Arizona refuses 'to be a team that rides the roller coaster of emotion' entering Big 12 play

In many ways, the bye week was a much-needed reset for the Arizona Wildcats.

The week off allowed the Wildcats to practice recurring issues that arose in their first three games of the season, especially the 24-point beatdown Arizona took from Kansas State in Manhattan on Sept. 13.

More importantly, with the plethora of injuries Arizona has piled up, a bye week preceding the Wildcats’ Big 12 opener against 10th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City, “I think it was good,” UA head coach Brent Brennan said Monday.

“I think we had good, intentional work last week. I thought our effort was really high, guys were into it,” Brennan said. “I thought it was good to get some of the guys back that are beat up a little bit just three games in.”

Entering the season, it was conceivable for Arizona to start the season 2-1 with a loss to Kansas State, however not all 2-1 starts have the same vibes. The Wildcats have yet to play a complete game.

The season-opening 61-39 win over New Mexico delivered the eighth-most yards in a game for Arizona, albeit the defense surrendered the most regulation points and rushing yards since the 2022 season. In the second win, over Northern Arizona, the defense only gave up 10 points, but quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan each had career-low performances, and the offensive line was completely reshuffled due to injuries.

The issues from the first two games, coupled with a special teams blunder on a punt return, all came to a head against Kansas State. Brennan noted “containment issues” with Arizona’s defensive ends when trying to stop dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson from running. In three games, Arizona has allowed quarterbacks to rush for 279 yards.

“That’s something we’ve been working very hard on,” Brennan said.

Even though Kansas State rushed for 228 yards in its 38-9 loss to BYU in Provo on Saturday, the Cougars jumped out to a 31-6 lead with the help of a punt return for a touchdown and a fumble return for a score.

“They ended up getting out in front, which kind of forced Kansas State’s hand to throw the ball a little bit more and that eliminated the legs of the quarterback,” Brennan said.

Once again, Arizona will face a potent rushing attack this week at Utah. The Utes are led by seventh-year quarterback Cameron Rising, who missed the last two games with a hand injury, backup quarterback Isaac Wilson and Big 12 leading rusher Micah Bernard, who was just named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after his 182-yard performance at Oklahoma State. The Utes also used “Wildcat” formation for a goal-line touchdown with tight end Brant Kuithe at quarterback.

Utah is averaging 206.3 rushing yards per game, while the Wildcats have allowed an average of 178 yards on the ground this season. The Utes are also tied for 36th in college football for penalty yards with 162; the Wildcats are 104th with 269 penalty yards.

Utah is, well, Utah. Running the football and playing a physical, disciplined brand of football is Utah’s bread and butter under Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham. It’s why Whittingham hasn’t left his post since 2005, and it’s why Utah played in four Pac-12 championship games — and is the favorite to win the Big 12 this season and compete in the College Football Playoff.

“(Utah) is an extremely well-coached team,” Brennan said. “They’ve been winning lots of games every year for a very, very long time. They’re 20 years into their program build. They know exactly what they’re recruiting to, exactly what works there. They’re always one of the more physical teams you play every year. High level of execution and a really impressive football team every time I’ve played against them or coached against them.”

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But the Wildcats aren’t dwelling on the issues that exposed them and potentially set them up for another setback.

“Whenever you win a game or lose the game, it’s always about the next one,” Brennan said. “We don’t want to be a team that rides the roller coaster of emotion. We need to do the work and dive into the process week in and week out, because there’s a chance to play good football on the weekend.”

Brennan assumes Rising ‘is going to be back’

Rising was a game-time decision for Saturday’s win at Oklahoma State, but the Utah veteran quarterback didn’t have “enough velocity on the ball” in pregame warmups, so a decision was made to start Wilson, a freshman, about 25 minutes before kickoff.

“We’re not going to put Cam out there if there’s a health risk,” Whittingham said.

Wilson, the younger brother of Denver Broncos backup quarterback Zach Wilson, was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after passing for 207 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while breaking out for a 48-yard run in the second half.

Brennan said he’s planning for Rising’s return on Saturday, but “even without Cam, they’re obviously playing good football.”

The Utes could potentially sit Rising for another game as they face a bye week before a road game at Arizona State on Oct. 11.

“Bottom line is, whichever gives us the best option to win is going to be out there,” Whittingham said.

Big 12 home opener a late one for UA

Arizona’s first-ever conference home game as a Big 12 team will be a late-night matchup. The Big 12 announced Monday morning Arizona’s home contest against the Texas Tech Red Raiders will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. on Fox.

The Arizona-Texas Tech game is so far the latest one for the Wildcats this season, but the UA’s contest against Houston on Friday, Nov. 15 in Tucson will start at 8:15 p.m. on FS1.

Arizona’s battle with Texas Tech will also be the second game on Fox this season. The Wildcats also played against Kansas State on Fox. Arizona has already played on ESPN twice this season.

The UA most recently played Texas Tech in 2019, beating the Red Raiders 28-14, in the first — and ultimately only — game of an originally planned home-and-home series; the game in 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas Tech and Arizona were previously Border Conference rivals; Arizona is 5-26-2 all-time against TTU.

Texas Tech (3-1) is coming off a 30-22 win over Arizona State in Lubbock, with a home game this weekend against Cincinnati (3-1).