Five storylines to watch as the Arizona Wildcats prepare for Saturday afternoon's game at Stanford. The Wildcats and Cardinal kick off at 12:30 p.m. in a game that will be shown on Pac-12 Arizona.
Nathan Tilford is proving to be more than just a power back for Arizona Wildcats
Arizona running back Nathan Tilford (33) works his way through the Washington defense on his way to the Wildcats last score of the night in the fourth quarter of their Pac-12 game at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., Oct. 12, 2019.
Nathan Tilford listed four running backs he admired while developing his own tailback talent. Only one of the four, Adrian Peterson, is still playing, and he’s nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career. The other three – Walter Payton, Herschel Walker and Eric Dickerson – played in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.
Those selections shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve seen Tilford play. The third-year Arizona Wildcat has some old school to his game.
“They’re all big, tough,” Tilford said. “They’ve got some moves. But for the most part, I’ve seen a lot of them just run people over, just get the hard, tough yards.”
Asked to describe his own running style, Tilford chose that same adjective: “Tough.”
He certainly has shown that element of his repertoire this season, which easily has been his best at the UA. Tilford is tied for the team lead with four touchdowns. Three have come on runs at or inside the 5-yard line.
But Tilford also has revealed that he’s more than just a power back. His fancy footwork was on full display against USC last week, when he gained a season-high 61 yards on seven carries. Tilford is averaging 7.4 yards per rush, tied with Bam Smith for the team lead.
“He’s a hard guy to tackle,” UA defensive end Jalen Harris said. “He’s a big guy. And he’s a lot quicker than you expect.”
Tilford is listed at 6-2, 207 pounds. Every pro back he mentioned, except Payton, has or had similar dimensions.
Like most teams nowadays, the Wildcats don’t tackle much during the season. If they did, Tilford would be an ideal candidate to prep them for Stanford, which will lean heavily on 6-1, 216-pound tailback Cameron Scarlett during Saturday’s matchup on The Farm.
“Nate’s a beast,” UA defensive end JB Brown said. “Personally, I like tackling Tilford because he brings it. I like the attitude he comes with.
“I can’t answer for the back-end guys. I’m right there in his face. It’s a different story when you got a head of steam.”
Tilford is getting more opportunities this season in Arizona’s crowded, by-committee backfield. His attempts (28), yards (207) and touchdowns are all career highs.
Tilford said he’s “a lot more confident” than earlier in his career. He mostly played on special teams for the previous staff as a freshman in 2017. He redshirted as a sophomore.
Tilford credited the current staff, including new running backs coach DeMarco Murray, for fostering his development. But Tilford wouldn’t be playing if he hadn’t earned the coaches’ trust.
“He has continued to improve,” UA coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Last year, there were some issues in protection, some issues with him picking up some things schematically.
“But he’s really worked at it in the offseason, and I think DeMarco’s done a nice job with him. We’ve got plenty of confidence in Nate.”
The next step for Tilford is to crack the early-game rotation. Those seven carries vs. USC were a season high and one shy of his personal best.
It would be fascinating to see how Tilford would fare if given 15-20 touches. True to his blue-collar ethos, though, he won’t complain about his usage.
“I’m gonna do what the coaches want me to do,” Tilford said.
Center Josh McCauley knows he ‘needs to be better’ for Arizona to stifle opponents’ blitzes
Josh McCauley lines up with the other centers to warm up their snaps before the kickoff of the University of Arizona's spring game at Arizona Stadium, Saturday, April 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
As far as Josh McCauley is concerned, Arizona’s recent problems combating the blitz start with him.
McCauley is in his second season as the Wildcats’ starting center. It’s his job to identify blocking assignments and pass that information along to others.
How does he feel he has that duty the past two weeks?
“I feel like it could be better,” McCauley said. “There’s definitely been some challenges. It needs to be better.”
Blitzes stunted the UA offense against Washington and USC. The Wildcats allowed 11 sacks in those two games after yielding seven in their first five.
The blame shouldn’t fall on any one player or unit. Quarterback Khalil Tate has made some questionable decisions, but running backs, receivers and offensive linemen have missed assignments.
McCauley won’t play the blame game. Asked if he noticed a difference in how quickly the ball came out with Grant Gunnell at quarterback as opposed to Tate, McCauley said the following:
“Not really, because we still couldn’t protect Grant. He was still getting hit a lot. That’s one thing that we’ve got to work on as a group. I don’t want to talk about the quarterback room. Our group, we’ve got to prevent those.”
McCauley sees himself as the leader of that group, at least in terms of in-game communication. He couldn’t stress enough that communication is the key to thwarting the blitz
“I don’t want to speak for anyone else but myself,” said McCauley, a redshirt junior. “Communication – that’s something that could be improved. Helping the guys out on the edge.”
McCauley believes Arizona should be able to adjust faster to unexpected pressure packages. UW and USC came after Tate early in games and on early downs. It’s something the Wildcats haven’t seen much since Tate became the starter in 2017.
