When Unheralded Senior Is Successfully Incorporated the Arizona Wildcats Win
A surprising trend for the Arizona Wildcats has emerged in their victories this year and has mostly flown under the radar.
Surprisingly enough, the trend does not involve their superstar receiver, but it does involve Quali Conley, their unheralded senior running back.
The Wildcats won last night's game against the Houston Cougars, snapping a five-game losing streak, and marking their first win by 20 or more points since their Week 1 victory over the New Mexico Lobos.
Conley was a big part of both victories and has in fact been a big part of all four wins this year.
The senior has rushed for 50 or more yards in a game six times this season. In those six contests, Arizona has gone 4-2. The two losses came on a combined 11 points, their two closest losses of the year.
One-possession games are generally viewed as matchups that could have gone either way.
Of course, there are exceptions as there are for every rule, but in this case, those do not apply.
Everyone knows just how important establishing the running game is to winning football games, but that means more than just handing the ball to a running back 20 or more times and only getting one or two yards per attempt.
For comparison purposes, in the Wildcats' four wins and two one-possession losses, Conley rushed for a total of 550 yards and six touchdowns on 82 attempts, an average of 6.7 yards per carry.
In their other four losses this year, Conley ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 45 rushes, an average of 2.8 yards per attempt.
While it is much too late in the season to capitalize on this trend and turn things around, this is something that first-year Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan needs to pick up on and start to incorporate into the game plan down the stretch and for next season.
Especially if Noah Fifita continues to struggled compared to the success he had last year.
Of course, teams cannot make their entire offensive identity one-dimensional but to this point in the season, in all of their losses that have come by more than one possession, Arizona has done exactly that with their passing game.
Establishing the run is a key to success for winning football games.
When the Wildcats have done that with Conley this year, they have been much more successful than when they have not.
