What Arizona Will Be Watching During Week 9 Bye
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Arizona is coming off another staggering loss, this time a walk-off field goal on the road at Houston, falling 31-28. Now, Brent Brennan has a chance to pull the team together in Tucson this week during the bye and figure out how to get over the hump.
The Wildcats have matched their win total from a season ago, but have since dropped two straight to BYU and Houston, who have a combined one loss this season. Arizona has led, trailed by two scores, battled back, and ultimately fallen at the buzzer in both games.
It's a haunting cycle that keeps repeating itself. Brennan is now just 1-7 in road games since taking over coaching duties last season, and next week will be another test, traveling to Colorado.
This is a big week for the Wildcats, and they won't even be playing on Saturday. The bye week provides both sides of the ball a chance to sort out some issues.
The run game has lacked consistency, despite having three capable backs. The defense has been strong this season, but it just got ripped by air and by ground this past week.
Arizona's hopes to shock the world and find itself in the thick of the Big 12 race might be lost, but there is still hope to land in a decent bowl game. After next week's trip to Colorado, Arizona will host Kansas, travel to Cincinnati, host Baylor, and finish the season in Tempe against Arizona State.
None are easy games, but such is life in the Big 12. The Wildcats need to win two more to qualify for a bowl.
While Arizona's focus should be internal this week, here's three games to keep an eye on this week.
Colorado at Utah
The Buffaloes are 3-4 coming off their bye week, and are the next team Arizona will see. It's been a struggle for Deion Sanders this season without his son and a Heisman Trophy winner on the roster, but they managed to pull off a surprising upset last time out against Iowa State.
A big thing for Arizona to watch will be Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter, who has been a big part of the running game this season in Boulder. The Wildcats have seen a few dual-threat quarterbacks this year, most recently BYU's Bear Bachmeier, but Salter can also rely on a wealth of experience.
Arizona could have an edge in the trenches in their matchup, and Utah will also have a massive edge in that area this week. Since the Arizona rushing attack has struggled, the Utes could provide a road map for the running backs in Tucson to gear up and turn things around in Boulder.
Baylor at No. 21 Cincinnati
Both teams are future matchups for the Wildcats this season, and both have aggressive passing attacks. The result of this game doesn't impact the Wildcats all that much, but if Cincinatti is still ranked in a few weeks when Arizona visits, that will be another opportunity for Brennan to not only get a road win, but make a statement in the conference.
Brendan Sorsby and Sawyer Robertson are both big arm quarterbacks with the ability to push the ball down the field. Arizona's pass defense has been stellar this season and among the nation's best in limiting yardage and creating turnovers.
Last week could be an outlier, but Houston's Conner Weigman tossed three touchdown passes. The UA defense had only allowed one all season prior to that. Baylor and Cincinnati could both open the flood gates and take shots and make Arizona try to keep up.
Noah Fifita is more than capable of putting up big numbers, but the offense has yet to throw together a complete performance against a competitive team.
Baylor might be more gettable for the Wildcats. They are the second-worst defense in the Big 12 allowing 31.4 points per game this season and are in the bottom half of the conference defending the run, which bodes well for Ismail Mahdi and Kedrick Reescano.
For Arizona, it's another scouting game where they should be keeping tabs on how two of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12 perform.
Houston at No. 24 Arizona State
Some fans might just hate-watch this, given it's Arizona's rival with all of the attention and the team that just dropped the Wildcats last week. However, there are some things to watch when looking at the Sun Devils and forecasting the Territorial Cup.
Notably, Arizona State's offensive line is beat up. The Sun Devils lost their starting center Ben Coleman for the season after their loss at Utah, and recently paired a former walk-on at center with a true freshman at left guard.
Obviously, that combination still lead to a win over Texas Tech last week, but it is an area the Wildcats could hone in on in November. UA only has 14 sacks this season, but ASU has given up 21 sacks, the most in the Big 12.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt is also dealing with a foot injury, which could heal with time, but given how much the Sun Devils depend on his running ability to extend plays, there could be opportunities to keep the Sun Devils behind the chains.
Arizona's pass defense will also get its biggest test of the year against Jordyn Tyson, who has shredded defenses this season despite not having a second receiver in the offense over 250 yards.
Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith, and Dalton Johnson will be a big part of the game plan to bracket Tyson and also buy the Arizona pass rush enough time to impact Leavitt. It's a tall task, but it's the clear path to a win in the Territorial Cup.
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Logan Brown is an alumnus of the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently works as a General College Sports Reporter On SI. Logan has an extensive background in writing and has contributed to Cronkite Sports, PHNX Sports, and Motion Graphics.
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