The Star presents five storylines of interest as the Arizona Wildcats face Mississippi State in the home opener Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. The game will air on Fox Sports 1.
How Jedd Fisch won over a skeptic — and what Arizona will face vs. Mississippi State
Petros Papadakis has been affiliated with the Pac-12 for more than 25 years. He played at USC from 1997-2000 before joining Fox Sports as an analyst in 2004.
Papadakis’ first job was to call the Pac-10 Game of the Week on Fox Sports Net. He will serve as the analyst for the Mississippi State-Arizona game Saturday night on FS1.
When the UA hired Jedd Fisch, Papadakis was among many skeptical of the move. Aside from an interim stint at UCLA, Fisch had no prior head-coaching experience. He was best known as an offensive coordinator and QB coach. Could a play-caller run a program?
Fisch has changed a lot of minds since he arrived in December 2020 – including Papadakis’. Fisch and his staff have recruited at an elite level. The Wildcats appear to be on an upward trajectory after a season-opening win at San Diego State.
In a phone interview with the Star, Papadakis discussed Fisch’s fruitful first steps, what it’s like to face Mike Leach and the challenges confronting Arizona on Saturday. The conversation has been lightly edited.
How has Fisch won you over?
A: “The eye-opening thing was the Servite guys. (Arizona landed four recruits from Servite High School in Anaheim, California, including receiver Tetairoa McMillan and quarterback Noah Fifita.) I knew those kids. I did some of their games during the COVID season. It was the spring, California played and I didn't have anything to do.
“So I saw Fifita and McMillan up close. And when they started flirting with Arizona, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe Jedd Fisch has got something going.’
“They’ve plugged some other holes, and then Jayden (de Laura). I've done a bunch of his games. He's a pretty magical player. He's mistake prone too, but Arizona needs some juice on the field. He certainly provides that in flourishes. I've been impressed.”
What are the biggest challenges Arizona faces going up against Leach and QB Will Rogers?
A: “He looks like he’s as in control of a Mike Leach offense as you can get. Usually, what teams try to do against Leach is drop people. Then just let them try to nickel-and-dime their way down the field and hope that they make a mistake.
“This team has the ability to hold the ball and march down the field. They don't seem to really have trouble doing that with this quarterback. He gets the ball out. He does all the things that you would want a guy to do in Mike Leach’s offense.
“They try to distribute it to all five guys on every plane on the field. People think the ‘Air Raid’ is about throwing the ball or playing really fast. And maybe that's a side effect of it. But Leach explains it best: It's really just about getting it to the five skill guys, any of them at any time, based on what the defense is showing.”
Petros Papadakis
You’ve called many Leach games at Washington State. Does it seem like he has a higher caliber of athlete now, especially along the lines?
A: “You see it in the defensive and offensive fronts. But I think that's a West Coast problem in general. Mike Leach loves 7-on-7. He talks about how great 7-on-7 is because you can find a quarterback very easily now. Nobody does 7-on-7 better than we do here in California. But I think we are behind in the development of offensive and defensive lines. That's evident. You can just see it. They (the Bulldogs) are big, strong and fast.
“But I remember doing USC-Arkansas in ’05. Houston Nutt sat there and told us that USC was just an average SEC team, that they would have no trouble athletically. USC hung 50 on them. (It was actually 70.)
“That is USC, and this is a newly assembled Arizona football team, so we're talking about two different things. There's a reason this spread is where it is (Mississippi State by 10.5 points). But Arizona has got some good things going. They feel good about themselves for a reason. I think it's gonna be an exciting football game.”
Arizona’s Jacob Cowing scores a touchdown against San Diego State in the second quarter of Saturday’s opener at Snapdragon Stadium.
After his coming-out party, will teams cover Jacob Cowing differently?
It’s one thing to pile up numbers in relative obscurity against a Conference USA schedule.
It’s another to do it on national TV against one of the most consistently stingy defenses in the country.
Jacob Cowing isn’t a secret anymore. In his first game for Arizona after transferring from UTEP, Cowing put on a show. He caught eight passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns against San Diego State. The latter tied the UA record.
Most college coaches knew who Cowing was; once he entered the NCAA transfer portal, he received numerous offers from big-time programs. But you have to wonder: Will Cowing’s performance against the Aztecs – which had CBS analyst Gary Danielson gushing and calling him an NFL player – change the way defenses cover Arizona’s new No. 1 wideout?
“Possibly,” UA offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said. “You can try to cover that up if you want with a defender over the top. Once you get a defense to start to do that, you’ve got a lot of options on offense. If they want to take a guy away, we’ve got a lot of other options to work with player-wise, scheme-wise. I’m OK if that happens.”
Both Carroll and Arizona coach Jedd Fisch pointed to the other playmakers they have added to the roster. If opponents were to start double-teaming Cowing, Tetairoa McMillan and Dorian Singer likely would face single coverage. If opponents were to keep a safety deep to prevent Cowing from making big plays, that’s one fewer player available to defend the run.
