Arizona Offensive Players to Watch vs. No. 3 Oregon
It's weird to think about an Arizona Wildcats offense being the worst in the Pac-12. From the days of Ka'Deem Carey and Anu Solomon to Khalil Tate and JJ Taylor, the Ducks have always had their hands full with playmakers all over the field for Arizona.
This year? Points have been very hard to come by for Jedd Fisch's team. The Wildcats have yet to hit the 20-point mark three games into the season, and that may not happen against the Ducks either.
However, there are still some players on the offense that can do some damage. Let's jump into the names to know for Arizona.
1. Stanley Berryhill III - Wide Receiver
Stanley Berryhill III has given the Wildcats' some much-needed juice when he has the ball in his hands. He's caught 28 passes already, good for the fourth-most in the country, good for 263 yards and a touchdown. It's clear the quarterbacks have confidence in him, as 35% of the Wildcats' completions have been to him.
Berryhill is a very versatile player that can make a defensive coordinator go nuts. The Wildcats use him on jet sweeps, in the run game, and he's also a stellar returner. The only concern is that three different quarterbacks have thrown him passes, so the chemistry between all the quarterbacks with Berryhill could be difficult to assess.
If the Ducks secondary isn't focused, Berryhill can fly by them. The Wildcats don't always use him as a guy to run go routes, but if he catches the ball in space, he can and will make defenders miss. The 190-pound receiver even bounced off a few tacklers for a touchdown against San Diego State.
2. Tayvian Cunningham - Wide Receiver
Tayvian Cunningham showed strides of being a solid No. 2 receiver and was a popular pick by many local media members and even some of his coaches to have a breakout season in 2021. He showed out in fall camp and looked primed to have a great year in 2020.
The senior from Vacaville, Calif., had five catches for 110 yards and a touchdown in the Wildcats' near upset against USC last year, but follow that with just four catches for 29 yards in the remaining three games. So far this year, he's been a big playmaker, but he needs more touches.
Cunningham has a deep bag of moves and jukes that he can unleash at will, and you may see a few highlight-reel catches from him as well. With the right offensive game plan, he could be a pain in the neck for the Ducks defense.
3. Whoever Starts at Quarterback
Get a load of this. Arizona has listed THREE quarterbacks as co-starters ahead of the game against Oregon this weekend.
The tough thing is that each quarterback has had their moments of prominence and their moments of inadequacy. It looked as if Gunner Cruz would be the guy after starting the BYU game and throwing for 336 yards.
Then, the quarterback situation became very murky when Cruz struggled against San Diego State and was replaced by Will Plummer, who was not a spark plug either. In last weekend's bummer against Northern Arizona, Plummer struggled again throwing two interceptions, and Jordan McCloud followed him with a solid showing in limited action.
Whoever steps in simply needs to produce and right the ship for Arizona's offense. The Wildcats run game is the ninth-worst in the country at 79.3 rushing yards per game, so the offense must be jumpstarted by throwing the ball down the field and getting the ball into the hands of playmakers like Berryhill, Cunningham, and Boobie Curry.
Another horrific stat is that Arizona is the worst team in the country through the first three weeks at converting on third downs, according to NCAA.com. The Wildcats have converted nine third downs on 45 attempts, which comes out to 20%. No need to reread that. That number's accurate.
It's difficult to say that the offense needs a makeover, but almost nothing is working for the Wildcats. They need to find a consistent quarterback who can churn up yards and put points on the board, or else their historic losing streak could overstay its welcome in Tucson.
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