More Frustrating Coaching Decisions Highlight Inconsistencies With Arizona Wildcats
Brent Brennan is certainly adept at saying the right things, something that has been clear since he took over as head coach of the Arizona Wildcats.
Coming off their two straight losses, he was back at it again when talking about how Arizona had a good week of practice ahead of their matchup against Colorado and how he thought the team was poised for a bounce back.
What transpired on Saturday was anything but that.
The Wildcats were outclassed by the Buffaloes, getting dominated on both sides of the ball as their defense was shredded until Colorado mercifully took their foot off the gas, and the offense failed to move the ball consistently once again.
It's hard put all the blame on Brennan, but this group that is largely made up of the same players from last year's 10-win team, is struggling to produce the same way they did when led by previous head coach Jedd Fisch.
Inconsistency has been the theme surrounding Arizona this season.
The offense looks good in moments, but then fails to pick up first downs for an extended period of time. The defense will appear to be a shutdown unit, but then gives up big plays and points in bunches.
That was fully on display Saturday, and the inconsistency this time stemmed from the top.
Brennan decided the Wildcats were going to be aggressive out of the gate, electing to go with an onside kick to open the game so they could steal a possession.
It didn't work, and they got into an early hole because of it, but the message was clear that Arizona was ready to take some risks with their back against the wall.
That is until he decided it wasn't.
Michael Lev of The Arizona Daily Star highlighted two times when the Wildcats could have, and should have, been aggressive in certain situations when they instead opted to be passive.
The first came in the second quarter with Arizona down 14 points.
On a fourth-and-8 situation from Colorado's 34-yard line, Brennan sent out the field goal unit instead of attempting to move the chains so their drive could continue with them needing a touchdown to pull within on possession.
Kicker Tyler Loop missed it from 52 yards.
The next situation he highlighted was in the fourth quarter, and even though Arizona was largely out of the game with the score being 31-7, they still had their starting offense in when they faced a fourth-and-5 from their own 34-yard line.
Instead of going for it, the Wildcats punted.
It was a shockingly passive decision at that point in the contest with really nothing to lose, and when Lev asked Brennan about why he opted to punt, his response left something to be desired.
"He cited the offense's struggles and not wanting to give Colorado good field position," Lev wrote.
That is anything but the mentality they had coming into the opening kick.
Arizona has a lot to figure out regarding how they want to approach things for the remainder of the year, and a lot of that falls on Brennan.
