2015 Arizona Wildcats Football Prediction

[caption id="attachment_42369" align="alignnone" width="590"] Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn 2104 was a historic year for our Arizona Wildcats of the gridiron.

rn I think if Rich Rod doesn’t bolt out-of-town, we are in for possibly the greatest stretch Arizona Football has ever seen. Let’s take a look at this year’s squad and I will tell you what I think this years Cats are capable of.

rn Please be aware that I have no physical organized football playing experience and my greatest personal football accomplishment happened in the 90’s when I led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a playoff berth in Tecmo Super Bowl on my Super Nintendo.

rn [nextpost teaser="Offense" slider="true"]

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rnrnrn[caption id="attachment_42372" align="alignnone" width="590"] Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Cayleb Jones (1) against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the 88th annual territorial cup at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 42-35 to win the Pac-12 south title. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn Offense

rn If Anu Solomon stays healthy I will not be worried about the offense at all. Solomon had some rough stretches last year but when he was good, he was really good.

rn His receiving corp is so stacked that Arizona coaches didn’t hesitate giving former wide out and 4-star stud Davonte Neal an opportunity in the Arizona secondary.

rn Cayleb Jones is Arizona’s biggest threat at receiver but Samajie Grant , Nate Phillips , David Richards and company also make this arguably the best receiving group in the Pac-12.

rn Nick Wilson had big shoes to fill for Ka’Deem Carey last year and he did not disappoint, gaining nearly six yards a carry for 1,375 yards. He might not be as strong as Ka’Deem but he showed Arizona fans he is much quicker, and when he finds a hole you better catch him quick or you’re toast.

rn The only thing that gives me a slight bit of concern is the offensive line, since the Cats line lost three starters from last year’s squad.

rn Last years line did allow Solomon to get sacked 38 times, but some of that rests on having a freshman quarterback learning the ropes.

rn The good news is the Cats return 2014 USA Today Freshman All-American Jacob Alsadek , Senior Cayman Bundage , and Cal transfer Freddie Tagaloa .

rn [nextpost teaser="Defense and Special Teams" slider="true"]

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rnrnrn[caption id="attachment_33790" align="alignnone" width="590"] Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) prior to the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the 88th annual territorial cup at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 42-35 to win the Pac-12 south title. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn Defense

rn Arizona’s defense is light years ahead of where it was when Defensive Coordinator Jeff Casteel came to Arizona in 2012, but it still needs work.

rn The Cats gave up nearly 30 points a game last year with the best defensive player in college football, Scooby Wright , on their team. Giving up that many points per game in the offensive juggernaut Pac-12 is nothing to be ashamed of, but if the Cats want to go where they have never gone before (the bowl with the flower in the title), they know the defense has to improve.

rn The Cats had a turnover margin of plus eight last year. That’s not bad, but if the Cats are going to still give up nearly 30 points a game, that number needs to get better.

rn The 2014 Wildcats remind me of the postseason baseball cliché that you need good pitching and timely hitting to be successful. In this analogy the good pitching was Arizona’s threatening offense, and the timely hitting was Arizona forcing timely turnovers and making big plays on defense.

rn [teamnews align="right" team="arizona wildcats" sport="ncaa"]

rn Arizona is still going to give up a lot of yards in 2015 so if they are to succeed this year I think the Cats will have to use the same philosophy on defense as last year.

rn Special Teams

rn The kicking game is in good hands. The Cats have two seniors in Casey Skowron and Drew Riggleman to make this argument.

rn Skowron overcame adversity last year and finished the season strong. He was a perfect 57 for 57 in PAT’s and made 71 percent of his field goal attempts.

rn Riggleman has a chance at First Team All-Pac 12, if he matches last season’s 46.1 yds per punt. At first his rugby-style, Dick Tomey era punts made me nervous, but when they would bounce and bounce and bounce and land into deep enemy territory, I felt a little better about it.

rn [nextpost teaser="Final Synopsis" slider="true"]

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rnrnrn[caption id="attachment_40688" align="alignnone" width="590"] Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]rn Final Synopsis

rn If you have not heard by now, the Cats don’t have a bye week this season. Bye weeks are great for the players and coaches but as a fan I hate them, but I wish they had one because it is going to be a grind.

rn [teamnews align="right" team="arizona wildcats" sport="ncaa"]

rn Arizona plays five of its nine conference games on the road. Finding automatic wins on the Pac-12 schedule is getting harder and harder to come by every year. Looking at the schedule there are three games I feel the Cats should win but are far from automatic. These games are all in a row in the middle of the season.

rn The Cats host Oregon State on Oct. 10, go to Colorado on Oct. 17 and host Washington State on Oct. 24. The Cats have a long history of losing games they should win but in the Rich Rod era only one of those games comes to mind. It was the last time the Cougars came to Tucson in 2013. The week before the Cats throttling of the Oregon Ducks, Arizona lost to Washington State at home.

rn If the Cats go unscathed in that three-week stretch, I think they have a shot at 6-3 in the conference but with road games at Stanford, USC, Washington and ASU that looks to be easier said than done.

rn My crystal ball says the Cats will finish the regular season 8-4 (5-4 in the Pac-12). That puts them bowling for the fourth straight year under Rich Rod.

rn Let’s say they go to the Sun Bowl so we can make a road trip out of it to El Paso. Since the Cats will be playing a team from the ACC Conference I will give the edge to the Cats and Arizona will finish a nice 9-4.

rn If you are connected with the program in any way I ask that you post this article as bulletin board material in the Arizona locker room. That’s if there is a bulletin board in the locker room.

rn Do locker rooms really have bulletin boards in them?

rn I still will be hoping for the best for the Cats while I sit in the upper deck of Arizona Stadium, eating my beefy nachos, wishing for a 13-0 season.

rn And if the Cats don’t go undefeated, I would be fine with an appearance in that Bowl in Pasadena.

rn Why not Arizona?

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rn [nextpost teaser="Scooby Wright's Top 5 Games at Arizona" url="https://zonazealots.com/2015/08/23/top-5-scooby-wright-games-arizona/"]

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