Three Keys to Success for Arizona Wildcats vs. Colorado Buffaloes
The Arizona Wildcats face a critical moment in their season when they host the Colorado Buffaloes at 1 p.m. mountain on Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
The Wildcats (3-3, 1-2 in Big 12) have an outside chance of continuing to compete for a berth in the Big 12 title game. But, with two losses already, their most realistic path is to win out and get a little help from the teams in front of them. Arizona won its final seven games to end last season. So, it’s possible, right?
Colorado (4-2, 2-1) is better positioned at the moment. With just one league loss — which came on Saturday against Kansas State — the Buffaloes can still play their way into the championship game. Colorado, like Arizona, would need help, but not nearly as much help as the Wildcats need right now.
Here are three keys to success for the Wildcats as they face the Cougars.
Find a Groove on Offense
Everything offensive looked disjoined for Arizona after its first scoring drive. The running game was rendered inert. The offensive line had difficulty protecting quarterback Noah Fifita all afternoon. He ended up turning the ball over four times, with three interceptions and a fumble. Two of them occurred early in the third quarter and effectively put the game out of reach.
And, while wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig had a solid game, it’s becoming clear that finding that second option for Tetairoa McMillan is going to be more about week-to-week matchups than someone consistently getting it done.
The offense has been a mess, going all the way back to the victory over Northern Arizona in Week 2. Arizona needs to find what it does well and do it, even if it means putting all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak.
Contain the Dynamic Duo
Arizona has two issues to deal with defensively — Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver Travis Hunter.
Sanders is highly accurate and mobile. He’s in an offense that keeps him from making a few mistakes. When he does make those mistakes it’s usually because he’s under duress. But, there are times he does his best work under that same duress. So containing him is difficult.
Containing Hunter, college football’s two-way star, might be downright impossible. He plays nearly every snap and he’s as capable a wide receiver as he is a cornerback. He can go deep and he has no problem going over the middle. It’s worth noting that he missed some time against K-State with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. So that’s worth tracking during the week.
But Arizona needs a plan for both players and it needs to be air-tight.
Unleash Manu
The only good thing about Manu being ejected in the first quarter for targeting on Saturday against BYU is that he won’t miss this week’s game. Had he been ejected in the second half he would miss the first half of Saturday’s game.
Wildcat fans knew Manu was the key to their defense. Arizona’s performance without him against the Cougars only reinforced that. He not only needs to be on the field on Saturday, but with injuries all over the unit, he’ll need to play at a higher level. That’s a lot to put on one player. But, he’s the one defender for Arizona capable of doing it.
