Every week throughout the season, we take a look back at the Arizona Wildcats’ previous game after re-watching it via the TV broadcast. Here are five key takeaways from the UA’s 31-20 loss to Washington State on Saturday:
1. RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER
Earlier this season, against USC, Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura sprinted down the left sideline for a 34-yard gain. He finished the play by lowering his shoulder into a Trojans defender. The crowd went wild. On the very next play, de Laura threw an interception. De Laura was asked about that sequence a few days later. “That was like a roller coaster,” he said. It’s the perfect metaphor for the de Laura experience. A lot of ups and downs. Thrilling moments followed by head-scratching ones. What you hope for, as a Wildcat fan, is that the former outnumber the latter. That’s been the case for most of this season. It was not the case Saturday. De Laura’s accuracy was off. His reads were off. He and his receivers weren’t in sync. Was it possible to see this coming? Maybe, given the circumstances. The matchup vs. WSU had to be weighing heavily on de Laura’s mind. The Cougars also had a sophisticated game plan to disrupt de Laura. They disguised pressures. They prevented him from freelancing. Still, the number of times that de Laura and his receivers weren’t on the same page of the playbook was well beyond any reasonable expectation for the 11th game of the season. The good news for Arizona? De Laura hasn’t had two bad games in a row. He invariably bounces back. He has one more opportunity to do so.
2. GROUND CONTROL
Jedd Fisch’s pass-heavy game plan – especially early in the contest – was baffling for several reasons: (1) It didn’t give de Laura a chance to get settled; (2) it put pressure on a UA offensive line missing its best blocker, Jordan Morgan; and (3) it played right into the Cougars’ defensive plan. The stats show Arizona running the ball six times while passing it nine times in the first quarter. But that’s not entirely accurate. The first “running play” was a sack. Another first-quarter “run” was a de Laura scramble for no gain. Michael Wiley’s 1-yard gain on fourth-and-2 was supposed to be a trick-play pass. So, in reality, 12 of the Wildcats’ first 15 plays were called passes. Wiley had two rushes – and the other one gained 25 yards. We’ve talked about Arizona’s run-pass imbalance multiple times. The offense has been vastly improved this season thanks mainly to de Laura and his pass catchers. You’d be foolish not to feed Jacob Cowing, Dorian Singer and Tetairoa McMillan. But certain situations dictate a different approach. This was one of those times.
3. DOWNHILL, UPSWING
The Arizona defense is improving. You could see hints of it vs. Utah. Promising moments vs. UCLA. The second half vs WSU brought confirmation. The Wildcats practically pitched a shutout. The Cougars’ only offensive points came on a field goal following an interception return to the 19-yard line. What did the Cats do well? They played downhill. They attacked. Once they figured out what WSU could and couldn’t do, they played with abandon. The tackle-for-loss numbers are telling: Arizona established a season high with seven vs. UCLA – then topped it with eight vs. WSU. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Wildcats had seven tackles for no gain against the Cougars – eight if you include a play that was nullified by a holding penalty against WSU. Does any of this mean Arizona has solved all of its problems on that side of the ball? Of course not. But it’s encouraging – especially when you factor in how many first- and second-year players are getting major minutes. The defense played well enough Saturday for the Wildcats to win if their offense had been just average. How many times have we been able to say that this year?
4. THIS TIME IT’S PERSONNEL
Our notes on individual players can be found here … Wiley continues to impress. His open-field moves are subtle but effective. His smooth running style enables him to glide past defenders who think they have an angle on him but don’t. ... Sam Langi struggled in his first start at left tackle, particularly in pass protection. But as much as we’d like to see Josh Donovan get a shot there, we’re not sure it makes sense to make that move with only one game left. ... Freshman DE Russell Davis’ quickness is going to cause problems for Pac-12 offensive linemen for years to come. During one fourth-quarter sequence, he knifed inside a blocker to draw the aforementioned holding penalty; then, on the next play, he did it again for a TFL. ... Veteran DT Kyon Barrs had his best game of 2022. He thrived as the lone inside defender, playing over the center, in Arizona’s dollar package. ... DB Gunner Maldonado had the best game of his UA career, playing with newfound physicality and confidence. He still struggles in coverage at times, but Maldonado proved to be a menace around the line of scrimmage and on bubble screens. ... Sophomore safety Isaiah Taylor also might have had his best game as a Wildcat. He was extremely aggressive against the run. It’ll be interesting to see what Johnny Nansen has in store for Taylor next season. ... Freshman CB Tacario Davis seemed to be in the right spots all game long. If Christian Roland-Wallace decides to go pro, Arizona will return a promising CB trio in Davis, Ephesians Prysock and Treydan Stukes, who has rebounded after some early-season struggles.
5. PLUS/MINUS
Fisch referred to the upcoming Territorial Cup matchup against Arizona State as the “plus-one” of the season. Every game preceding it since yours truly has been on the beat has been a minus. Why is that? Why does Arizona have so much trouble locking in the week before its rivalry game? You could cite human nature. Or the fickleness inherent in 18- to 22-year-olds. But what about Arizona’s opponents? Those next-to-last games also precede their rivalry matchups. WSU had every reason to look ahead but didn’t. It requires a level of mental discipline that has eluded the Wildcats under three coaching regimes. It’s a source of enduring frustration. But it’s also a problem to be dealt with next year. As Fisch said, the singular focus now is on ASU. If Arizona can win that game – something that hasn’t happened since 2016 – the Wildcats will finish 5-7. That’d be a tremendous achievement after they went 1-11 a year ago. And no one will remember what happened the week before.
