Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Arizona Wildcats season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
– Arizona Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 5-7 overall, 4-5 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Kevin Sumlin, 2nd year, 5-7
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARIZONA OFFENSE
– The offense did its part. It led the Pac-12 total offense with the league’s best ground game and downfield passing attack, but it took a few weeks to get up to speed, and it couldn’t keep up with the defense giving up yards and points in chunks. Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone has to rebuild the receiving corps and the line, but …
– The backfield is all set. Khalil Tate wasn’t the devastating rushing machine he was in 2017, and he was a bit too inconsistent as a passer, but he pushed the ball down the field well and only threw eight picks. There’s young talent behind him, but 6-5, 222-pound new recruit Grant Gunnell and dangerous redshirt freshman Jamarye Joiner need tine and seasoning.
– Tate is still a dangerous runner, but junior JJ Taylor is the star of the ground attack. The 5-6, 184-pounder was a reliably tough workhorse with 255 carries for 1,434 yards and six scores. 206-pound junior Gary Brightwell was second on the team with 525 yards – he brings a little more power – and there are more option behind him.
– The receiving corps isn’t totally starting over, but it’s undergoing a redo. The top four targets are gone, making fifth-leading receiver Cedric Peterson the top returning starter after coming up with 18 catches.
Sophomore Cedric Berryhill has some flash, but like Peterson, he’s not exactly big and physical. That’s where 6-2 freshman Boobie Curry and 6-3 redshirt freshmen Tre Adams and Zach Williams come in. The tight ends aren’t totally ignored under Kevin Sumlin, but they’re underutilized – ask former Texas A&M Aggie Jace Sternberger.
– The O line that was such an issue for a time early on with injuries turned out to be a positive as the season went on. Senior Cody Creason is a sure thing somewhere on the inside at one of the guard spots, and 315-pound sophomore Donovan Laie is set at left tackle. There’s decent depth, helped by JUCO transfers Paiton Fears – a 6-5, 308-pound tackle – and 317-pound guard Josh Donovan from College Station, Texas.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARIZONA DEFENSE
– The defense went young with five sophomores among the top six tacklers and with nine of the top 13 tacklers underclassmen, but it wasn’t pretty. The Wildcats allowed 432 yards and 33 points per game, getting ripped apart late in the season allowing 144 points in the final three games. On the plus side, the D is loaded with veterans and should be better because …
– The linebacking corps should be terrific. 236-pound junior Colin Schooler is the all-star stat-sheet filler in the middle – coming up with a team-high 119 tackles with 21.5 tackles for loss – and with 230-pound junior Tony Fields on next to him after making 89 stops. The defense operates around these two, and 225-pound Anthony Pandy can fill in where needed.
– A bit more of a pass rush from the front four would be a plus. Two starters are back on the line with both of them on the outside. 258-pound junior JB Brown led the team with 3.5 sacks, and the combination of Jalen Harris and Kylan Wilborn return on the other side.
The interior is the concern, with 330-pound JUCO transfer Myles Tapusoa needing to be a rock right away on the nose, and without a whole lot of bulk around him.
– The linebackers are the stars of the defense, but there’s enough experience in the secondary to make a big improvement. Senior Jace Whittaker was a key loss with an arm injury, but he’s back at one corner spot. Junior Lorenzo Burns is versatile enough to play just about anywhere in the secondary after finishing fifth on the team with 39 stops.
Junior Scottie Young is the best of the deep group of safeties – making 38 tackles with a team-high three picks – and senior Tristan Cooper is a decent veteran hitter.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP ARIZONA PLAYERS
Best Arizona Offensive Player
QB Khalil Tate, Sr.
After setting the college football world on fire running for an electrifying 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2017, Tate was turned into more of a passer under Kevin Sumlin. The offense worked – it led the Pac-12 in total yards – but thanks to an ankle problem, Tate wasn’t quite as effective as expected.
He took off from time to time, but only finished with 224 rushing yards and two scores and completed just 56% of his passes. However, the downfield passing game was strong, and when he was on fire – like he was late in the season – the big plays were there. Now that he knows the offense and is healthy, look out.
2. RB JJ Taylor, Jr.
3. C Cody Creason, Sr.
4. OT Donovan Laie, Soph.
5. WR Cedric Peterson, Sr.
Best Arizona Defensive Player
LB Colin Schooler, Jr.
A stud as a freshman – making 93 tackles with two interceptions, taking one for a 66-yard touchdown – the 6-0, 236-pounder bulked up and took his game to another level as a sophomore.
The all-star the inside of the 4-2-5 defense led the team with 119 tackles, picked off two passes – like his freshman year, coming up with huge returns on both of them – and cranked up the plays behind the line in the new defense with 3.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss.
