Arizona Is Weird, And Expect a Shootout

The weirdest thing about Arizona's season so far is that the Wildcats have a Pac-12 leading nine interceptions, yet have just four sacks, which is half as many as anybody else in the league.

On offense, Arizona is one of just two teams in the league averaging more than 500 yards per game, yet it is doing that with almost perfect run-pass balance -- 297 passing yards and 255 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats have five players averaging at least 7.0 yards per carry, and it has runs of 94 and 84 yards already this year.

And yet this team lost to Hawaii to open the year and was held to 20 points in a three-point win over UCLA last week.

I'm tempted to make a wisecrack at Kevin Sumlin's expense here, but I've done enough of that over the years. What's obvious is that Arizona is a "big play" kind of team, on offense and defense, and that Colorado's offense is going to have to put up some numbers this week.

Most likely.

The good thing is, winning shootouts is more or less what Colorado is built for, whether Mel Tucker likes it or not. I'm sure he'd rather line up and pound away at Arizona's front seven with a power running game, but that would be playing right into the Wildcats' paws. I don't think Colorado or anyone else this year really wants to get into a running contest with Arizona this year. Their ground game is just too salty.

What Colorado probably can do is air it out against an Arizona defensive front that hasn't been very disruptive this year. That's great news for Steven Montez, who even as a senior tends to get happy feet in the pocket when he's under pressure. A nice, leisurely afternoon for him back there and Colorado can look like a world-beater -- he's just gotta watch out for those DBs.

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