“There's always gonna be a game-plan aspect to any team, any game – how they want to defend a certain player,” Fisch said. “We'd have to try to understand it pretty quick in the game and then see what we can do.”
Fisch added that “good players find ways to get open.” He cited L.A. Rams superstar Cooper Kupp, who won the receiving triple crown last season. Kupp caught 145 passes on 191 targets in 17 regular-season games.
“I think people knew they were gonna throw it to him,” Fisch said.
Zach Arnett
Mississippi State’s defense should look familiar to Wildcats
Call it a coincidence. A quirk. A byproduct of the small world that is college football.
Whatever description you choose, the way the schedule lines up could benefit the Arizona Wildcats.
Arizona opened against San Diego State. The Wildcats are now set to host Mississippi State. The Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator is Zach Arnett, who spent the previous nine seasons coaching at ... San Diego State.
Arnett played for Rocky Long at New Mexico, coached under Long at SDSU and has brought the same basic 3-3-5 defensive scheme to Starkville.
So while the UA defense faces a significant adjustment going from the Aztecs’ ground-and-pound offense to the Bulldogs’ wide-open passing attack, the UA offense should experience a smoother transition.
“There's a lot of foundational principles ... with what they try to do with their fronts, what they do with their coverage,” UA coach Jedd Fisch said. “There's certainly some things he (Arnett) has taken and made his own. He gives a little different look than what San Diego State gives you. But you can see that they're from the same family.”
The systems and styles aren’t identical. UA offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said MSU’s defensive front is “more of a bull-rush unit” than San Diego State’s. The Aztecs’ quick, shifty pass rushers gave the Wildcats problems; Pro Football Focus tagged Arizona’s blockers with 16 quarterback pressures.
“Structurally, they're very similar,” Carroll said. “But each coordinator’s got his own spin on this defense. So there's good crossover and some of the basic learning, but the style of play is a little different.
“It's a great transition from Week 1 to Week 2, but it's not the same. So we’ve got to reboot it.”
Arnett is considered an up-and-comer in the coaching ranks. In his first two seasons, the Bulldogs ranked in the top five in the SEC in total defense, rushing defense and takeaways. They allowed the fewest first downs in the league last year. In MSU’s opener, Memphis converted only 3 of 12 third downs and had 13 first downs.
Why a TD Arizona surrendered was also its ‘best play’
Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen made an unusual proclamation in the aftermath of the Wildcats’ season-opening victory.
“The best play in the game was the touchdown we gave up,” Nansen said.
When he told his players that, they “looked at me like I was crazy,” Nansen said.
An explanation is required here.
The play Nansen was referring to was the lone offensive touchdown Arizona surrendered against San Diego State. It came on an 11-yard pass from Braxton Burmeister to Tyrell Shavers, who won a jump ball vs. UA cornerback Isaiah Rutherford.
What impressed Nansen and UA coach Jedd Fisch was how the rest of the defense responded to Rutherford’s “failure.” They ran over to their prone teammate and lifted him up, physically and psychologically.
“You look at how our team is coming together,” Nansen said. “You see the kids that ran over and picked him up. It says a lot about our team and our defense. That shows how caring they are about each other.”
The Wildcats’ gesture couldn’t be seen during the TV broadcast. CBS showed the Aztecs’ celebration before cutting away to a replay. The coaches noticed while watching the all-22 film.
“We talk about playing with passion and loving your teammates,” Fisch said. “What was so neat was that everybody ran over to him. I don't know if it was, ‘Hey next play.’ Or if it was, ‘We got your back.’ Or if it was, “Hey, we love ya, we know it's not going to happen again.’
“But he was swarmed in the same way as he would have been had he knocked the ball down.”
Stephanie Paris, the wife of UA athletic department executive Derek van der Merwe, has known Phil Vassar since she was a child. She was instrumental in bringing him to Tucson the last two years.
For Phil Vassar, it's just another day in paradise
For the second straight year, Phil Vassar will perform before the Arizona's home opener.
What’s a country music star doing on the UA Mall?
Catching up with an old friend, for starters.
Vassar is close with Stephanie Paris, the wife of Arizona athletic department COO Derek van der Merwe. Paris’ stepfather was Vassar’s track coach at James Madison University, and later played with Vassar as he got his start in country music.
It was Paris' idea to bring Vassar to Tucson before last year's home opener. The "Just Another Day in Paradise" and "Six-Pack Summer" singer liked it so much that he agreed to come back. Saturday's concert , which is being co-presented by Arizona Arts Live and the UA athletic department, starts at 5:30 p.m. on the Mall. Admission is free.
Vassar told the Star’s Cathalena E. Burch that he’s “excited” to visit Tucson for the second straight year.
“We had so much fun (last year), and I love coming to Tucson,” he said. “I love the area and the saguaros and hiking. I love the desert.”
The football’s fun, too.
“We got to go to the game and hang out on the sidelines” last year, Vassar said. “We went to the tailgates. I’m talking some serous tailgaters. These guys have some nice rigs. I could live in this tailgate. It’s unreal.”
