To learn more about Colorado's upcoming opponent, CUSportsNation.com chatted with GOAZCATS.com senior editor Matt Moreno, who breaks down the Wildcats ahead of Friday's Pac-12 South showdown.
1. Arizona lost two straight and then blew out Oregon. Do you just expect the unexpected when it comes to the Wildcats' 2018 season?
I expect the unexpected when it comes to Arizona in general. That game against Oregon was almost one of those easy ones to call. The trend for as long as I have been covering the team, and as any Arizona fan will tell you, is there is always that one game each season that the Wildcats beat a ranked team for no real reason whatsoever. It never makes sense, but you can always seem to sense it’s coming even if deep down you really don’t believe it will.
Last week’s game was that one for Arizona. Everything clicked. The defense played like it hasn’t all season long. Third downs, which have been the Achilles’ heel for this team, presented no issue at all with players who struggle on third down made plays like we haven’t seen all season. The offense found a balance it hasn’t been able to find many times this season and even the special teams units had success.
Even against bad teams all the elements haven’t come together like they did against Oregon and there was no real reason to explain why. The turnaround from what the team looked like against Utah two weeks prior to what it looked like Saturday night was remarkable, but completely believable when you know what the trends have been with Arizona football.
2. We're two-thirds through this 2018 season. How's the Kevin Sumlin/Khalil Tate-led offense faring? Would this be a better team if Tate was running more?
The offense is finally starting to figure out what works and that has started to show up over the last couple weeks. It took Tate heading to the bench for a week as the staff decided to rest him and his injured ankle, but that time away during the week Arizona played UCLA showed some glimpses of what the offense could be when broken down to the key components. Rhett Rodriguez started that game against the Bruins and he is nowhere near as athletic or naturally gifted, but he had the offense moving better than Tate had in the weeks before that.
Tate looked a lot more refined last week and it was clear that break he was given to rest his ankle was just as much mental as it was physical. He was taking less risks and while the passing numbers weren’t off the charts he did throw three touchdowns. Oregon showed that it was still concerned about the run and even that helps the offense, but it would definitely be a different story if he actually was still dedicated to running the ball. It feels like those days are gone, but having that running element from the quarterback feels like it would have helped the offense solve its issues much earlier than it has.
The thing that has shifted lately with the offense is the ground game from the running backs. JJ Taylor is now leading all Power Five players in all-purpose yards and is coming off a 212-yard performance against the Ducks. More than anything Tate is doing right now Taylor and the running back group has started to figure things out and that makes up for a lot of what Tate is not doing with his legs this season.
3. Other than Tate not being used as a runner much, what has surprised you about Arizona's season thus far?
How up and down the defense has been is something that has come as a bit of a surprise. It’s always hard to truly tell what a team will look like through spring ball and camp, but the feeling for the entire offseason was that Arizona’s defense would be improved. Maybe there wouldn’t be a total turnaround, but there was an expectation that the defense would be a lot better than it was a year ago when it was near the bottom of the conference in a lot of categories.
It’s the third season under defensive coordinator Marcel Yates, who was a holdover from the previous staff. He mentioned during training camp that he had high expectations of himself this season and admitted that the third year is when he expects his defense to make a big jump. It simply hasn’t happened this season as the defense has had many of its same issues as in other years and simply hasn’t improved like it felt it could earlier in the year.
Last week’s game was a step in the right direction, but if you take that game out of the equation there has been a lot of disappointment in that side of the ball for a lot of the season.
4. What should Colorado fans know about Arizona's defense?
Having said everything I said above, one area the defense has started to really turn a corner over the last several games is in its ability to create turnovers. In the win over Oregon the team had a couple forced fumbles and an interception. There has been a different aggressiveness as the season has gone on that has helped make up for a lot of what the group lacks. The tough part for Arizona is that it has needed to create those turnovers to stay in games and that can be difficult to sustain over the course of a season.
Two players who have really shined this season are linebacker Colin Schooler and defensive lineman PJ Johnson. Schooler leads the team in tackles and leads the league in tackles for loss. He is the heart of Arizona’s defense and its best player. He has been giving teams fits this year and teams are going to have to start game planning around him because he has been the most consistent piece of the defense this year. Johnson is a newcomer who came to Arizona from the junior college ranks after beginning his career at Sacramento State.
Johnson is Arizona’s biggest defensive lineman, but he’s so athletic – he can dunk a basketball even at 6-foot-5 and over 330 pounds – the coaching staff has been able to move him around and take advantage of that athleticism. He has demanded a lot of double teams this season meaning other players are getting opportunities to make plays. He forced one of the fumbles against the Ducks last week and has become an emotional leader for the team.
5. What's your score prediction and why?
This Arizona team can be pretty emotional considering there are so many young players at some key spots. I think the win against Oregon showed them what they can be and I think that carries over into this Friday’s game. The Tate who showed up last week is not the Tate everyone came to know last year, but he’s still good enough to limit the mistakes and move the offense down the field. The defense found something with stopping third-down plays and that is key. I think the team comes a bit down to earth this week, but I still think has enough in the tank to get another win.