2. LB/DE Jalen Harris, Soph.
3. DE JB Brown, Jr.
4. LB Tony Fields, Jr.
5. S Scottie Young, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Arizona Offense
Don’t ignore the running game. The ground attack wasn’t quite what it could’ve or should’ve been thanks to a Khalil Tate ankle problem, but it still led the Pac-12 averaging over 202 yards per game – and that’s the mark. Arizona has big issues when it doesn’t crank up that many.
Getting to 200 yards doesn’t assure anything – losses last year to UCLA and Arizona State proved that – but the Wildcats went 1-5 when they didn’t get there. To take this across coaching regimes, Arizona is 1-15 over the last three seasons – the lone win was last year against Cal – when it doesn’t go over 202 yards.
Biggest Key To The Arizona Defense
At some point, the pass defense has to be better. To be fair, Arizona allowed fewer total yards through the air than it had since 2013, and the program hasn’t given up fewer than 3,000 yards since 2010. Even so, Arizona was dead last in the Pac-12 in pass defense.
The secondary picked off just seven passes on the year with three of them coming against Cal – see the Biggest Key To The Arizona Offense for why that mattered – and got hit for 250 yards or more eight times. Considering the defensive back experience returning, the Wildcats need to start being stronger in the pass happy Pac-12.
Key Player To A Successful Season
DT Myles Tapusoa, Jr.
335-pound tackle PJ Johnson left early for the NFL – getting picked up by the Detroit Lions – and Dereck Boles is gone off the nose. Now it’ll be up to the 6-1, 330-pound Tapusoa go come in from the JUCO ranks and be an instant factor in the middle.
There isn’t a whole lot of beef in the interior, and that’s where the new guy fits in. Now just a block inside, he can move enough to get behind the line, but it’ll be his job to gum up the works.
Key Game To The Arizona Season
at Arizona State, Nov. 29
At the end of Kevin Sumlin’s rocky first season, all he had to do was beat Arizona State at home, and all would’ve been fine. The Wildcats would’ve been 6-6 and off to a bowl, and they would’ve taken down their rival. But they lost a 41-40 shootout to make it two losses in a row and three of the last four in the series.
If all is right with the world, Arizona won’t need this to go bowling … but it might. The schedule isn’t easy, but more than that. Sumlin has to beat That Team Up North.
– Arizona Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Arizona Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: Opponents 31:44 – Arizona 28:16
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Opponents 94 – Arizona 51
– Interception Return Average: Arizona 28.3 (on 7 picks) – Opponents 8.0 (on 10 picks)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. ARIZONA WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
A tighter, sharper 2018 Arizona team goes bowling without breathing hard.
It should’ve beaten BYU in the home opener. It should’ve beaten USC. It should’ve taken out UCLA and Arizona State, too. In all, the Wildcats played five games decided by seven points or fewer and lost four of them – those loses to the Bruins and Sun Devils were by one point each.
But head coach Kevin Sumlin got the offense to work. As long as this year’s offensive line can field a consistent and healthy starting five, it should all work again thanks to the backfield of QB Khalil Tate and RB JJ Taylor.
Yeah, the receiving corps is a wee bit thin and could use a No. 1 target, but again, it’s a Kevin Sumlin offense – the passing game will show up.
The defense is another story.
After a rough year and a disastrous finish, the experience is in place to at least start to hold serve from time to time.
It’s been several years since the Arizona football program could consistently slow down the forward pass, but the secondary is promising. The linebackers in the 4-2-5 alignment are terrific, and the front four has the ends, but needs the beefy bodies on the interior to step up.
In all, it’s a good enough team to start winning more of the close games, so after going 5-7 …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 7
Arizona biffed the opener against BYU last year, and this time around it has to go to Hawaii.
It biffed the non-conference game against Houston – getting its doors blown off – and this year it has to play Texas Tech.
Worst of all, last year was when the Pac-12 was gettable with so much turnover and a down USC, and against, Arizona went 5-7.
However, this is a stronger, better team that should be able to beat teams like Hawaii and Texas Tech. It’ll beat Northern Arizona, and it’ll take out Oregon State. But it has to go on the road to deal with an improved Colorado, an improved USC, an improved Stanford, an improved Oregon, and Arizona State. Win two of those games, and a bowl game is in the picture. Win three, and it’s a lock.
The home dates in the Pac-12 against UCLA, Washington and Utah are no picnic, either.
It won’t be easy, but the offense will be potent enough to win enough shootouts to come up with a winning season. It just might not be quite the breakthrough year Wildcat fans are hoping for.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
