Behind Enemy Lines: Arizona vs. Oklahoma State
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Arizona wanted to get back on the right track after an underwhelming first season under Brent Brennan where the team finished 4-8 and missed a bowl game despite preseason high expectations.
Well, after changes were made to the coaching staff and the roster, Brennan seems to have the Wildcats moving in the right direction with the team starting the year with 3-straight impressive wins over Hawaii, Weber State and Kansas State.
However, the Wildcats hit a bump in the road and suffered their first loss of the season in an underwhelming 39-14 performance against No. 14 Iowa State.
On the first drive of the game, the Wildcats marched down the field looking for points but missed a 46-yard field goal by kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, which seemed to set the tone of the game against Iowa State.
Arizona, found itself in an early 22-0 hole against Iowa State due to missed opportunities, sloppy play and unforced errors. The Wildcats would score right before half making it a 15-point game.
Arizona’s defense had been one of the better units nationally coming into the game holding opponents to 8.7 PPG, which was tied for sixth in college football. But, the Wildcats’ defense clearly hit a pump in the road against the Cyclones.
In the first three games of the season, Arizona had done a good job of eliminating explosive plays with the only one that really stood out being the 75-yard touchdown run by KSU.
Through the first three quarters against Iowa State, the Wildcats allowed SIX explosive plays with all of them coming through the air against Arizona’s secondary.
Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht was able to go 14 of 20 passing for 243 yards with most of his yardage coming on those six plays.
Now, although Becht was able to get the job done through the air, he did most of his scoring damage on the ground scoring on the 1-yard line against the Wildcats’ defense three times.
Meanwhile, Arizona couldn’t get off the field when it needed it most as Iowa State went 6 of 12 on third down conversion. Plus, the Wildcats allowed the Cyclones to go 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions.
Everything seemed to spiral out of control for Arizona, which unlike the Cyclones struggled on third downs going an underwhelming 4 of 13 for the game.
Things didn’t go Arizona’s way against Iowa State and the Wildcats will have things to clean up and improve upon which led to the loss against the Cyclones.
Now, the Wildcats will start to prepare for their game against Oklahoma State (1-3,0-1), which is entering the game with interim head coach Doug Meacham. In Meacham’s first game leading the charge for the Cowboys they fell 45-27 against Baylor.
Arizona will be breaking out new jerseys with the Wildcats’ Sandstorm combination as the team looks to get back on track against Oklahoma State.
However, to get you ready for the game and an inside look at the Cowboys’ program, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI reached out to The Oklahoman football writer Scott Wright to give insight to OSU.
Inside Look Questions
Q: What has been the biggest difference with the coaching change?
Wright: “The biggest difference last week was the aggressiveness and added trick plays on offense. Doug Meacham opened up the playbook in his first game as interim coach. Beyond that, the program hasn't changed much, other than the removal of the tension created by all the speculation about Gundy's future.”
Q: Do you expect many changes defensively?
Wright: “If there's any change, it will be in simplification of schemes. Interim DC Clint Bowen had been working as an offensive analyst, so he got a crash course in the defense this week, and his No. 1 objective was to simplify it for himself and the players.”
Q: What was the key to the Cowboys’ success on offense against Baylor?
Wright: “Zane Flores is getting better and needs to continue improving at QB. That's the first key. The run game has started to show more life as well. But the wildcard in this will be the trick plays and creative usage of former quarterback Sam Jackson V in a variety of roles.”
- Q: Who is the player to watch on offense?
- Wright: “Based on all the things Sam Jackson V can do, he has to be the guy. Last week, he caught two passes, rushed twice and went 3 of 4 passing with a touchdown. He'll line up just about anywhere and do anything from that spot.”
- Q: Who is the player to watch on defense?
- Wright: “The player who has the biggest chance to make a major impact is edge rusher Wendell Gregory. Bryan McCoy Jr. needs to be reliable at middle linebacker, and the secondary has a lot of questions after some transfer portal departures. But Gregory can be a game-changer coming off the edge, which would really help out the secondary as well.”
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Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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