Arizona Wildcats vs. West Virginia Predictions: Insider Picks and Analysis
Saturday isn’t just the first meeting in Big 12 action for the Arizona Wildcats and the West Virginia Mountaineers — it’s their first meeting in history.
The Wildcats (3-4. 1-3 in Big 12) and the Mountaineers (3-4, 2-2) have never met on the football field. In fact, West Virginia has only made two trips to the state of Arizona, both to face Arizona State.
So rare air, indeed, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. mountain at Arizona Stadium. The game is set for FS1.
The season-ending injury list got longer this week for Arizona, as the Wildcats lost linebacker Jacob Manu and offensive lineman Rhino Tapa'atoutai.
While the natives are already a bit restless in Tucson, the ones in Morgantown are ready to run coach Neal Brown out of town now after a sixth season in which it appears WVU won’t challenge for a Big 12 title.
Arizona hopes to get back to the end zone more often. In the past six games, the Wildcats have scored 87 points for an average of 14.5 points per contest. In each of their last four games their point total has declined. The team that dropped 61 points on New Mexico in the opener is a thing of the past.
Here are the staff predictions for Saturday’s game.
Zac Blackerby, Staff Writer
Arizona 28, West Virginia 21
To me, this game is more about the perception of West Virginia than Arizona. The Mountaineers seem to have distractions all over the place with questions around their head coach. Quarterback Noah Fifita takes better care of the football and gets a win.
Matthew Postins, Staff Writer
Arizona 31, West Virginia 21
One of the perils of an expanded Big 12 is the travel. Some schools are going to end up with coast-to-coast trips (or as close to it as one can get when there isn’t a California school). Arizona gets a taste of that next week when it goes to UCF. This week, the Mountaineers get a taste of it when they go to Tucson. I have a rule — don’t take a team when it has to travel three time zones. That’s what WVU is doing, since Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings time and is currently on the same clock as California.
Christian Rauh, Staff Writer
Arizona 28, West Virginia 27
This seems like a must-win for Arizona. It needs to have a winning record over the next five games just to become bowl-eligible. The Wildcats will snap their three-game losing streak before taking the road to UCF. Fifita will need to protect the football, as he has recorded six of his 10 interceptions in the month of October. The easiest way to find production will be to find wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan early and often. Over the last two losses, the future first-round pick was targeted less than 10 times. That will need to improve if they hope to get back in the win column.
Dylan Sanders, Staff Writer
West Virginia 24, Arizona 17
It's a matchup of teams that are desperate for a win. WVU hasn’t picked up a victory in its last two matchups, and the Wildcats haven’t in their last three matchups. That will change for one squad on Saturday. Neither team is playing well, but the Mountaineers have kept games a bit closer over the last few weeks. Arizona desperately needs both sides to wake up. West Virginia seems to be playing with a bit more heart right now, so they get the slight edge.
Brad Wakai, Publisher
Arizona 28, West Virginia 24
It's hard to have faith in anything Arizona is doing on both sides of the ball after losing three straight, getting decimated by injuries and looking awful on offense. However, this feels like a time they can strike against a West Virginia team going on the road for the first time in two weeks after disappointing losses with either a backup quarterback or an injured starter. The Wildcats figure things out a bit on offense and squeak by to get one game closer to bowl eligibility.
