Midseason awards for Arizona football, as the Wildcats jump over the midway point this week

The Arizona Wildcats are sitting at .500 this season, but the UA could conceivably be 5-1 — and maybe even 6-0, if certain events swung in favor of the Cats. 

A turnover-littered performance in overtime at Mississippi State, a sluggish start against seventh-ranked Washington and a triple-overtime thriller against No. 9 USC in Los Angeles are the losses on Arizona's 3-3 schedule at the halfway point of the season. Arizona's average margin of defeat this season is 5.3 points. 

"That's just what the game is," Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said on Thursday. "But when I look at our team, I don't think there's any reason I can point to and say why we won or why we didn't win. We just have to make one more play at the right time and we can be sitting here having a different conversation and being the story of college football." 

Fisch said he's "ready to move on, ready to move forward, and ready to start the second half of this football season with one game prior to the bye."

Before the Wildcats go into a much-needed bye week, Arizona will have one more ranked opponent on the docket, when it faces the 19th-ranked Washington State Cougars (4-1). 

Now that Arizona is at the halfway mark of the season, here are the Wildcats' top performers, including offensive and defensive MVPs, top newcomer and most improved: 

Offensive MVP: Tetairoa McMillan, WR

The rundown: McMillan leads the Wildcats in receiving yards (524) and has an average depth of target of 13.3 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

McMillan's playmaking ability has consistently been on display this season, whether it was critical deep-target grabs at the end of each half at Mississippi State, two touchdowns against Washington or his 2-point conversion snag towards the end of regulation at USC.

McMillan's acrobatic, one-handed grab for a 37-yard gain against UTEP, which was No. 4 on "SportsCenter's" Top 10 plays, remains one of the most jaw-dropping plays of the season.  

Finalists: Offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, left tackle Jordan Morgan, wide receiver Jacob Cowing

What Fisch said: "Jordan Morgan, offensively, has been the most consistent for us. He's had a really good half-year so far. He brings the same energy and spirit every single day, plays the same way, very composed, very rarely do you see a mistake offensively from a guy like Jordan."

Defensive MVP: Jacob Manu, LB

The rundown: Although Manu hasn't contributed to any of Arizona's takeaways this season, the second-year linebacker is second in the Pac-12 in tackles (54) and has been the Wildcats' most consistent linebacker, with Justin Flowe and Daniel Heimuli sharing time at "Mike" linebacker.

When the Wildcats break out their "dollar" package on defense, a 3-1-7 scheme, Manu serves as the lone linebacker in the formation. Manu has the most quarterback pressures (15), according to PFF. 

Finalists: Safety Dalton Johnson, cornerback Ephesians Prysock, nickel back Martell Irby

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What Fisch said: "Defensively, I would say Dalton Johnson has done a great job. You could point to Manu, you could point to Dalton, maybe Prysock, but if you look at the guy who's been the most consistent, ... he's been exceptional in everything we've asked him to do. He's an elite tackler and he's really — every single day, every single game, he's put himself in position. I'd be neglectful not to mention (Treydan) Stukes and the way Stukes is playing as well this year on defense."

Best Newcomer: Bill Norton, DT

The rundown: Arizona vowed to shore up the rushing defense after allowing 209.1 yards per game last season, which ranked 10th in the Pac-12, and added size through the transfer portal. This season, the Wildcats are surrendering 106.8 rushing yards per game, which is sixth in the conference.

Arizona's rushing defense hasn't finished in the top half of the conference since 2011.

A helping hand in Arizona's run-stopping defense this season is defensive tackle Bill Norton, who only has nine tackles, but his impact doesn't show up on the box score. Norton's job as a 6-6, 325-pound nose tackle is to occupy blockers, take up space on the line of scrimmage and set up linebackers like Manu and Flowe or even a downhill safety in Dalton Johnson.

A close — and we mean very close — second for this category was nickel back Martell Irby, who is the highest-rated UA player (82.2) and pass-coverage defender (85.1) on PFF. Irby also has one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.

Finalists: Irby, defensive end Taylor Upshaw, linebacker Justin Flowe

Most Improved Player: Dalton Johnson

The rundown: Johnson is one of three players currently on Arizona's roster who signed a national letter-of-intent during the early signing period in December of 2020, when the Wildcats were in between the dismissal of Kevin Sumlin and the hiring of Fisch.

Johnson signed his NLI without knowing who his head coach would be and over the last two-plus seasons ascended up the depth chart and eventually took over the starting "boundary" safety role left behind by multi-year starter Christian Young. In his first season as a starter, Johnson is second on the team in tackles (34) and leads the Wildcats with three forced fumbles.

Johnson is also third on the team behind Prysock and Manu for snaps (340) played this season. 

Finalists: Running back Jonah Coleman, defensive end Isaiah Ward, left guard Wendell Moe