I’m going with Arizona 35-31 for Friday night’s game as the Wildcats inch closer to becoming bowl eligible which was pretty unthinkable just a couple weeks ago.
1. Arizona lost two straight and then blew out Oregon. Do you just expect the unexpected when it comes to the Wildcats' 2018 season?
I expect the unexpected when it comes to Arizona in general. That game against Oregon was almost one of those easy ones to call. The trend for as long as I have been covering the team, and as any Arizona fan will tell you, is there is always that one game each season that the Wildcats beat a ranked team for no real reason whatsoever. It never makes sense, but you can always seem to sense it’s coming even if deep down you really don’t believe it will.
Last week’s game was that one for Arizona. Everything clicked. The defense played like it hasn’t all season long. Third downs, which have been the Achilles’ heel for this team, presented no issue at all with players who struggle on third down made plays like we haven’t seen all season. The offense found a balance it hasn’t been able to find many times this season and even the special teams units had success.
Even against bad teams all the elements haven’t come together like they did against Oregon and there was no real reason to explain why. The turnaround from what the team looked like against Utah two weeks prior to what it looked like Saturday night was remarkable, but completely believable when you know what the trends have been with Arizona football.
2. We're two-thirds through this 2018 season. How's the Kevin Sumlin/Khalil Tate-led offense faring? Would this be a better team if Tate was running more?
The offense is finally starting to figure out what works and that has started to show up over the last couple weeks. It took Tate heading to the bench for a week as the staff decided to rest him and his injured ankle, but that time away during the week Arizona played UCLA showed some glimpses of what the offense could be when broken down to the key components. Rhett Rodriguez started that game against the Bruins and he is nowhere near as athletic or naturally gifted, but he had the offense moving better than Tate had in the weeks before that.
Tate looked a lot more refined last week and it was clear that break he was given to rest his ankle was just as much mental as it was physical. He was taking less risks and while the passing numbers weren’t off the charts he did throw three touchdowns. Oregon showed that it was still concerned about the run and even that helps the offense, but it would definitely be a different story if he actually was still dedicated to running the ball. It feels like those days are gone, but having that running element from the quarterback feels like it would have helped the offense solve its issues much earlier than it has.
The thing that has shifted lately with the offense is the ground game from the running backs. JJ Taylor is now leading all Power Five players in all-purpose yards and is coming off a 212-yard performance against the Ducks. More than anything Tate is doing right now Taylor and the running back group has started to figure things out and that makes up for a lot of what Tate is not doing with his legs this season.
3. Other than Tate not being used as a runner much, what has surprised you about Arizona's season thus far?
How up and down the defense has been is something that has come as a bit of a surprise. It’s always hard to truly tell what a team will look like through spring ball and camp, but the feeling for the entire offseason was that Arizona’s defense would be improved. Maybe there wouldn’t be a total turnaround, but there was an expectation that the defense would be a lot better than it was a year ago when it was near the bottom of the conference in a lot of categories.
It’s the third season under defensive coordinator Marcel Yates, who was a holdover from the previous staff. He mentioned during training camp that he had high expectations of himself this season and admitted that the third year is when he expects his defense to make a big jump. It simply hasn’t happened this season as the defense has had many of its same issues as in other years and simply hasn’t improved like it felt it could earlier in the year.
Last week’s game was a step in the right direction, but if you take that game out of the equation there has been a lot of disappointment in that side of the ball for a lot of the season.
4. What should Colorado fans know about Arizona's defense?
Having said everything I said above, one area the defense has started to really turn a corner over the last several games is in its ability to create turnovers. In the win over Oregon the team had a couple forced fumbles and an interception. There has been a different aggressiveness as the season has gone on that has helped make up for a lot of what the group lacks. The tough part for Arizona is that it has needed to create those turnovers to stay in games and that can be difficult to sustain over the course of a season.
Two players who have really shined this season are linebacker Colin Schooler and defensive lineman PJ Johnson. Schooler leads the team in tackles and leads the league in tackles for loss. He is the heart of Arizona’s defense and its best player. He has been giving teams fits this year and teams are going to have to start game planning around him because he has been the most consistent piece of the defense this year. Johnson is a newcomer who came to Arizona from the junior college ranks after beginning his career at Sacramento State.
Johnson is Arizona’s biggest defensive lineman, but he’s so athletic – he can dunk a basketball even at 6-foot-5 and over 330 pounds – the coaching staff has been able to move him around and take advantage of that athleticism. He has demanded a lot of double teams this season meaning other players are getting opportunities to make plays. He forced one of the fumbles against the Ducks last week and has become an emotional leader for the team.
5. What's your score prediction and why?
This Arizona team can be pretty emotional considering there are so many young players at some key spots. I think the win against Oregon showed them what they can be and I think that carries over into this Friday’s game. The Tate who showed up last week is not the Tate everyone came to know last year, but he’s still good enough to limit the mistakes and move the offense down the field. The defense found something with stopping third-down plays and that is key. I think the team comes a bit down to earth this week, but I still think has enough in the tank to get another win.
I’m going with Arizona 35-31 for Friday night’s game as the Wildcats inch closer to becoming bowl eligible which was pretty unthinkable just a couple weeks ago.
