Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin could have cited any number of excuses for his team’s 0-2 start, which has stretched the Wildcats’ losing streak to a school-record nine games.
The UA’s first game was canceled because of COVID-19. The program unexpectedly lost several key contributors on defense during the offseason, leaving the linebacker and safety units bereft of experience and depth.
Instead, when he addressed the media Monday, Sumlin pointed the finger of blame squarely at himself.
“There’s a lot of guys that played Saturday night that have lost two games,” Sumlin said. “The losing streak, for me, is different. I’m the common denominator.
“We can lump it all into everything. But you can just lump that on me, because, in the end, my name’s on it.”
The Wildcats achieved infamy on Saturday at Washington, where they lost 44-27 in a game that wasn’t that close. They have lost nine in a row under Sumlin, whose UA record stands at 9-17 through two-plus seasons. He posted an 86-43 mark at Houston and Texas A&M.
The Huskies dominated the Cats at the line of scrimmage through three quarters. But Sumlin said he and his staff could have done a better job of making adjustments — and must do better moving forward, starting with this week’s game at UCLA.
“We’ve gotta give our players a better chance,” Sumlin said. “Based on analytics and the things that we use to measure player load and speeds, they’re still playing hard, they’re still running fast, even in the fourth quarter. We’ve gotta be better as coaches.”
Sumlin cited several examples. On the opening possession, Arizona stopped Washington just short of a first down. The Huskies sent in their punt team on fourth-and-1 from the UW 31. The Wildcats responded with their punt-return unit. Washington snapped the ball to upback Jackson Sirmon, who ran 4 yards for the first down. The Huskies scored a touchdown three plays later.
“In those situations, you either leave your defense on the field for what we would call ‘punt safe,’ or you have a punt-return unit that is composed of a lot of different positions,” Sumlin said. “In that situation, backed up, early in the game, we put the punt-return unit on the field. Those guys are wide receivers, linebackers, DBs, instead of D-linemen that are used to playing the run. I just felt like a return was the right thing ... and that was a mistake. So they took advantage of that.”
Ma’jon Wright, left, and the Wildcats played hard for 60 minutes, but still were behind by 38 at one point.
The UA defense held up fairly well against Washington’s rushing attack early in the game but suffered some breakdowns when the Huskies used play-action and empty-backfield sets – looks the Huskies didn’t show often in their opener.
On offense, Arizona was prepared for Washington’s scheme. But it quickly became apparent that the Wildcats couldn’t handle the UW pass rush. They also struggled to break free against man-to-man coverage. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, mainly against backups, that the UA found solutions to those problems.
“We didn’t adjust quick enough offensively ... from a protection standpoint,” Sumlin said. “We couldn’t get open early (against) man-to-man coverage. It’s not always on the quarterback.
“Schematically, we gotta give him a chance. That’s why you saw us go to a bunch of a bunch sets to try to force them into some zone.”
Washington led 44-6 with 11:34 remaining. Arizona scored the final 21 points.
The Wildcats used 15 players who weren’t on the team last season.
If you expand that pool to include players who didn’t have prominent roles in 2019, it’s probably twice that number.
Frustration permeated the team as it returned home from Seattle and turned its attention to UCLA.
“Everybody’s disappointed,” Sumlin said. “Nobody’s happy. Coaches, players, trainers, anybody who was there.
“The expectation going into that weekend was, we’re going to get better. That didn’t happen.”
Bruins TBD
UCLA was missing nine players for its game at Oregon last week because of issues related to COVID-19. One of them was starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Bruins coach Chip Kelly told reporters Monday that he didn’t have any updates on the status of those players.
Regarding Thompson-Robinson specifically, Kelly said: “You can guys can play Columbo and investigate. But I’m not allowed to say anything except (if) a player (is) unavailable or available. So right now we’re getting ready to have a really good Monday.”
UCLA started redshirt freshman Chase Griffin in Eugene. In his college debut, Griffin completed 19 of 31 passes for 195 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Bruins lost 38-35 in a game in which the Ducks were favored by more than two touchdowns.
Sumlin said the Wildcats would prepare for both quarterbacks and that UCLA’s COVID issues wouldn’t affect their work week.
“Across our league, you’ve had games canceled on Friday,” Sumlin said. “We were one of them. Washington State last week. For our players and for our coaches (the message is), ‘Hey listen, that’s who we’re playing.’ We’ll watch our video of Washington, make our corrections and then start installing the game plan ... for UCLA.”
The main area of focus for Arizona’s defense will be tailback Demetric Felton, who rushed for a career-high 167 yards and two touchdowns against Oregon. Sumlin also noted that the Bruins lead the Pac-12 with 10 sacks — a worrisome stat given the struggles of the Wildcats’ offensive line.
‘Different’ trip
Assuming no further setbacks – or issues within the UA program — the Wildcats will embark on their second and final scheduled road trip of this shortened season. (The opener at Utah was canceled.)
Sumlin deemed the first trip a success, aside from the game itself.
“Our administration – Dr. (Stephen) Paul, Dennis Polian and Brian DeSpain — have done a great job,” Sumlin said. “Not a good job, a great job of eliminating or avoiding some of the things you see around the country – knock wood, because things can change daily.
“As I said a week ago, it’s hard on these guys. Families used to travel. Families would usually have time to see their sons Friday night or Saturday during the day, particularly with a 5 o’clock game. Nobody’s allowed at the hotel. Nobody’s allowed to leave. Nobody’s allowed to get in there.
“It’s a little bit different. But because of the people that I talked about earlier and what our guys have been used to ... I thought it went well.”
Extra points
- UA sophomore defensive back Bobby Wolfe, who did not play in the first two games, is expected to be available against UCLA. Wolfe appeared in nine games last season, recording six tackles and defending two passes.
- Arizona made one change on its depth chart, elevating freshman Derick Mourning to the starting unit at “Mike” linebacker. Mourning has two tackles and one pass breakup through two games. He has been alternating with veteran walk-on Parker Henley.
