Arizona Wildcats Named 'Disappointment' in Debut Big 12 Season After Rough Start
The Arizona Wildcats are currently making their way through their first season in the Big 12, joining the conference ahead of the season with the dissolution of the Pac-12.
It has been a disappointing start to their tenure in the new conference, as they once had hopes of contending for a title and earning a berth in the 2024 College Football Playoff.
Now 3-3 with a 1-2 record in conference play and not looking like things will be getting better any time soon, those contention hopes are all but gone.
"Despite the presence of QB Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan," writes Sam Khan Jr. and Justin Williams of The Athletic, "the offense hasn’t been as explosive as expected."
McMillan has been the outlier for the program, totaling 742 yards on 42 catches with four touchdowns through the first six games of the year, ranking third in college football in yards, tied for 12th in catches, and tied for 37th in touchdowns.
Even with McMillan lighting up defenses weekly, the rest of the offense has failed to spark, resulting in many stalled drives and disappointing point totals.
The Wildcats have only been able to put 154 points on the board this year, an average of 25.7 per game, and 61 of those came in their week one contest against the New Mexico Lobos.
They have only been able to produce 2.08 points per drive, 13th in the Big 12, while converting third downs at only a 37.8 percent clip, 12th in the conference, and holding a red zone touchdown rate of 53.3 percent, also 12th in the conference.
A big issue that has plagued Arizona this year has been turnovers, specifically interceptions thrown by Fifita.
The sophomore has thrown nine interceptions through six games so far, tied for the second most in college football, while only accounting for eight touchdowns, all through the air.
The Wildcats have also lost three fumbles, giving them 12 turnovers for an average of two per game, while only forcing eight turnovers on defense, four interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
Losing the turnover battle by such a wide margin is a surefire way to have your hopes for contention dashed, regardless of how many players on your team will be playing on Sunday in the near future.
It is a prevailing issue for the program that they need to alleviate before the season as a whole gets completely out of hand, even if that means giving more reps to one of the five other quarterbacks on the roster.
To this point in the year, Arizona's season can only be viewed as a disappointment.
But with six games left, there is more than enough time to turn things around.
