Brent Brennan Defers to Medical Staff When Discussing Status of Arizona's Injuries
Arizona was able to enjoy their soft early-season schedule by taking care of business against New Mexico in Week 1 and Northern Arizona in the following contest.
What has people a bit concerned about the Wildcats, though, is they looked like two completely different teams in both games.
Against New Mexico, Arizona looked like offensive juggernauts when they put up 61 points and their star duo of quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan terrorized the defensive secondary of the Lobos, but against their FCS-level opponents, their passing attack was stifled.
Which version is going to show up on Friday in their huge matchup against Kansas State?
Well, that likely will be determined by who is available across the offensive line for the Wildcats.
Arizona went into Week 2 down some members in the trenches, losing their starting left tackle Rhino Tapa'atoutai to an apparent knee injury against New Mexico that forced them to utilize freshman Matthew Lado on the right end of the line.
Redshirt sophomore Grayson Stovall had to fill in at center, getting his first-ever collegiate game action.
When it comes to the availability of the injured offensive lineman, head coach Brent Brennan didn't give much of an update if they will be active on Friday or not, instead deferring to the medical staff.
"Those are always decisions made by our medical staff, not by me. If they tell me that so and so can go, then so and so can go. Coaches will never make those decisions. That's all medical people, doctors and training," he said per Jason Scheer of 247Sports.
If Arizona is without their two starters again, Brennan is confident they will perform much better.
"Like I mentioned the other night, there was some good stuff, too, done by that group ... There's a couple simple mistakes here that we can clean up easily, which we've already worked on starting yesterday ... After watching the film, I think we were encouraged, because there was some better stuff that we were able to get done that we realized in game," he added.
Injuries will continue to be something that is discussed in the lead up to this game, but it's clear their stars need to step up in a greater way than they did last Saturday.
Fifita was running for his life early almost every drop back, but Arizona's coaching staff has to find a way to get the ball into the hands of McMillan if that is the case on Friday.
This is a massive matchup between two top 25 teams that could go a long way in determining the chances that Arizona achieves their goal of playing in the College Football Playoff.
BRAD WAKAI