williams only completed 56.57% of his passes with zero interception with one pass and three rushing touchdowns.
• Arizona Offense possesses the ball over 35:39 minutes with 500 total yards. Freshman QB Noah Fifita completed 87.5% of his passes with one interception and 5 passing touchdowns.

Yes, I understand game was a loss, but I expected to be dominated by such a strong team even if it’s their down game and last year game at Tucson demonstrate just that. There's something different with this USC team and it doesn't look good. Whatever desert Pac-12 Voodoo happened that night, however, seriously changed the trajectory of the two teams.

USC since then

• 1-5 regular season record since Oct 7 (with 4 AP top 25 losses) and unranked. Overall Record is 7-5.
• Caleb Williams is out of the Heisman QB and looking to the NFL draft.
• Bowl-eligble USC playing against Louisville.

Arizona since then

• 6-0 regular season record since Oct 7 (with 4 AP Top 25 wins) and ranked 14 on the AP poll. Overall Record is 9-3. Top 3 of the conference.
• Redshirt freshman Noah Fifita QB is Pac-12 Freshman of the year and become the new Arizona QB starter.
• No. 14 Arizona playing against No.12 Oklahoma University in the Alamo Bowl. First Bowl game since 2017.

Also, another crazy thing to think about: Arizona is USC’s best win in the 2023 regular season. If you have said that to me or any USC and Arizona fan starting the season, we all would have thought you are crazy.

Some final thoughts:

Is that a proper send-off to a school that started the demise of the Pac-12 conference? I like to believe so. When I walked back to my place from all of Zona fans’ collective blue balls on that faithful night after the game, was I disappointed? Yes a little bit sure but somewhere deep inside, I thought this team got something special.

BTFD and enjoy this Complimentary Fisch food.

The FISCH Bowl (Fisch Aquarium) is getting kind of full!

Thanks to u/CLCUBING for these graphic.

Sidenote: I couldn't figure out bulleted lists within table so it looks a little bit weird, sorry!