Kyle DeVan is coaching the UA offensive line for the first time. McCauley said DeVan has promoted an upbeat attitude while the unit has struggled, focusing on instruction. He doesn’t need to tell them they need to improve.
“We know that,” McCauley said. “That’s something that’s built in us as O-linemen. When our quarterback’s getting hit that many times, it’s all on us.”
And it begins with him.
Arizona WR Brian Casteel achieves separation, but not without some anxiety
Short passes to receivers such as Brian Casteel were a staple of the second-half game plan at Colorado.
Like any quality receiver, Brian Casteel is gaining separation.
The redshirt sophomore leads Arizona with 27 receptions, including 20 in the past four games. His 283 receiving yards are tied for second on the team. His three touchdown receptions are tied for first.
Has Casteel become the go-to receiver the Wildcats have lacked for most of the season? Maybe not quite yet. But he has emerged as the leading candidate.
“It feels good to get back out there and play,” said Casteel, a redshirt sophomore who sat out last season because of a back injury. “It’s been about two years since I was actually able to get a few games under my belt. I’m comfortable, ready to keep playing.”
As with most players, especially relatively young ones, Casteel has faced obstacles and challenges along the way. He began the season as Arizona’s punt returner but didn’t serve in that role the past two weeks after a rough outing at Colorado. And his best performance as a Wildcat came in a loss.
Let’s start there. Casteel had a team-high five receptions for a career-high 105 yards and two touchdowns against USC last week. That was the good news. The bad: The TDs came after the game already had been decided. The Trojans won 41-14.
“I don’t really try to separate myself from anybody,” Casteel said. “We lost as a team. That’s how I go about it.”
Casteel topped personal bests set two weeks earlier at Colorado, where he caught seven balls for 74 yards and his first career touchdown. He also muffed a punt in that game (which he recovered) and fair-caught one at the UA 4-yard line. Stanley Berryhill III and Jamarye Joiner handled the punt-return duties the past two weeks.
“It happens,” Casteel said. “I struggled a little bit. It didn’t really get to me.”
Casteel vowed to make better decisions if given another chance. Focusing on self-improvement is his way of enduring the highs and lows each week brings.
“What I always tell myself is, ‘Just make sure I get 1% better every day,’ ” Casteel said. “And when it comes to game time, I just make sure that I’m at least 1% better than I was last game.”
UA defensive end glad Brown-out is over, eager to get more sacks
UA defensive end JB Brown, right, on dealing with short fields in the last two games: “You control what you can control.”
When he sacked USC quarterback Kedon Slovis in the second quarter of last Saturday’s game in Los Angeles, JB Brown felt elated. He also felt a sense of relief.
“A little bit of both,” the Arizona junior defensive end said, “knowing it’s been a long time.”
The sack was Brown’s first of the season. That it came in the Wildcats’ seventh game isn’t something Brown or anyone anticipated.
Brown appeared to be on the brink of a breakout after a strong closing stretch in 2018. He finished the season with 7.5 tackles for losses, including 3.5 sacks, with all of those coming in the last seven games.
The UA staff moved Brown inside, to the 3-technique tackle position, for most of spring practice and part of training camp. His versatility was viewed as an asset, further enhancing his value.
Then the season began, and Brown hasn’t made plays at the same rate. His season high in tackles is three, a mark he reached or exceeded seven times last season.
UA coach Kevin Sumlin theorized earlier in the season that switching between end and tackle might have hindered Brown’s progress. Brown wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
Besides, he’s on the board now.
“Now it’s … motivation to go get more,” Brown said, referring to sack No. 1. “It feels good contributing to your team. It felt good to know I could do it.”
Rush to judgment on Stanford ignores Cardinal’s ground-game woes
Stanford tree
The consensus among Arizona coaches and players is that Stanford is still Stanford, no matter what the Cardinal’s record might be.
Is it, though?
When Stanford rose to power under Jim Harbaugh, the Cardinal became known for power football. That trend continued under David Shaw.
However, since last season, Stanford simply hasn’t been able to run the ball as effectively as it had in the recent past.
The Cardinal’s rushing numbers are way down for the second straight year. Injuries have decimated the offensive line. Star tailbacks Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love (who was hurt for a chunk of last season) are no longer around.
Here’s a look at Stanford’s rushing totals since the start of this decade and where the Cardinals rank in the Pac-12:
YEAR | YPG | YPC | RANK
2010 | 213.8 | 5.2 | 2
2011 | 210.6 | 5.3 | 2
2012 | 174.3 | 4.4 | 6
2013 | 207.4 | 5.0 | 4
2014 | 158.7 | 4.3 | 8
2015 | 223.7 | 5.1 | 2
2016 | 208.9 | 5.2 | 4
2017 | 202.4 | 5.9 | 3
2018 | 107.9 | 3.7 | 11
2019 | 114.9 | 3.5 | 11
