Arizona is clicking in the strangest ways
For those familiar with Arizona football, the Wildcats lose when their offense is off. Even when it’s on, Arizona’s inability to defend its own goal line may still result in a loss. However, in consecutive weeks for the first time since the 2011 season, Arizona has held an opponent to fewer than 20 points.
Following a 28-14 win over Texas Tech, Arizona defeated visiting UCLA 20-17 on Saturday.
The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) played inspired football in all three phases against the Bruins, with even special teams contributing in the strangest of ways.
A notoriously dysfunctional special teams unit not only connected on two made field goals, but also helped the Wildcats limit the Bruins to an average start of possession at their own 20-yard line. Meanwhile, Arizona’s average starting drive was on its own 29. What seems like a meaningless statistic on the surface, field position is really what this ‘game of inches’ is all about.
UCLA (1-4, 1-1 Pac-12) was coming off a 67-63 road win over Washington State. The Bruins, who did tally 217 rush yards and 445 total yards against Arizona, looked to continue their offensive hot streak by taking an early 7-0 lead. The Wildcats, on the other hand, appeared vulnerable without starters Khalil Tate and J.J. Taylor in the backfield.
To Defensive Coordinator Marcel Yates’ credit, the Wildcat defense awakened following UCLA’s early score, contained the Bruins offense the rest of the night, and benefitted from a missed field goal with less than two minutes remaining to produce a well-earned victory.
Meanwhile, the Wildcat offense under Grant Gunnell continued to sharpen as the game unfolded.
Gunnell, making his first career start at quarterback, completed 29-of-44 passes for 352 pass yards and a touchdown. More importantly, Gunnell led an Arizona offense that had zero turnovers.
The Wildcats were bogged down, somewhat, by 10 penalties. However, they overcame adversity and steadied in a way to keep this young program, under second year Coach Kevin Sumlin, moving in the right direction.
Linebackers Colin Schooler and Tony Fields combined for 23 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 pass breakups. Anthony Pandy, a hybrid linebacker and defensive end added 7 tackles and a sack. In fact, among Arizona’s 65 total tackles, more than half came from Arizona’s first two waves of defense.
Next up, Arizona will travel to Boulder to face Colorado in a first-place showdown between South Division rivals. The Buffs (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) will be coming off a bye week after defeating Arizona State 34-31 in Tempe. The Wildcats haven’t left Arizona Stadium since a season opening loss at Hawaii way back on August 24.
It’ll be interesting to see if Arizona’s newfound defense travels well.
The old adage of ‘defense travels’ will certainly be put to the test and may be a requirement to win at Colorado. The Buffs will have plenty of game film on Gunnell to make the young quarterback’s life more difficult in the pocket. Of course, that only matters if Tate remains sidelined with an undisclosed “lower body injury.”
With Tate, Arizona’s ground attack is the team’s strength, using the running game to open up the deep passing game. With Gunnell, Arizona’s offense features a pure pocket passer with the ability to make plays with his legs when necessary. Colorado will counter with its own stout defense that plays physical on the interior and showcases speed and athleticism in the secondary. The Buffs also feature a dynamic quarterback and an offensive tendency to use the ground game to wear down opposing defenses.
A few weeks ago, few considered Arizona at Colorado a Pac-12 showcase game. The unpredictability of college football is what makes the sport great, yet equally infuriating. For now, Arizona and Colorado are riding the high that comes with winning. However, that will change for one of these two schools as the Pac-12 race is beginning to heat up.
Interestingly, there is no truly dominant team in the Pac-12 South. Perhaps Arizona will emerge as the frontrunner. If they do, it’ll because they continue to win games in the strangest of ways, with defense making the headlines.
