What to watch for when the Arizona Wildcats host Washington

Here are three things to watch in the Arizona Wildcats’ game vs. Washington at Arizona Stadium (Saturday, 8 p.m., FS1), plus a score prediction and some pertinent preview links:

1. THE COMEBACK

It would qualify as poetic justice if UA tailback J.J. Taylor – who’s been slowed by what’s believed to be a sprained ankle – returned to full strength in this game and played a key role in Arizona upsetting Washington. The last time these two teams met, Taylor’s season was cut short because of a broken ankle suffered late in the third quarter. The play’s legality – or at least the administration of it by the officials – was questionable. Taylor’s forward progress had been stopped, yet he was pushed back several yards and landed on by 318-pound defensive tackle Greg Gaines, among others. Taylor, then a true freshman, had shown tremendous promise in the preceding six-plus periods, rushing for 265 yards and two touchdowns against Hawaii and UW. He has rushed for 2,493 yards and 13 scores since. Arizona has been able to get by without him for most of the past three games thanks to its superb depth at running back. But a healthy Taylor brings a package of intangibles no other back on the roster can match. As tackle Donovan Laie put it: “When he's out there, he just makes everyone a better player.”

2. THE CONUNDRUM

If you’ve got an accurate read on this Washington team, you’re a more astute college football observer than I. I saw a good chunk of the Huskies’ game at BYU on Sept. 21, and they looked like a playoff-caliber team against a squad that had just defeated USC. Quarterback Jacob Eason was throwing darts all over the field to the point that I compared him to Carson Palmer. UW followed that up with a solid home win over the Trojans, who, admittedly, were down to their third-string quarterback. Then came the Fiasco on the Farm. Washington got outmuscled by a Stanford team that was banged up and had lost three of its previous four games in decisive fashion. Media who follow the Huskies on a regular basis sounded the alarm after that performance, suggesting it was indicative of larger, longer-term problems. And yet, heading into the game, Washington was ranked 15th in the AP Top 25 and thought to be one of the Pac-12’s few remaining hopefuls to make the College Football Playoff. I would say there’s an excellent chance the real Huskies will show up Saturday night – if I had any idea what that looked like.

3. THE CROWD

UA athletic director Dave Heeke, among many flummoxed by Arizona’s sagging attendance, took to social media shortly after the UA defeated Colorado to extend its winning streak to four games. He implored Wildcat fans to show up Saturday night. They seem to be heeding the call; Arizona Athletics tweeted Wednesday that only 6,172 tickets were available. That would mean ticket sales have exceeded 44,000. Arizona’s biggest crowd to date this year was 40,741 for the home opener against NAU. The past two crowds, against Texas Tech and UCLA, have been under 40,000. As I previously reported, the UA hadn’t had consecutive crowds under 40,000 since 1997. There are myriad reasons behind the drop in attendance here and elsewhere, but we’re not going to get into them now. The more pressing matter is this game and what the atmosphere might be like. Sellout or not, Arizona Stadium should be rocking by kickoff – despite that kickoff being at 8 p.m. (11 p.m. on the East Coast). Will it have an Autzen Stadium-like effect on the Huskies, discombobulating their offense from start to finish? Probably not. But if the game comes down to the fourth quarter – as so many of these #Pac12AfterDark affairs do – crowd noise could make a difference.